At the start of this year, I set a goal to tackle at least one DIY project a month from my ever-growing Pinterest boards for our home and business. I kicked things off with this easy painted doormat to welcome customers into our flower shop, inspired by this Pin that sent me down a rabbit hole of adorable DIY doormat projects, from cheeky sayings (“Come Back With Tacos”) to monograms and beautifully hand-lettered last names.

Custom doormats average around $40 on Etsy, but you can make your own for almost half that! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Natural Coco Coir Doormat
• DecoArt Patio Paint in ‘Wrought Iron Black’
• a large permanent marker (I used red so mistakes would be less noticeable)
• a small/medium stiff-bristled paint brush, preferably with a round tip
• a small flat paint brush

Tip: there’s no need for fancy brushes in this project; if you don’t have old craft brushes on-hand, check your local craft store for an inexpensive assortment, like this 25-pack brush set.

I started by sketching my hand-lettered design directly onto the mat with a large red permanent marker.

Then I slowly (and patiently) used a stiff-bristled brush with a round tip to stamp black outdoor acrylic paint over my marker guide. I found that stamping the paint straight down into the fibers of the mat, rather than painting with strokes, worked the best to keep my lines straight and the color nice and saturated.

When I finished filling in ‘flower‘ I went back in with a flat brush to clean up any rough edges and used the same brush to fill in ‘shop‘. It was a really easy project that took about one full episode of Gilmore Girls — there is no better brain-soothing therapy for me than craft projects and Stars Hollow —  and I’m so happy with how it turned out! When Valentine’s Day is over, I plan to make one for our front door at home.

If hand-lettering isn’t your thing, you can use stencils for your design, or make a cool geometric pattern using painter’s tape and assorted colors of acrylic patio paint.

A note: when I put the mat down at the shop, I realized it was a bit slippery on our mosiac tile entry. I plan to pick up some double sided non-skid carpet tape to secure it for safety.

If you make your own doormat, I’d love to see it! Tag me on Instagram at @keiralennox, and here’s to a more creative 2018!