DIY-ing is so therapeutic to me. I can’t decide what I love more: how great it is to use your hands to create something or seeing a finished product that you made yourself.

So while I definitely could have bought a cute doormat at Target or on Etsy, I decided to create my own instead. After SO MUCH research on doormats (see my entire Pinterest board here), I decided to go with something slightly seasonal to get me through the cold months. While “IT’S F#CKING COLD OUT” was a definite option on the phrase list, I decided to go with “COME ON IN THERE’S WINE” so as to not offend the mailman.

What you need:

• Doormat (I found mine at Home Depot)
• Spray Adhesive
• Black Spray paint
• Craft Paper (I bought a big green sheet of paper at CVS)
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Exacto Knife
• A handlful of push pins

Instructions:

1. Decide on a phrase. This is by far the hardest part.
2. Map out your phrase on the craft paper, using a pencil and ruler. While many people end up printing out a font, I don’t have a printer and my block lettering skillz are okay so I decided to do it by hand. Other option is to print your letters, cut them out, trace them and then cut them out again. Whatever floats your boat.
3. After the phrase is mapped, exacto-knife out all of the lines, remembering where you need to have color, and where you don’t. I almost cut across the lines of the triangles in the N’s a few times when I wasn’t supposed to. ALSO remember to keep the inside of your O’s (and your R’s, A’s, B’s D’s, P’s and Q’s if you have them. This is essential.)
4. Go outside and spray adhesive on your mat. Make sure it wait a minute so it can get sticky.
5. Lay your stencil to your mat, pressing down to build a connection. Don’t worry, the doormat is porous and the stencil won’t be down for too long, so it’s best to try to lay this as flat as possible. If I could go back and do any part of this over, I would spend more time here to adhere the two pieces. It will help you get as clean lines as possible.
6. Add in the middle of the characters, and pin them down so they stay.
7. Consider pinning down any other little bits that won’t stay flush.
8. Shake the spray paint like usual and start spraying in even strokes, over your stencil. This will take a few layers, so go back as necessary. You only get one shot! Make sure it’s black.
9. Let dry for 5 minutes.
10. Pull off the stencil and let dry for a few hours before putting out for people to step on!
11. Impress your friends with your DIY decor skills before they even walk in the door.