Colorful Doormat Part 2

Ok so by now our doormat slates should be primed, sealed and dried! On to Part 2...!

SUPPLIES:

• 14 Different Colors of Paint
• Paint Brushes
• Thick Rope (it has to fit through the holes you drilled!)
• Scissors

DIRECTIONS:

1) Pick your color layout! I chose 14 different colors from the Martha Stewart Paint Testers I bought at Home Depot.  Once you've chosen them, paint each board.  I did a few coats on each and painted the entire thing, not just the top.  

2) Let them dry

3) Rope them together!  This is actually more complex then it seems.  I estimated the length of the rope needed, cut it longer for a margin of error (I think I did like 6 ft) and dipped the end in glue so it was easier to thread (it was kinda split before).  Now take your rope, tie a knot about 3 inches from the end, take a board and thread the longer side (not the 3 inch end) through the the hole in the board. Once you've strung it all the way through the 6 ft rope strand to the 3 inch knot tie another knot on the other side.  String one side of each board this way until you've done all 14.  They should all be on the same string with nothing but a rope knot between them. Like this... 

 It was ok with me if they were a bit uneven because I am really into the homemade imperfect look.  I do blame the Home Depot guy though!

Oh and here is a bonus photo of my cat Monster he decided to rest in the box that my boards where drying on once I took them off of the top :)

4) Now do the exact same thing to the other side, loop them through and knot them. 

You're done and it hopefully looks similar to this now!...

Tada! I really LOVE it. 

 These photos do not do the colors justice, I am going to take a day light photo and post it soon!

How did yours turn out? What did you do differently?

Colorful Doormat Part 1

This project is by far one of my favorites.  I have been attempting to redo my house in a way to make it less 'store bought' and more homemade. I decided the easiest way to do this would be room by room so I decided to start with the porch/entrance.  That is where the whole doormat idea came in.  I wanted my guests to be greeted with something cute, colorful and original.  So, here is my How-To for my summery cute doormat- Part 1!

SUPPLIES:

• 14 pieces of wood cut 1"x2"x14"
• A Drill
• Primer/Sealer
• Sand Paper 
• A Paint Marker

*A side note- OK so you need 14 pieces of wood that are 14 inches long, 1 inch tall and 2 inches wide.  How do you get that? Well, I went to Home Depot (Home Depot!) and I purchased three 8 foot long pieces of wood that were 1 inch tall by 2 inches wide (they were like .75 cents each.)  Then I asked the nice man working (who actually wasn't that nice) to cut them into 14 inch pieces for me.  They do it for free, you just buy the wood and tell them how you want it cut.  Then you walk around a bit and check back periodically until your pieces are cut! When I came back I actually had 18 pieces because you could get six 14 inch pieces per board.  I didn't want a super long doormat though so I only used 14, spares are always great though for mistake purposes!

DIRECTIONS:

1) Ok, on to step one! Now, you have 14 1x2x14 inch pieces of wood you are going to want to drill two holes in each one through the 2 inch width of the board.  I chose to do it 2 inches from each end.  I took a paint marker and on the "sides" of each piece I made 2 marks two inches from the end. Be careful when you drill because sometimes a large drill will split the wood and make it unusable.  I actually drilled a small hole in the correct location and then drilled the larger hole so there was less stress on the wood. 

*You must make sure that holes are across from each other and will meet up in the middle when you drill through.  This requires you to drill STRAIGHT through from one side to the other.  Here is an image to help explain better... Basically, do this to each side...

2) Ok so hopefully you've now drilled two holes straight through each board two inches from the end and through the width.  Now you are going to need to sand the wood until it's smooth.  When you drill it sometimes splits the wood weird so you are going to need to do some serious sanding in some areas.

3) Lay your boards out and spray paint them with your primer/sealer.  I used an 'all in one' because I am slightly impatient and thought it would be easier and more efficient to knock them both out at once but you can do it separately if you'd like!

Let it dry! Part one COMPLETE!

Did you use different dimensions or amount of boards for your doormat?