Sunday’s are made to unwind…
I picked up this plain bath mat from Ikea a few weeks back and thought it was crying out for a little DIYing. Ikea is great for cheap, plain homeware you can add your own spin to. I had some fabric paint left over in my cupboard so wanted to recreate an interior trend I’ve seen all over the highstreet recently, the slogan bath mat. Here’s how I made my DIY slogan bath mat…
Materials:
Bath mat, Ikea
Fabric paint, Dylon
Sponge
Paint brushes
Cutting mat & knife
Yarn for tassels
Creating the stencil
The first decision to make was what I was going to write on my mat so I started to search on Pinterest and saved some ideas over on my interiors board. I decided on the word UNWIND as it would be straight forward to cut out when printed in big bold letters. It also reflected a relaxing bath time soak well. Using Microsoft Word (old school, I know), I created my slogan by setting the A4 paper to landscape and printing the word UNWIND (size 180 bold) out over two pages.
I then carefully cut out each letter using a scalpel and a cutting mat. Finding the centre of the mat I began printing using the stencil and a sponge dipped in black fabric paint. As the mat had a honeycomb effect to the fabric, I had to press down hard to fill some of the gaps with that paint. I continued printing until I’d almost filled all the letters with the paint, keeping the middle section of the D held in place to stop it moving.
To finish off the letters I removed the stencil and grabbed a paint brush to fill in any gaps.
Top tip: If I was to do this DIY again, I would use card instead of paper to provide added support when printing.
Making the tassels
Whilst the lettering was drying I made some tassels to place around the edges of my DIY slogan bath mat. I love making tassels, not only do they add that little extra touch but are surprisingly easy to make too.
To make them I wrapped a few lengths of yarn around my fingers and tied up the top, before cutting the loops at the end to create the tassel. I then attached them to my mat using a chunky sewing up needle and some yarn.
Lastly to finish off my mat I heat sealed the lettering by ironing the word on a high setting for 2-3 minutes over a clean tea towel. This allows the lettering to get wet or be washed without the paint running.
What do you think?
I love how this DIY slogan bath mat turned out and it only took an hour to whip up. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon make! I think it adds a little bit of fun to my bathroom. I can’t wait to chill out in the bath tonight with a good book and some scented candles!
Anna x
Want to try some more Ikea hacks?
DIY crate side table with hairpin legs
What a cute mat that is! Would love to try that too! But with another word!^^