It’s the beginning of August. I’m not saying I have all of my fall decorations out already, but… a few of them might have snuck out of their storage containers. (And my neighbors definitely think I’m crazy.)
I love the holidays, and since we’ve been spending more time at home, I figured I might as well start prepping for Halloween!
For me, that means a new Halloween welcome mat made with my Cricut.
If you browse through the Halloween section of my blog, you’ll likely notice that my two favorite Halloween movies are Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus.
Last year I decorated a strange and unusual Beetlejuice cake, complete with a green drip and black and white stripes. And this year, I’m planning even more Beetlejuice-inspired recipes and home decor, starting with this DIY Beetlejuice doormat. After all, visitors need to be warned about the sandworms.
DIY Beetlejuice Welcome Mat — ‘Beware of Sandworms’
What You Need:
- Plain coir rug
- Outdoor acrylic paint — black, white, yellow, pink, teal, red
- Foam paint brush
- Small, fine paint brush
- Card stock paper
- Straight pins
- Cricut Explore Air II and cutting accessories (mat, weeder)
- Beware of Sandworms File — DOWNLOAD
First thing first, let’s talk rugs. I buy all of my plain rugs from IKEA and decor them according to the tips given by Just DIY Decor. They are WAY more affordable than if you buy them off of Amazon or even from craft stores. IKEA sells their plain coir rugs in two sizes. To fit my porch, I chose the smaller size which is roughly 23.5 inches wide by 15.5 inches tall.
To start, download the file(s) found in the list above and cut them out using your Cricut Explore Air II (or by hand).
Weed the letters off of your cutting mat and place the larger phrase pieces of remaining paper in the middle of your rug. Make sure to place the inner pieces of the letters, as well, like the inside pieces from the ‘B’.
Repeat the process to weed off the smaller, inner pieces of the sandworm files, then arrange them around the edge of the mat.
After confirming the spacing you’re after, use straight pins to secure your templates in place.
For the next step, you may want to wear gloves, as it is helpful to hold down the pieces of paper while you are painting to keep them in place.
Start by painting the white sections of your sandworm sections to give them time to dry. Dip your sponge paint brush in white paint (you’ll want to have a good coating of paint on your sponge) and dab the sponge on the area you are trying to cover. Be careful to only dab up and down so that you do not accidentally move or paint under the pieces of your stencil. Take your time painting and, if needed, add a second coat of paint to get your desired paint thickness on your mat.
Next, use black paint to cover the stencil openings for the letters.
NOTE — Let me add that for each painted rug I’ve made, I’ve always feared that I might have to scrap the entire project and start over. My smaller pieces would shift while I was painting, the paint wasn’t as thick as I wanted, and I could not imagine it coming out legible at all. However, each time it has worked out! Moral of the story, if you feel like you’re doing a bad job, finish the project and then decide at the end if it turned out or not.
Okay, now back to the instructions!
After painting over your words, let your mat dry. Once the paint is no longer wet (or earlier if you’re impatient like I am), slowly and carefully lift off your stencils.
Next, use black paint and your sponge brush to add a border around each of your worm body pieces to create stripes and an outline around each piece.
Repeat for all of the “body” sandworm pieces.
Paint a black fin coming off of the sandwort’s head.
Add a teal lip to the larger sandworm head, then add a pink lining on the inside of the mouth.
For the smaller head, add a pink line along the inside of the mouth.
For eyes, add a red circle on the larger head and a yellow circle with a black pupil on the smaller head.
Using a thin, fine brush, add teeth on the inside of both mouths.
As a finishing touch, add a black and white tongue emerging from the smaller head’s mouth.
Let your rug dry entirely, then put it on display!
Whoa. Sandworms.
Find more Halloween projects and recipes, including some inspired by Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, to fuel your fall plans!
