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Geek Chic: Binary Doormat Knock-off

Wowsers! I have been so excited to share my knock-off binary doormat with you! About a month ago, Digital Man gently pointed out that we really needed a new doormat for our front door. Our old doormat was torn, dirty, and generally gross.  So the search for a new doormat began. 

It might seem silly to be picky about a doormat, but your front door is a major part of the curb appeal that gives visitors a first impression of your home and family. One of the biggest problems that I had is that most of the doormats that I really liked were $40+. That is way more than I want to spend on something that gets dirty shoes wiped all over it. I'm cheap that way, but let's call it frugality.

I really liked the look of coir mats, but I was looking for something kind of fun and unique. Ultimately I whipped up this awesome Binary Doormat! It is a Geek Chic nod to Digital Man's career. It says "Welcome" in binary.


I was inspired by this doormat that you can purchase from ThinkGeek for $39.99. That is unless you want to DIY like me.

To make my Binary Doormat, I purchased the Double-Border Panama Weave Doormat at Walmart (Shhh! It's only $6.97, don't tell my secret ;0) 


 I used Cloister Black font found at Dafont.com to form my binary code, cause it's more of my Analog style. Then I used a light table to trace the image onto Freezer Paper. Yes, that's right Freezer Paper. You should be able to buy it on the same aisle as the plastic wrap and aluminum foil in your local grocery or big box store.


Using a pen knife, I followed the lines I had traced onto freezer paper to cut out the stencil, making sure to keep the centers for the 0's. I taped the freezer paper stencil onto the doormat to hold it in place so I could iron the stencil on. First I ironed on the main stencil, then I ironed on the centers of each 0.


My original plan was to paint the mat blue, but the color I used was too light for my tastes. I ended up whipping out the black spray paint to get the job done. I didn't paint the mat immediately after ironing it. In fact, I painted several days later (don't judge me). Thus, I experienced some seepage due to a weaker seal. Next time I use a freezer paper stencil I'm going to remember to paint right after ironing. When I pulled off the freezer paper I had this awesome doormat! It has already been quite the conversation starter!


You can even create different messages in binary using a binary to text (ASCII) converter.


 Linking up to:
Childmade
The Girl Creative monogram HookingupwithHoH







12 comments:

  1. This is a cute doormat! I like it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. OMGoodness, that is so cute! I am a former cobol programmer and I appreciate the humor! I would love for you to share this at my party!
    http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/2011/11/rock-n-share-wednesday.html

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  3. I cannot wait to show my husband in the morning! He's gonna think this rocks! (hmmm...possible Christmas gift idea...) Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Wow... this is such a great idea! I can't get over how great it turned out. I will be adding this to my project list. AJ@queenofmynest

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  5. Very clever! The possiblities are endless with designs too. Great idea.

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog recently. I sure do hope you will be back again soon and please link up any pinterest posts that you might have too!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha.

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  6. I really L.O.V.E. your tutorial.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  7. cute! found you on knock-off decor. It wouldn't have occurred to me either that the seal would loosen over time - though i wonder whether with something as rough as a doormat it might be hard to get a good seal anyway.

    anyway, you've reminded me that we also need a new doormat, and we have a new walmart nearby! hooray! (it was ridiculous before - we live in a major metropolitan area and the nearest walmart was an hour away. how is that even possible?)

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  8. I really love this, but I made the mistake of showing it to my programmer husband who went off on a 15 minute monologue on how no one writes in binary, how hex is way easier to read, and then he got irritated that the first letter wasn't even an uppercase letter. *sigh* I still love it, but my husband is silly. Thanks for sharing with us! :P

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  9. My kids and I just made this for my husband for Christmas. They LOVED being involved. To make it more kid friendly, I cut potatoes and let the kids stamp the mat with potatoes and paint. It didn't turn out as perfectly straight as yours, but it is so adorable. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  10. Just finished this today as a gift for my son. I was lucky -- my husband owns a plotter (like for printing blueprints), and he spent the time to print it out for me! One shortcut I found was to print the whole pattern directly on the freezer paper instead of using a light box and tracing the letters. If I had been doing the project without hubby, I'd have drawn guide lines on the freezer paper, made plastic templates of the letters to trace around, measured to determine the spacing (add total width of letters, subtract from available width, and then divide -- a little nerd in me, too!) and then completed the pattern. Hope my son likes it!

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I {L.O.V.E} comments! I read and value each one. Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think!