I’m so in love with my new baseball front door decor! And by the looks of my Facebook page, so are you! It’s been one of my most popular posts being viewed over 158,000 times and shared over 1300 times already. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE?????? Thanks so much for sharing that like a jillion times! You guys are amazing!!!
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So let’s get to the instructions. This is SUPER easy. It just takes some time to gather your supplies. First, you need a cheap baseball base set like the one you can order HERE. They are not expensive and I love them because the bases are super lightweight!
You are going to want to stain or glaze your home plate because you don’t want it to look crisp white. You want it to look PLAYED ON! I used some gel stain that I had at home in a Dark Walnut color and thinned it out with a bit of paint thinner so it wouldn’t get too dark. I just rubbed it on with a sponge. This is a 30 second deal.
I have a video showing me staining the plate . Click on it above or click here to watch . Let that dry overnight. I checked the next day and it did not scratch or rub off, so it’s durable!
I used a ginormous sharpie to “paint” the edges of the home plate so that it looked “official”. For something like this, a sharpie is perfect. Paint tends to peel off rubber. This sharpie doesn’t look too perfect which again, makes the base look “used” and the marker just soaked right in!
We found an amazing “stitch” tape that makes life so much easier. It took awhile to get here and was an international shipment, so I found you an easier one to get HERE. The background on these tapes is totally transparent, so you can see the base right thru it! It made the stitching a breeze! Yes you could paint it on, but why when they make this? LOL. We just taped right over the glazing. Stuck perfect!!!
The saying in the middle of the plate is a sticker set from Hobby Lobby. I did have to use super glue to get the sticker to stay adhered to the rubber because the edges wanted to roll on it just a tiny bit. But it was enough to bug me. You could also you an epoxy glue. And I have an idea for someone: if you don’t like the sticker, you could always hang a little sign or an initial in the middle of the base or a jersey number. Send me pics if you do!
To punch the holes thru the top of the base to hang it by, I used a leather hole punch. I’ve had these for a minute but I found you a set online HERE. These things are handier to have around than I ever presumed they would be! I punched the holes in the outside of the top of the base and didn’t even consider that when the holes are that far apart, it bends the base when you hang it. So my advice is to put the holes even closer than I did …. that way the base will have less tendency to roll and will lay flat against your door.
ADDED NOTE: I also glued a paint stick to the back of this to keep it laying flat against my door.
I used paracord (in royal blue … go Kansas City Royals) to make a the “hanging” part and I purchased a pre-made burlap bow from Hobby Lobby cuz’ I stink at bow making. Add that to my list of things I can’t do…. right behind cooking and cleaning and sewing! Ha!
And there it is!!!!! I LOVE how this pops on my front door and I can tell you that the BLACK EDGE made all the difference in the world, so don’t skip that! This would make a GREAT gift idea for a baseball coach, a baseball fanatic or a Father’s Day gift!
If you are more of a visual learner, I have one more video for you. I was on local Fox 4 News in Kansas City this week demoing how to make this home plate decor. You can see the segment HERE. (PS. I talk super fast. PSS. Do you say pe-ONY or PE-ony??)
If you loved this tutorial, I’d love to hear from you below. As always, feel free to use the “pin it” buttons on each of the photos so you can save it to your Pinterest account!
I can’t wait to see what YOU come up with!
Blessings and baseball,
Jennifer
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Would you be willing to sell these?
I need it as well!
I could not get the link to work for the baseball stitching tape, do you have another link? I have been trying to find this tape and was so excited to find your post.