I know some of you are asking…. what is a trivet!?!? And why do I need to make one!?!? Well a trivet is an “object” placed between a serving dish and your table to protect your table from heat and/or moisture. Handy little thing really. In “olden days” these were come place items in the kitchen and on the table and could be made out of many types of materials…. wood, iron, or today, how about corkboard! Why do you need to make one (or a bunch)? Because you can make them in any shape or design your little heart desires! Of course you knew mine would be farm animals!
You’re all excited now, aren’t you? You know you want to make a few and they are pretty simple to do! First you need some corkboard. I found mine at an office supply store. You need to find an outline for the image you want your trivet to look like. I did a Google search for different animal outline images, aka cow, chicken, pig, etc. I right clicked on the images and saved them to my desktop. I then went into a word program, hit insert, and placed the image on the document. Once you have it there you can adjust the size to fit your needs.
After printing out the images and cutting them out, I tracked them onto the corkboard with a marker. I placed a piece of cardboard under the corkboard so I didn’t cut my table and grabbed my utility knife. Go slow and use steady pressure as you cut. Images with less detail are so much easier to do. Corkboard can be a crumbly material and if you have lots of little points, they could fall off before they even get to your table. How do I know? See those roosters I am making into a set of coasters? Yeah, I totally rounded the tails…. experience…. No little points!!! Once I had my image cut out, I sealed it with a homemade solution of half water/half white glue. This gave the trivet (or coasters, or noteboards…. you really have a lot of options on this project depending on the size of corkboard you buy!) anyway, it gives your piece a tad more stability (aka all the little pieces don’t go chipping off at the edges.)
Now tell me these aren’t stinking cute! And they are useful!! And just think of the gift giving possibilities with these bad boys! You can totally knock the socks of your family and friends by giving them a homemade gift AND being able to tell them what a trivet is!! What out Jeopardy, here we come!
I have lots of trivets 🙂 My kids made me 2 in ceramics classes years ago. What a great idea!
This project is so fun. If your kids are safe (old enough) they could make you some corkboard ones too this summer!
Love this idea Mindie. I will be trying it out as soon as possible. thanks for sharing and for the detailed instructions, too! – Janet
Happy trivet making!
I have metal and wooden trivets and I love them! Great idea with the cork board. 🙂
Thanks Lila!
Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe on #TheWeekendSocial on http://mccallumsshamrockpatch.wordpress.com/
Loved your DIY project and definitely look forward to seeing future projects to DIY!!!
XoXo
Heidy
Thanks for hosting
I bet some cookie cutters would make a nice pattern. Thanks for linking up!!
Thanks for popping by!
Thanks for sharing these at last week's party! Your post is one of the features for this week's Fabulously Frugal Thursday party!
Awww thanks!!
Do the cork trivets get marked up or burnt when placing hot pots or dishes on them? Should or can they be sealed prior to use? Just wondering since I just finished burning images on some cork trivets, but don't want hot dishes to destroy the images.
Cork has a natural occurring fire retardant in it which makes means they can absorb a lot of heat before burning. I doubt your pots or dishes will be at a temp that is hotter then what you used to burn the images on the trivets. Cork doesn't absorb much and that is why it is used in wine bottles, so sealing it is not necessary.