DIY Hand Painted Cork Trivets

 The majority of foods I like to eat tend to be made for sharing, I'm just that kind of sharing caring person. But I've found that if you're going to share food, it often means lots of dishes (although don't get me wrong I'm a huge believer in One Pan, Two Plates and less washing up!). And lots of dishes means me grabbing all the tea towels I have and shamefully sometimes oven gloves to rest hot dishes on to prevent my already scarred pine table from being scorched.

So I knew when I saw these cork trivets for next to nothing in Tiger I had to have them for the prevention of pine table trauma everywhere. Before taking on this global issue I started small, customizing my trivets with an all black and cork theme and bright red rim. This DIY is super easy and thinking about it after, it could be a really fun activity for you to do with little ones in the summer with them painting their own 'picture' with water-based non-toxic acrylic on the corkboard and using it there after at family meal times.

DIY Hand Painted Cork Trivets

Cork trivets

White chalk

Acrylic paint (I used black and red)

Paintbrushes (larger brushes to do areas like inside the chevrons and a thin brush for the edges and writing)

Water or white spirit (depending on whether you're using water based acrylic)

Polyurethane spray

Old newspapers

Step 1. Lightly sketch out your design in chalk on the cork boards, you can do this in pencil if you're feeling super confident but I used chalk because you can easily wipe it off afterwards with a piece of kitchen towel if you don't end up following the design when you paint it out. 

Step 2. Paint the design on to the cork trivet using your acrylic paint, depending on what type of acrylic paint you use will depend on whether you use water or white spirit to loosen the paint and clean your brushes. I used a water-based acrylic paint so went with water, I would use water-based acrylic if you're going to be making these with kids. Let it dry, if you decide to use a light colour paint you might want to do two or three coats so you get the colour you want, for example, I only used one coat of paint for the black on my trivet but two coats of paint for the red. You don't have to use paintbrushes to make your design either, I made the spotty trivet using a wine cork which I pressed down with varying amounts of paint to get different shaded spots.

Step 3. Let the face of the trivet completely dry before you paint the sides. Hold the trivet like a frisbee and paint around the edge to get the coloured rim pictured. You'll want to let it dry once you've gone all the way round and then flip it over and paint the edge again. Flipping it over mean you get to fill in all the parts you missed when holding it the other way. 

Step 4. Once the trivet is dry and you're happy with the design you'll want to seal it in. The polyurethane spray stops the paint from peeling off when you place something hot on it and the paint sticking to the underside of your pan. Without it, the paint is not heat proof and there may be many ruined dishes. You'll want to follow the spray's instructions for use. Mine was to do one coat at 30cm away spraying evenly over the design and rim and leaving it to dry for an hour before using it. Spray this outside to avoid getting varnish everywhere and ruining your furnishings. 

Step 5. After waiting the allotted amount of time cook a huge meal to share with your loved ones. I recommend bacon and sausage lentils with a huge salad! 

Happy Eating!