These super simple and inexpensive DIY personalized trivets (coaster versions would be great too) made me so happy! \u00a0This was the first time I\u00a0made\u00a0my own stencils and tried altering cork trivets–I had no idea if this would work (especially stenciling on\u00a0heavily textured cork), but I’m so glad I tried something new. It was so much fun!\u00a0I can’t wait for my hubby to come home (he’s on a business trip) so I can surprise\u00a0him these personalized trivet gifts of our fur babies (different versions of this could be done for hostess gifts, baby showers, house warming, so much more–monogram, baby silhouette, house with move in date).<\/p>\n

<\/a>I found silhouette profile images of a Havanese (actually it was a Shitsu but they have similar silhouettes) and a Poodle online and digitally tweaked them to look more like my Biscuit and Bandito. \u00a0Then I greyed out the image (I wanted to use less of my black printer ink) and printed them out on card stock.\u00a0Carefully hand\u00a0cutting out the images with my favorite fussy cutting Fiskars 5 Inch Titanium Micro-Tip Easy Action Scissors<\/a><\/span> and X-Acto #2 Knife<\/a><\/span>\u00a0took a little time, but the whole time I was smiling since the images started to look more and more like my fur babies.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Then with the\u00a0DecoArt Americana Premium Stencil Brush Set<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and a little white acrylic paint, I stenciled in the negative areas of the doggy stencils I had made. Since the IKEA trivets ($2.99) come in a three-pack, I decided to try using the positive poodle\u00a0silhouette image as a mask and stenciled all around it (see top photo) for the last trivet.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure how well these images will endure with heavy use, but I’m not too worried since they were so fast and easy to make and I LOVE them! \u00a0Plus, my guess\/hope is that the cork will have absorbed the thin layers of acrylic paint well enough so that even with some wear and tear the images will simply look a little more distressed.<\/p>\n

The following is a process video with some helpful tips and tricks for making these personalized trivets:<\/p>\n