Mosaic Trivet

I have every kitchen item imaginable, yet every time I bake something I find myself scrambling to find something to sit a hot cookie sheet or caserol dish on other than my stove or counter. It occurred to me that I should attempt to make something. I went to Hobby Lobby, purchased some mosaic tiles, and grout and headed home to create. I grabbed some 6x6 pieces of wood from my dad's shop and some superglue. This was my first attempt at making a trivet so there are definitely a few things I'd do differently. Here was the end result:

Things I'd do differently:
1. Seal the wood first! This seems obvious, but I didn't think about it. The moisture from the grout made it bow slightly, but this was easy to fix. If you seal it quick before gluing tiles down and applying the grout, this can be prevented.
2. Use smooth tiles. My tiles had texture to them, making the grout a pain to remove completely.

Since I completed this project pre-blog, I don't have a step-by-step photo tutorial. However, it's fairly simple.

You'll need:
A 6x6 (or however big you'd like) piece of wood
Mosaic Tiles
Grout
Super glue
Polyurethane spray
A small sponge
Felt/Cork (optional)

1. Apply a coat of polyurethane to the piece of wood to help seal it. This will prevent the wood from warping due to moisture.
2. Arrange the tiles on the wood first, before gluing them down. Once you have a pattern you're happy with, apply a small amount of glue to the tile to secure it. Be sure to leave a little space between the tiles for your grout.
3. After all of your tiles are glued down, apply grout between the tiles. It's ok if you cover your tiles in grout, this can be removed later.
4. Refer to your grout container for drying times. Once grout has dried, you can use a sponge to wipe away excess grout. In my case, my tiles were textured and I had to spend a lot of time using a toothpick to remove grout from the crevices in my tile.
5. If cracks appear after your grout has dried, reapply a small amount of grout. I watered down a small amount of grout and painted it over the cracks to help seal.
6. Once the grout is completely dry, you can give your trivet another coat of polyurethane spray to seal it.
7. If you'd like you can add some felt or cork to the bottom of your trivet.

Ironically enough, I made this before I even searched for a place to buy similar items. So in search of something similar for my blog, I came across this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/48591986/mid-mod-mosaic-trivet?ref=sr_gallery_30&ga_includes%5B0%5D=materials&ga_search_query=metal&ga_noautofacet=1&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_facet=vintage%2Fserving%2Fbutter_dish on Etsy. It looks a lot like mine! So if you would rather buy, here you go!