Guest Author - Lisa Shea

An easy gift to make for yourself or others is a homemade decorated tile trivet. This is also a perfect project for kids to make as holiday presents.

Start at your local hardware store, and get a few pieces of ceramic tile. Tile can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes - from smooth to rough, from square to round to rectangular and more. The range of colors you can get tile in is just astounding. You can get patterns, single colors, abstract designs and very specific realistic animals as well.

Yes, there are very expensive tile options out there, but you could be able to easily find something inexpensive that it still pretty.

Next, the tile bottom. Depending on your skill with cutting, you can create a wood base of the proper size to hold the tile, or you could make something out of thick cardboard. This trivet is just going to "sit" on a table, so it does not need to be structurally able to hold 500 pounds. It just needs to keep the hot pot from resting on the actual table surface.

Glue the tile down to that support in whatever design pattern seems pretty to you. Make sure you give it time to set properly. Make sure the craft paint you get is resistant to heat, so that people can put hot pots onto the tile.

Next, to protect the table itself from scratches. You can get a few little cork stick-on dots to put on the bottom, so that the tile does not scratch up your table. Another option, if the tile tends to sag in the center, is to just layer the entire bottom of the tile creation with felt.

Now you're ready to decorate! If you chose very decorative tile you might be happy with the way it looks now - but if you went with a simple tile you might want to use a decorative pen and draw on some designs. Make sure any pen you use is permanent on the tile, and will not rub off with handling.

You're done! Once you get the hang of trivet making, it can really be a lot of fun. Let your imagination be your guide! You can make up tiles for every season, or tiles to match the room decor. This becomes in expensive dining decor that brightens your world every time you sit down to eat.

If it's a family present, have everyone in the family make a little decoration on it and sign it. This can easily become a cherished family heirloom! You could create a special tile to hold birthday cakes, and another one for Thanksgiving dinner. The possibilities are endless!