Howdy HEY sweet friends! Just popping in again with another semi-quick/easy tutorial for ya to add to my ScrollSaw Workshop (AKA tons of creative scroll saw tutorials)! You know that plants are close to my heart (#crazyplantlady right here), and so I decided to cut some different leaf shapes out of wood (cutting boards!) with my scroll saw to make BOTANICAL TRIVETS! Are you not overwhelmed with excitement?! And I’ve included free scroll saw patterns for these as well! Come on now…
This post is sponsored by Mohawk and contains affiliate links. THANK YOU for supporting the fabulous brands that make Reality Daydream possible!
Supplies for Botanical Leaf Trivets
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Wooden (or bamboo) cutting boards (I bought this set of 3)
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Botanical Printables – below… printed on regular printer paper is fine!
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Scissors
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120 grit sandpaper (or an orbital sander if you have one)
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Scroll Saw (I have this one and it is soooooo GOOD!)
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Behlen SolarLux Dye in Green, Blue, and Yellow
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Start out by printing out the above Botanical Printables (which ever ones you want to use!), and cutting out the shapes with scissors. Use an Xacto knife for the inner pieces. If you want your trivets to be larger, please feel free to use the template with all the leaves on it and print it onto a transparency and use a projector. That way you can make it any size!
Lay out your paper stencil onto the cutting board, and trace it out with a pen or pencil.
Time to cut this sucka out with your scroll saw! I got a new scroll saw recently (this one!) and it is BOMB. It cuts like butter, is almost silent, and has so many features that I’m obsessed with. Here’s another one that’s very good an is in the ‘mid’ price range if you’re starting out. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to scroll saws! The pic below is of me cutting out one of the other botanical leaves, because I was filming the cutting out of the Monstera leaf above. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to take a screen grab from a video clip.
For those inner pieces that need to be cut out, drill holes in them that are large enough to string the scroll saw blade through… then cut them out one at a time!
Finally, sand it down until the protective finish is completely gone and you just have raw, porous wood! This took me about 10 seconds with my orbital sander. It might take you 2-3 minutes of hand-sanding.
Truthfully, you could just leave these trivets as-is. Because they’re GORGOUS as just raw wood (or in this case, bamboo).
But I wanted to add a little junglicious COLOR! So I got out my bright dye stains (Behlen Solar Lux Dye) that are fade resistant and dry SUPER fast. I decided to play mixologist and play around with mixing green with a bit of blue and a bit of yellow to get a variety of greens!
It goes on super dull and brownish, and quickly dries into a bright and vibrant color!
We used this Salad Bowl Finish to seal them… which is both food safe and heat safe! I love how organic these look… almost like watercolor!
I had way too much fun taking pictures of these. Don’t you feel like you’re having brunch on a tropical island?! Except with zero actual food.
And that one long leaf is big enough to comfortably fit a 9×13 pan or dutch oven!
If you have any questions, leave me a comment below! And as always, if you give one of our tutorials a try, tag us on social media so we can seeeeee! We’re @RealityDaydream on both Instagram and Facebook!
~Bethany
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Be sure to check out my mannnny other scroll saw posts by clicking the image below!
Thanks for pinning! <3
The positivity and optimism conveyed in this blog never fails to uplift my spirits Thank you for spreading joy and positivity in the world
This post hits close to home for me and I am grateful for your insight and understanding on this topic Keep doing what you do
I appreciate how well-researched and informative each post is It’s obvious how much effort you put into your work
Hi! Could you use a different type of wood for these and then seal them? What other types would you recommend? Love the project!!
Yes you could use any type of wood!
Did you print the templates on regular 81/2 x 11 paper? Also, how did you get the one trivet so big? Love the designs and the ability we have to print them out.
Thanks again, you two are awesome!!!
Beverly New
Hey Beverly! Yes I printed them on 8.5×11 paper. The one that I made larger I printed half on one page and half on the other, then taped them together! But you could also print it onto a transparency and project it onto your cutting board and trace. That way you could make it any size!
Really pretty! What made you choose the Beylen dye vs Unicorn Spit?
Hi Vicki! US would have worked for this too, but I love playing around with different brands… they’re all good for different reasons! I was a little worried that US would have a strong scent of jasmine when something hot was set on the trivet (jasmine and country fried steak don’t got well together… hehe!). This Beylen alcohol dye is very unique, thin as water, and dries within seconds. It works awesome for this application, but I wouldn’t use it for my shading with stain technique like I would with US 😉
Gotcha! I knew there was a reason but was not sure what it was!
Those are great. Love the colors….but I also love the wood one shown in the pictures with the silver bowls on it. Did you make that one too?
That’s actually a wooden cutting board y husband made. I love it too! We should really do a tutorial for one of those!
I think that would be a great tutorial and a project I would attempt….
Thanks,
Cindy
Can you recommend a scroll saw. I saw a link but it isn’t working anymore. Thank you!!!
Yes! This one is THE BEST!
https://amzn.to/2KuLOQU