One of the most common junk drawer staples is Chinese takeaway food chopsticks. We all save them, but ultimately will probably never, ever use them. Recycling chopsticks into a handy trivet is a great example of form and function: The recycled result looks like a wooden starburst, and your countertops will breathe a sigh of relief the next time you place a hot pot of stew on top. Your precious marble or wood countertop would thank you if it could.
Material you need
about 60 Chinese takeaway food chopsticks
PVA glue (or hot glue gun)
scissors
How to make it
Glue four chopsticks into a square or five into a hexagon. It is all up to you on whatever design you want. Maybe is a good idea to try few options before gluing chopsticks together. Play with shapes.
When you certain about design, glue the chopsticks on the top of the base shape in a concentric circle, varying the lengths as you go along. You can create any pattern you want.
Once they are dry, use snips of smaller pieces of chopsticks to reinforce the entire trivet on the bottom by gluing them into place. More chopsticks you have on the bottom, your trivet will be firmer.
Good thing about this project is that you have cheap material and you can play with it. If you have a simple wooden chopsticks, you can paint them in different colours and colour will additionally improve your design.
This project could be real fun even for the children creative class, when they could play with numerous combinations of shapes and colours.