Jun

      When I was a little girl, my grandparents had the best backyard. They had a swimming pool, a huge tree for climbing, a vegetable garden and more flowers than I imagined possible, at five years old. My brother and sisters and I spent our summers back there, until they sold the house when I was 12, eating watermelon with my grandpa and helping my grandma collect sweet peas from the trellis beside the pool. Those flowers bloomed all summer long, it seemed, never running out of blooms for my grandma’s kitchen table or for us to take home, the stems wrapped in damp paper towel. 

      I recently moved to a new apartment with a rooftop patio and I was both excited and nervous to try growing my own sweet peas. My gram said “You just need full sun!” (and being on the roof, we definitely have plenty) while my mom added “And a little patience!” (of which I’m usually in short supply). I was sceptical. I have a black thumb. I was the kid who over-watered her little grass seeds in Kindergarten. When plants see me coming, they cower in their pots. But I followed all the directions on the sweet pea seed packet and hovered over them every morning for 2 weeks, looking for little green shoots. 

       I’m getting to the crafty part, I promise. 

      My gram wasn’t lying. Full sun and a little patience. After two weeks, I saw those tiny leaves and I now have sprawling seedlings – I might even go so far as to call them actual plants – with long tendrils that entangle themselves with one another instead of growing straight up.  

My pretty sweet pea seedlings, that insist on curling around one another.

      And thus the simple sweet pea trellis. Some balsa wood, a few popsicle sticks and a selection of pretty beads because I’m too impatient to wait for the colour of the flowers and need to have something pretty until they bloom. And just imagine how fun the beads will look winking through the flowers when they DO bloom. 

      This little screen cost me under $20 (and it would have been under $10 if I hadn’t needed glue).  

What you need: 

2 3” lengths of balsa wood (I got mine at DeSerres), cut in half

10+ plain extra-wide popsicle sticks

1 jar Outdoor Mod Podge + small paintbrush

Beads, sparkles, etc. 

The ingredients! P.S. I love Mod Podge. I can't wait until I have a project that requires me to buy SPARKLY Modge Podge.

Arrange the balsa wood vertically, about 3 inches apart. Place popsicle sticks in desired pattern, keeping in mind how long you’d like the screen to be. Use the brush to apply Outdoor Mod Podge as glue where the balsa wood and popsicle sticks meet. Hold down at these connectors to allow glue to bond. When you’ve completed the design, glue your beads to the screen wherever you like. You could even use broken china pieces or buttons, if beads aren’t your thing. Allow to dry for at least an hour (I left mine for two) before taking outside. Press the bottom of the screen into the soil, careful not to squish delicate seedlings.

And then we wait. Impatient for the sweet peas to show me the beauty (I obviously say this like Cuba Gooding, Jr. said ‘Show me the money’ in Jerry Maguire). 

Shes Crafty