Pole Bean Teepee, Mini-greenhouses & DIY Table "Refinishing"

Today was quite the project day. In addition to doing a major spring cleaning on the house and gardening outside, Lucas and I put the Blue Lake Pole Beans in around his teepee, protecting them from the chicken all the while, and gave our dining table a facelift. Here are the pics and instructions.

POLE BEAN TEEPEE

Our teepee has nine 8-foot poles cut from saplings, with a wide opening on one side for the doorway. It is tied together at the top with sinew.

Here is one of our bean babies. They sprouted about a week ago. The minute I planted them in the ground the chicken came over and pecked off half a leaf -- but I was ready for her!

We've been saving milk jugs and other containers all winter and cutting the bottoms off to make mini-greenhouses for our tender seedlings. This will also protect them from Phoenix, our hungry lady!

TABLE - REDO!

This winter I saved Plant catalogs, Better Home & Garden and National Geographic Magazines, and cut the prettiest flower and plant pictures out, including some neat waterfalls and forests from around the world (Thanks NGM!) I saved these up all winter while I watched my cheap IKEA dinner table get more and more scratched up.

Finally, today was a nice warm day with little wind, so I took the table outside and spray-primed it gray (that's what was on-hand.)

I used a paintbrush and clear acrylic paint as "glue" to paste down the pictures on the table top. The thinner catalogue pages rippled a little bit, but I smoothed them down as best I could. I covered the whole thing with a couple coats of the clear paint, and the used a two-part epoxy "liquid glass" to make a very smooth table top that will resist just about ANYTHING.

Et, Voila! It is particularly nice with these iron chairs we picked up a few years ago at an antique shop. My husband thinks the table is very pretty, if not masculine. Myself, just thinking about this table all winter got me through the dreary days.