I've mentioned before about our penny posts, but perhaps you're new around these parts & haven't heard about this incredible project that my husband, Chris has been working on for several years (in his spare time).  

It all started back when we were pondering how we were going to decorate all the new posts Chris had erected in the yard.  Chris was leaning towards some sort of stonework, but I was concerned about it holding up to Edmonton's temperature extremes & then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit me that we should cover them all with pennies!  Looking back now, I'm sure if Chris could go back in time & take that idea out of my head, he would, but instead, he agreed that it was a pretty cool suggestion & that's when it all began...

It took a bit of trial and error to figure out the very best way to put the pennies up so they would stay on for good.  Unfortunately, there was no simple way to deal with them so this is how Chris has dealt with each & every penny:

First he cleans the pennies & separates them according to dates.

He drills a hole in each penny ~ some to the side & some in the middle depending on where they're going to be placed, whether on the edge of the post or in the centre. He uses 2 different size drill bits to make the holes in the pennies.  One for the standard stainless steel nails that he uses for the majority of them & a larger size drill bit for the copper nails he uses for special pennies such as our birthdays 1972 & 1974, older pennies with a different metal composition & centennials.

He hot gun glues a section of a post area & pushes each penny into place.

Then he hammers the hole of the penny with his nails to secure them. 

 * I didn't even mention all preparation before he put the pennies on, like collecting so many of them & all the trim he cuts & paints around each post... it's been a massive undertaking!

As you can see, beer is a great encourager. :)  

This is the front early last spring, completed the fall before ~  

Last summer he moved on to the backyard posts.  He started with the gate area ~  

And continued with the posts by the back door ~

Just stunning!

And as last summer wound down, he made it all the way to the hot tub area before he had to pack it in for the winter ~

This summer he started back up again ~ go Chris go!

Even the squirrel was impressed!

He still has a couple more posts to go.  Areas where there's too much vegetation now so he'll have to wait until next year to complete, but I think about those posts often.  I'm just so darn proud of him & truly admire his commitment & determination to tackle such a huge project.  Thank you Chris for your hard work creating these incredible penny posts!