Updates

Happy Friday everyone - Jummah Mubarak! 

It's been a slow week around here so no big reveal to share just yet, but the basement bathroom is almost finished! 

The shower is complete and the drywall is patched, all it needs is a fresh coat of paint and a little caulk around the trim. Then God-willing we'll be moving on to the kitchenette!

New potlights are going in today in the master closet - exciting stuff! So glad we had this done, it was uber dark in there before. 

Would have loved a pretty chandelier of course, but the potlights made more sense in a closet this size. Plus my parents had these fixtures leftover from their basement reno, so they were free!  

In other news, my beloved fiddle leaf fig tree is on it's last leaf, literally :(  

I had it in a spot with tons of light but it just hasn't adjusted well to the new house. I tried repotting it, talking to it, even reading Quran over it. I'm still hoping and praying it'll come back to life in the spring - any suggestions? 

Back next week with more deets on the bathroom  - enjoy your weekends :) 

DIY Penny Projects + A Winner!

I've been having so much fun going through all your fabulous DIY penny projects in the Value Village/Savers giveaway - a huge thank you to everyone who entered, as well as those who stopped by!

If you're looking for some penny inspiration or even just some eye candy, here's a look at the entries:

Tanya of Dans le Townhouse designed and created this stunning DIY penny ring from an old penny she found in her change after a trip to Value Village! I love this project so much - it's quick and easy but so so beautiful!

TicQuellia designed another gorgeous penny ring - she created her 'common cents' ring using pennies from years significant to her. What a great way to DIY a personal memento and a fabulous piece of statement jewellery! Follow TicQuellia at @ticquellia-elle. 

Jennifer created another special memento and a family heirloom - a beautiful penny bracelet featuring the year of her wedding and the birth years of herself, her husband, and her children! She attached the coins to a copper chain and the results are just stunning! Can you imagine how gorgeous this would look on?

Another easy DIY with gorgeous results comes from Jamie of Kreyv! She created this pretty penny vase using an oatmeal container and $2.50 in pennies. A couple coats of spray paint later and she had this cute textured vase!

This is the perfect idea if you love the shape and texture of pennies but aren't a huge fan of copper. I think it would be so cute as a piggy bank too! 

To put your pennies to work in your home decor, Crystal submitted her simple but ingenious idea to use pennies as curtain weights! She picked up some curtains at Value Village and sewed pennies into the hem every 6 inches - what a handy tip!

Another home decor project, Jennifer of Knit Wit on the Prairies DIYed this amazing penny tiled table just before saying goodbye to the Canadian for good. She used an old end table she had on hand and a piggy bank full of pennies to create her beautiful mosaic table top, and Jennifer's table has special significance too - she added a little cluster of pennies featuring the birth years of her family! 

Shannon's husband of C, Me & E loved the look of copper so much they decided to create this gorgeous penny tiled alcove wall. She wasn't originally a fan of the idea but I bet she loves it now! It took them about 4 days (and what I'm guessing was a ton of patience!) to attach each penny to their wall alcove using liquid nails. They used about $42 worth of pennies - not a bad investment for a showstopper of a wall! 

And finally we have an extreme DIY that is definitely not for the faint of heart! Ellen and her husband from The Sustainability Adventure built the eco-home of their dreams and recently added this incredible 16ft penny-tiled accent wall that is sure to blow you away! 

They used almost $200 in pennies and spent months making mesh penny tiles, tiling, grouting, and cleaning the grout. It looks like a TON of work (and forget about the work, I doubt that I could handle such a tall ladder!) but the results are SO worth it!

To see where my love for penny tile began, check out this penny tile inspiration post, and my own penny tiled mirror!

Now for the winner of the giveaway - there was no way I could pick my favourite from all these amazing projects, so we drew for it randomly. Congratulations to Shannon of C, M & E! I'll be in touch soon!

Finally a HUGE thank you goes out to Value Village/Savers for sponsoring this fun contest! I have to say I secretly wished more than once that I could enter myself :) I love that Value Village promotes recycling and reusing, and supports local communities, not to mention it's one of my fave places to go thrifting. My husband even used to hang out there with his friends as a teen - apparently it was the cool place to be in Sydney River :)   

P.S. I wasn't paid or perked to host this giveaway - I really do just love Value Village!

Last Day to Enter Your Penny Projects in the Value VIllage/Savers Giveaway!

Happy Monday everyone!

Just popping in to let you know that today is the last day to submit your penny projects to enter the Value Village/Savers giveaway!

It can be anything - big or small - so there's still some time left to put something together :) We've received a bunch of amazing entries so far - all of which will be featured later this week!

Enter here or via email at samaakhan[at]gmail[dot]com. 

Linen Closet Makeover

Hey guys - Happy Friday + Jummah Mubarak! On a side note -  there are 3 days left to enter your penny projects for a chance to win $150 giftcard at Value Village/Savers! 

So confession time - the unsettled-ness of the new house is driving me nuts! We've been here 2 months and there is still a ton left to unpack. You know that feeling where everything is disorganized and you don't know where to start? Yeah, that's been me for the last 6 weeks or so. In all fairness it's partly because there's nowhere to really put things away - we have a lot of space but not so much storage. But the fact that I'm a master procrastinator isn't helping matters either. I am SO ready to be rid of all the clutter.

So naturally I was really excited to finally check some storage off our to-do list last weekend: the linen closet. It's a small start, but it's a start!

When we moved in the closet was in pretty sad shape - gross yellowed paint and no shelving. You could see the patches where the previous owner had fixed up the drywall, presumably from ripping out the old shelves (which I'm guessing, from the state of the other closets, were pretty gross too). 

 
Since there were no shelves I just piled a bunch of stuff in there, and for weeks I avoided opening the door in case everything fell out on me in an avalanche of bags :) So last weekend we finally got around to making it functional.

I thought about wire shelving vs solid shelves, and although wire shelves are airier, I'm just personally not a fan of the lines they create on fabrics - plus the solid shelves actually worked out cheaper. 

We started with a quick paint job to freshen things up - a gorgeous blue grey called 'Light French Grey' by Behr. Then we got to work on the shelving - the hubs picked up 3 8ft-long 1x3s and cut them to size for new supports. I measured out the spacing for the shelves and then we attached the supports to the studs (pre-drilling the holes and then securing them with screws), checking that everything was somewhat level along the way.

I wanted the supports to look really neat so we also made sure the screws were sunken in a little, then I spackled all the holes. I also caulked the corners where the supports met up for a more seamless look. 

Finally I gave the wood a light sanding and then painted out the supports to match the walls.
  

You can still see them a little but they blend in to the walls pretty well. After that we just placed the shelves on top - we had them pre-cut at Home Depot from 8 ft pieces of laminate shelving that they carry in the lumber section.

It turns out I made the top shelf a little too high - there's a ton of room up to the ceiling but the opening to the shelf isn't tall enough to put anything really big up there, but luckily there's enough room that I can still pile things up. I've already started putting a few things away.

This isn't everything that will be going in the closet so it's very misleading - it won't be quite this sparse for long :) But I LOVE when things are neat and organized so you can only imagine how I'm swooning over this linen closet :) I already had the iron holder, so all in all the supplies only cost us around $25 - not bad right? I can't wait to tackle some of the other closets!

Win a $150 Thrifting Spree at Value Village/Savers!

Super exciting giveaway to share this morning – don’t dump those old pennies just yet :) I’m partnering up with Value Village and Savers stores to offer one of you guys a chance to win $150 for the thrifting-spree of your dreams! 

In honour of the Canadian penny’s recent retirement, we would love to see how YOU are repurposing the coins! It can be anything – big or small – that includes the penny. The contest is open to both Canadian and American entries, and the winner will receive a $150 gift card to spend on whatever their thrifty heart desires at Value Village and Savers stores! 

Yes I am secretly wishing I could enter myself. Value Village has long been one of my fave haunts – proceeds help support local communities and it’s a gold mine for thrifty treasures. I popped in to my local store this week to give you a little taste of what you might find (and after lugging in my big camera I realized I forgot my memory card - sorry for the poor cell phone pics!)

These gorgeous glasses caught my eye from several aisles away - aren't the colours amazing? Kind of wishing I brought them home right now.

They had tons of great baskets and bowls - I especially liked these wooden ones for coraling random stuff on an entry table or nightstand. 

I've been crushing on gold and brass for awhile now and I can totally see these dressing up a styled bookcase. The light fixture on the right was a little tacky no doubt, but picture it without bulbs and the base - wouldn't it make a great terrarium? 

The armchair on the left had a beautiful shape, plus a peek under the skirt revealed gorgeous tapered legs - all it needs is a new upholstery job! The mid century mod chair on the right was also very cool, I'd love it redone in a punchy new fabric. 

I actually spotted this piece awhile back at VV but I had to include it here because it's just that gorgeous - I still regret passing it up! It had spectacular lines and the most beautiful hardware on the doors. I'd have painted it out but it looked great as is too!

 
The clothing section is definitely the biggest part of the store - although I still had design on my mind when I took a browse - how great would these fabrics look repurposed as throw pillows?
 

Not sure where this big old wheel was from but it would make for some very cool rustic art!

A few other pieces that caught my eye: This sweet little desk perfect for a girl's room, another cute dresser that just needs some new knobs, and a great breakfast table under $20! The side table was also one of my faves - it had a marble inset top and the prettiest legs - could you imagine it painted out in white?!  

Like I said - thrifting gold mine. Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Create or design something using the penny : whether you have jars and jars of old pennies or you just want to get your craft on, we want to see your penny DIY's! For a little inspiration, check out this post on penny tile.

2. Snap a photo and submit it: email your submission to samaakhan[at]gmail[dot]com. Alternatively if you have a blog, you can link it up below! 

The contest will be open until Monday Feb 25th - after which we'll pick one lucky entry for the grand prize - $150 giftcard to spend at your local Value Village or Savers! 

Entries are open in both Canada and the US. Submissions will be featured here on Honey Sweet Home as well as Savers/Value Village's Pinterest page! 

Can't wait to see your projects!