Inspired While Lurking in the Basement: A True Story

I was lurking in the basement a few weeks ago when I developed a serious interest on pegboard.  Yes, pegboard. Yes, the stuff that tough men hang rusty tools on in their garage workshops.  Why? I thought it would work on the wall that our desk sits against in our office. So, I proposed the idea to Rick, who promptly looked at me as though I'd just suggested that we make a chandelier by decoupaging toilet paper to the nearest boob light.

Despite this "who-did-I-marry-and-where-do-these-ideas-come-from" stare, though, a piece of pegboard still managed to sneak into the truck on our next trip to Lowe's. And I managed to sneak Rick enough Benadryl to make him fully compliant in my scheme to hang pegboard on our office wall. (Just kidding. What pharmacist would be foolish enough to have his clueless wife administer medication to him without so much as a "Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while using this....?")

Some QT with my Cricut (does that count as heavy machinery?) and nine 18"x18" boards later, we ended up with this:

I first figured out the color pattern I wanted and took a picture so I wouldn't forget.

I decided to ditch two of those boards above in favor of what I'm going to call a "Less Predictable Look" with an asterisk and fine print that says "This person isn't entirely sure what she is doing. Please consult someone smarter for advice on how to hang things." Because, as you can see, I now have two large holes to deal with. I would like to fill them with something that contrasts with the boards but is about the same size to keep things looking uniform. (But don't be fooled--I actually have no idea what I am talking about). I suggested a blown-up picture of Rick wearing a cheese hat, but he vetoed that plan. Anyone have a better idea?

My next step was to cut the phones out using my Cricut, then glue them to chipboard before gluing the whole shebang to the pegboard with my BFF, hot glue. That extra layer of chipboard seems to add a little more dimension (or so I keep telling myself, but remember, I have no idea what I am talking about). And speaking of dimension, I screwed leftover pieces of particle board to two of the pegboard squares to make some of the phone images pop out for a little more experimental cluelessness spontaneity.

Rick helped me hang them on the wall (the Benadryl still hadn't worn off) for the final ta-da.

So, that's the "True Story" of how I was "Inspired While Lurking in the Basement."  I'm pretty sure that MTV is going to find this post and beg me for the rights to that very creative title for a new fall drama. Of course, I'll be sure to explain to them once I'm famous for penning the next hit show's title that I wasn't really lurking in the true sense of the "creepy middle-aged Easter bunny hanging out in Times Square and giving out candy to small children" sense of "lurking." Obviously I won't be able to lurk like that until I'm, well, middle-aged. And creepy.