5.18.2011

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.

Serenity Now Crafty Cutter Party

HouseofHepworths

15 comments :

  1. You are beyond creative!! I love this!

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  2. Kelsey6/01/2011

    It's official, I'm your #1 fan! The stuff I do is all based off of other people's ideas and tutorials... but you have the power to create these things on your own (and inspire laughs)! So impressed!

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  3. Amanda@Serenity Now6/01/2011

    Oh, the wall looks amazing!! I love the telephone shape--which cartridge is that?? Very cool look. :)

    Thanks so much for joining my Crafty Cutter party. :)

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  4. Carol@thedesignpages6/01/2011

    How did you ever come up with such a great idea. I love the look. I say you put the picture of Rick in the cheese hat. He'll learn to love it:)

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  5. Aislinn6/01/2011

    I just found several pictures of your husband with that dumb puppet you used to have in HS... the one that made the trip to NYC with us for some reason... !! Want to blow those up and put them on your wall?! :)

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  6. This is so great! I love that you do creative stuff that's not just copies of the rest of blogland. And I'd like to vote on your next project being that toilet paper chandelier. I bet it'll be gorgeous.

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  7. Rebecca6/01/2011

    Very cute. I love unexpected decor items like that. Maybe you could hang two frames about the same size painted in two of the colors from the phones? If you could find an old rotary phone to hang that could be interesting too.

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  8. MKMAthews6/01/2011

    I love love love this. Pure genius! What cricut cartridge did you use for the phone?

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  9. Jennifer6/01/2011

    Fabulous job!!! It looks great. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'm your newest follower!

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  10. Alison@HouseofHeps6/01/2011

    What an amazing wall display. That turned out so so cute.

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  11. I've never seen anything like it, really fun idea.

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  12. Anonymous7/08/2011

    Love it! What if you select two new solid colors and reverse the image on them - white phone with the peg board sticking thru and the then solid matte.

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  13. Hey Erin, I've only made it back this far, so far. I taught Title I reading for two years. 4th through 6th graders who struggled with reading. I started with the blog my last year, so we didn't do a lot with it, but they LOVED it! They commented on each others' writing and my mom and I made the anonymous comments. They thought it was so cool that someone else was reading the blog!

    Now, I teach talented and gifted K-12 part time. It is MUCH different but I LOVE it!

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  14. Just saw this post - I think you are convincing me that I need to invest in one of those cricuts! I LOVE what you made! Wow.

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  15. I just happened to find your pegboard piece on Pinterest today (that was a mouthful! haha). I have to say in my travels, I've not come across a more artistic use of pegboard. I am the Community Manager at Triton Products near Cleveland, OH. I spend a lot of time looking for creative and unique uses for products that match our offerings, pegboard being one of them. Really awesome stuff here! Just wanted to give some kudos from someone who's seen a lot of pegboard. Keep it up!

    Cheers,

    Zach
    www.tritonproducts.com
    www.facebook.com/tritonproducts

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