You guys, ever since I made these craft show pegboards and shared my process on Instagram, I have been tagged in literally HUNDREDS of posts sharing how others used my simple tutorial to make theirs. Whoa 😳 So why, you ask, has it taken me so long to turn my nearly 3 year old Instagram story highlight into a blog post that's easier to find and has more clear, written instructions?
If you want the truth, it's partly laziness and partly so much time passing that I sort of forgot some of the details of how I made them. 😅
But if anything, that should be encouraging you by the fact that even I, in my true lazy essence, was still able to create these DIY peg boards on my own (okay fine, I had a little help). Another bonus: You'll save tons of money making these yourself rather than buying a costly display! For 3 panels, I spent just over $200 for all of the supplies needed at the time. With the increasing cost of lumber and wood supplies you may be spending more these days, but it will still be a bargain in the end-promise!
So with no further ado, here is the secret sauce to my Insta-famous DIY pegboards!
Supplies Needed (for 3 panels):
3 sheets of 1/2" maple plywood (you can go with something thicker or sturdier if you prefer, but this has served me well even in locations with a light breeze)
3x 24" wooden rounds
1/2" wooden dowels (amount needed varies based on how many pegs & shelves you want)
Tools Needed:
power drill
1/2" drill bit
wood clamps & table top/surface to clamp boards to
jig saw with scroll blade
sandpaper
Step 1: When purchasing the panels at your local wood store or home improvement store, ask an associate to cut them to 3 ft x 6 foot lengths. Larger stores like Home Depot and Lowes usually have a staff member on duty to help customers with this during store hours.
Step 2: Map out your peg board holes. For my peg boards, I made a total of 50 holes per board, 5 columns and 10 rows. I left 3 inches of room from the tops and sides of each board, and then spaced each peg hole 6 inches apart from each other. I would recommend using some duct tape to create grid lines over the wood and then using a sharpie to mark where to drill each hole!
Here's a little example to show what I mean (please note this diagram is not exactly to scale, it's just to show the spacing of the peg holes)!
Step 3: Drill the holes. Use your power drill with a 1/2" drill bit and carefully drill through the board, making sure you're moving downward at a straight 90 degree angle. If you are tilting in any direction, your pegs will sit at an odd angle and things may slide off them if they end up pointing downward.
Step 4: Cut the wooden rounds in half. First you're going to want to draw a guide line halfway through the circles directly on to the wood to help guide you. Clamp the wood down onto a surface and carefully use the jigsaw to cut through each wooden round.
Step 5: Trace out slits for the legs and the boards (I went 4" long for the slits, but you could probably go a little longer for extra stability if you prefer). Use a pencil and measuring tape to trace where you will be cutting slits. IMPORTANT NOTE: the slits on the legs need to match the thickness of your panels, and the slits on the panels need to match the thickness of your legs. Therefore, I cut the slits on my panels to 1" thickness since that was the thickness of the wooden rounds, and the slits on my wooden rounds were cut to 1/2" thick since that was how thick my panels were.
Step 6: Cut out the slits. I recommend using a jigsaw for this part, although if you have another type of saw you're comfortable using and you're sure it will do the job then by all means go for it! When cutting the slits I suggest cutting the exact measurements and not going over the lines because if you make the slits too thick then you will end up with wobbly. stands. We are wanting a very snug fit, and if they just won't fit together it's better to sand them down to widen the gaps a little bit at a time.
Here's a video showing the basics of how to use a jig saw with a scroll blade to cut out shapes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfJBghWqYI0
Step 7: Sand it all down! Yes, even the peg holes. This part may feel tedious and unnecessary but I promise it's important, especially if you plan to use these boards for a long time! The last thing you want is any rough edges splintering.
Step 8: Cut the pegs. I cut most of mine to around 4" length, but left some at 6" length so that they would be long enough to support a small shelf.
That's it! You can decorate the peg boards however you want- stain them, paint them, or just leave them to shine in their natural beauty.
I hope this tutorial was helpful! If anything was unclear feel free to comment below and I will do my very best to help out or explain further if I can.
I'd love to see your finished peg boards or market setup using these boards too! Tag me on Instagram @thelarksheadshop if you post them there :)
