DIY Child's Growth Chart

Here is one of my latest projects...and by latest, I mean I've had it completed for months but kept forgetting to take pictures and actually go through the effort of blogging about them. As if that takes a lot of effort...? Anyway, without further ado, I give you my set of DIY Growth Charts.

I kept going back and forth about making one for each child or combining them into one, but in the end I decided to make two so that they could each have one in their rooms or possibly as a display with some framed baby pictures and such in the hallway. I also decided not to make them any particular theme so that they would stay timeless and fit in with the decor of wherever they ended up.

This project in total cost me less than $10 to complete both charts. Not bad, I would say!

This is the type of board I used:

They are inexpensive (read: cheap) pieces of wood, costing less than $5 each at Home Depot. Luckily, I had my trusty, handy husband who so kindly offered to sand the corners down to create a rounded top and then sanded the entire board down to a smooth finish. He really is a keeper.

I ended up digging through my leftover paint stash and just went with the regular white color that I used my snowman project around Christmas time. After they dried, I grabbed Adrian's long wood-working measure stick to make 1 in. increments on the board with a permanent marker.

As you'll notice (or maybe not), the board only goes up to 6'4". I'm thinking that I'll probably add a couple more lines at the top because our boys are supposed to get pretty tall (hello, 6'5" husband). Our pediatrician has predicted that both boys will be anywhere from 6'4 - 6'8! I want these boards to last as long as possible...

I used the marker to write each of their birthdays along the bottom left side.



The names were stenciled on with pencil, painted with some of the paint I have on hand and traced again with the marker. I really wanted them to pop, hence the outlining.

I was so anxious to start adding their heights, that I didn't really come up with a good system for adding them. They are added haphazardly with a regular pen, oh well!

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They aren't identical since I didn't use a stencil to trace the numbers. Looking back, I'd definitely buy some vinyl numbers or use a stencil but overall, I'm really happy with the results! Now I just need to figure out where to hang them...they've been sitting pretty in our hallway for a quite a while and I'd like to find a permanent home for them!

What do you think?

Would there be any interest in this being a giveaway prize...?