Wood Growth Chart DIY

Life has been crazy. Ok, understatement of the year. Incredibly insane busy! I never stop moving, someone always needs me to do something, and I'm exhausted pretty much all the time. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I've been sick for over a week...
Moving on! Thought I would share this quick DIY for those of you who are parents to some little ones and want to track their growth along with some memories!
We just purchased our new home, and with it came a wall full of the previous owners little markings of their children's growth. We're talking 12+ years of it! So when I seen one of these floating around the internet and places like ETSY for a pretty dime, I thought I would give a shot at it myself. I am in love. Seriously in love! I am upset that I didn't create it sooner but what can ya do.
Alright, so here is what I bought and a price break down; (Canadian prices of course!)

- Wood Fence Post. $2.97

Pretty sure it was cedar, also 7ft long and just under 5 1/2 inches in width. I went with something VERY light so if it did happen to come off the wall it wouldn't hurt anyone!

- Minwax Stain OR other. $0 OR about $8 if you have to purchase it. 

 I had some of this left over so I didn't need to purchase, but I got mine at walmart!

- Acylic Paint. $0 OR $1 if you have to purchase it.

I also have a ton of this in my stash!

- Sawtooth Hook  $0 also had OR $1 at dollar store.

- Very Fine paint brush $0 also had.

- Fine grit sandpaper $0. also had.

- Measuring Tape. $0 also had.

To make sure you get all the measurements right!

- Pencil $0 also had.

Not necessary, but came in super helpful when marking where the measurements needed to go!

- Scissors

The first thing I did was sand down any raw edges to make sure I wouldn't get any splinters! After I was done, I gave it a quick wipe and applied the stain. At this point, I think I spent all of 5 minutes. seriously. I thought to myself, how awesome is the project I'm almost already done! Not quite.... oh was I wrong.

I gave it about an hour to dry. It was still a little wet but I was impatient. I made my first mark on the bottom for 1ft. Keep in mind that you will be hanging this on the wall, so I accounted for that by adding 6 inches to the bottom of the board. I then marked out every foot with my pencil!

I took out my smallest art brush, were talking super small! It will get frustrating with something bigger, just trust me, you can't go to small! ;) Then I painted a longer, thicker line on all the markings I made for the feet!

Then I measured and used my pencil again, this time for the inches. Then I took my paint brush again, and painted all those lines once again, this time making them less thick, and less in width. Basically you want to mimic the lines on the measuring tape as far as lengths go.

Then I decided on the font I would like to use for the numbers, and printed them out on some cardboard using my printer. A cereal box would work nice for this. I then just cut out the shapes and used it as a template. First, I traced in pencil, then I went over it with the paint!

I then added the sawtooth hook onto the back. To hand it on the wall, I used toothpaste. Yes, you heard me right toothpaste. I put some on the back of the hook so when I placed it on the wall, I knew exactly where to place the nails. Paint would serve this same purpose though!

Remember the 6 inches I accounted for when I painted my lines? I measured 6 inches up from the bottom of my floor and marked it on the wall. Then I just lined up the bottom of my growth chart, pushed it against the wall and then I knew where to place the nails! After the nails were in, I could hang it on my wall, stand back, and admire it!

And now I am in LOVE with it! It was very simple to make, took me one night to create it and I had most everything on hand so it cost me a total of $3! A pretty good deal if you ask me, considering some of the nicer ones go for as much as $65 on ETSY! What do you think?

And if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, we posted a new video how to make gluten free, 2 ingredient playdough! Check it out and make sure to subscribe so you can see all our new videos. Hope you have a rad weekend!

Gluten Free Playdough