I can't believe how fast the first year of you baby's life goes and how much they grow and change. It is definitely bitter sweet! I love the old school idea of marking your children's heights each year on a wall in your home but I just couldn't get past the thought of leaving that behind if we ever move. I also like the idea of marking all of our children's heights together on the same chart. Soo.. I briefly passed by this idea on
Pinterest a few months ago so I revisited it and decided I loved it and had to hurry up and make it.
Things you need:
8"x1"x6' pine board
stain
hardware for hanging
black paint marker
First off give your board a quick sanding making sure to get those ends and ruff spots nice and smooth. Wipe clean with a wet rag. Grab an old rag and start applying stain to your board. I started with the ends and 3 of the 4 sides and the next day did the other side.
Mark the foot markings in pencil. We decided to start with 1/2 foot so that our board will be 6 and a half feet tall when hanging on the wall. Plus this way you don't have to worry when it's hung about the base board throwing your measurements off.
After you mark your foot markings, mark all of the inches in pencil. I used a square and it made for easy work. Also, I made my foot markings 2 inches long and my inch marks are 1.5 inches long.
Next get out your paint maker. I made sure to mark my foot markings first and then my inches because I didn't want to get confused. Now my lines aren't perfect but I am happy with my homemade ruler look.
You will need to print your numbers in whatever front and size you like. For me there was a little trial and error but better to be safe than sorry. Cut your numbers apart and turn them over. Rub a pencil over the back of the paper making sure to cover the whole number.
Place your numbers where you want them, pencil side down and black printed side up. If you want you can place a little tape to hold them in place but I just carefully held mine still. Now using a little pressure here, trace the number but you only need to outline it. It should leave a stencil like in the picture below.
Next, fill in the numbers with your paint marker and you have a giant ruler. If you want you can do the same thing for your last name or whatever you want to spell out down the side of your ruler. Just do the same thing print the letter, trace, and fill in. I decided to leave mine as is.
The final step is attaching the hardware. I always get my lovely husband to do these type of things. He is an engineer (hence awesome at measuring) and may have a little OCD when it comes to hanging things straight. There are moments I want to slap him silly for it but most of the time I appreciate the hard work. ;)
There you have it, your very own homemade ruler growth chart. Here is a picture of my little cutie showing off how tall he is. Also, I decided to make his height marks with the black paint marker.
I hope my tips and tricks help you make your own giant ruler growth chart.
Mrs Mommylicious
