Hand Crafted Bliss: DIY Growth Chart

I'm sure many of you have seen these cool growth charts all over the place like I have and would love to have one for your little ones. Here's the problem....they cost SO much that you would probably end up hanging it up and then be hesitant to mark your kids growth on it and ruin it, never mind the fact that that is EXACTLY why you bought it in the first place! So instead of buying one, you should make one yourself! It's super easy and quick to make, and the best part is you can customize it to fit your style preference, your kids can help (like mine did), and you will feel good about USING IT!

Here are some things you will need:

1 piece of wood (mine measures 6ft tall x 7in wide x 1in thick) - I got at Lowes for $8
sanding paper/pad
small amount of paint or stain (depending on your preference)
sharpie or paint pen
number stencils (unless you have crazy good writing skills and can make a good looking number on your own, I am not so blessed)
measuring tape
sawtooth picture hangers
foam stamps (optional)

First off I want to say that I didn't take pictures of the process but it is easy enough to do. Also, I apologize for the terrible pictures! The hallway where this is hanging gets no sunlight, at all, ever! Ok, here we go!

PREPARE:

1. Sand your board all over so you have no rough edges.

2. Coat with paint or stain of your choice, don't forget sides (I used left over paint from painting the kids room).

MEASURE AND MARK:

3. Once paint is dry, lay board down with measuring tape laying next to it. This is very important! Before you start marking, decide how high off the ground you are planning on hanging it then start at that point. If you start with 0 at the bottom, then you will have to place it flush with the floor otherwise it will not measure your kids properly.

Note how the bottom of my board would be the 5" mark

Use a pencil to make your markings all the way up. Once you are happy with them use your paint pen or sharpie to go over the marks.

DECORATE:

4. Place your number stencils where they need to be and use your sharpie or paint pen to fill in.

Here are the stencils and foam stamps I used. Stamps I got in dollar area at target and stencil I got from Walmart.

5. Decide where you want to stamp your board (my kids picked where they wanted them) and then dip the stamp in acrylic paint, place stamp carefully so you don't smudge it. Once this paint was dry I used colored sharpies to add some detail to the animals & tree. Some other decoration you can use would be those little wood figures (which is what I was going to use until I realized they were way too big!) or other types of stencils, or no decoration at all..... best part is that you can customize to fit your decor!

FINISH:

6. Now all you have to do is nail on the sawtooth picture hangers on back, hang on wall, and admire your handiwork!