I've wanted to make a growth chart for quite awhile, and now that we are expecting Baby #2, I figured it might be a little more difficult for me to just remember the heights of the kids as the grow. So, that made it time to make the growth chart. I saw an inspiration picture online of a growth chart made to look like a giant ruler & thought it was exactly what I wanted. I bought a 6-foot length a pine 1x6, making sure it was nice and straight & didn't have any splits or crazy knots. After finding the perfect board, I bought it and brought it home. Myt husband routed the edges with a slight diagonal cut, then he sanded it and we treated the wood with a natural stain. We let it dry overnight & the next morning I got to work. I started the board at 6" instead of 0 because I want it to hang on the wall, and I'm pretty sure I won't have any kids measuring under 6". I measured and marked every inch on the board, then went back with a black paint pen & drew the lines, using a ruler as a straight edge. For the foot marks, the lines were two inches long, then I did two one inch lines & every third mark was 1 1/2". I printed the numbers, which are just Times New Roman font and 125 point. I tried just tracing the outline with a pencil and then using the paint pen to color inside the lines. That didn't work so well, so I pulled out my Silhouette & vinyl & used the blank space as a stencil. Much better, but I did still have a little bit of bleeding under the edge. While I was letting the paint dry, my daughter decided to draw a bit on the top end. So, after sanding the last foot, refinishing it, painting the lines & number 6 back on, we finally finished it with a couple coats of clear, spray-on top coat. I used the velcro picture hanging strips to hang it on the wall in my daughter's room & measured her for her 2-year birthday. She's about 31 1/2" tall now! It was definitely a good project, & not very difficult!
