DIY Growth Chart

Last week in my 2015 Goals I promised you I'd show you our growth chart that I made to keep track of these ever growing boys so here we are! I realize there are probably tons of posts, DIY and videos on how to make these as I've already looked them up myself! But I wanted to show you ours, give you some tips & tricks and even offer up my services if you want one yourself!

I started off watching a few videos and reading some posts on the things NOT to do because I don't really need someone to tell me what to do, I need someone to tell me what to avoid so I don't eff up another project.

I compiled a list and headed to the blue store {I'm not really picky on hardware stores I just know where things are at this store better than the orange store.} We've been remodeling and doing projects around our house since we moved in in March I was able to use some items we already had. For the sake of list making and for ones that aren't renovating their house here is what I needed:

Wood Stain {oil based}

Paint Brush  

Large Sharpie

Stickers {or number stencil & black paint}

Sandpaper

Wood Board {I've seen different sizes used, but I did 12in wide, by 8ft tall}

I started off by sanding down and rough edges that I could see the boys touching even though it will be mounted on the wall.

I then did two light coats of stain in the color Special Walnut {224} by MINWAX. I let the first coat dry for about an hour and then did the second coat and let it all dry over night.

The next morning I took a measuring tape and chalk and marked off each inch, making longer marks every six inches. I decided I was going to hang this on the wall starting 6 inches off the ground so it was over the baseboards. This also allowed me to make the chart 6 feet 6 inches in hopes these boys get Jerek's height gene and not mine.

For the tick marks I decided to take a large sharpie paint marker and a ruler and line these off. I've also seen people use vinyl stickers that you can order off Etsy or I believe even get at Michaels. I went the Sharpie route as this is what I had an it turned out nice.

I bought stickers for the large foot markers but I've also seen a stencil and black paint used for these as well.

And that's really it guys! I thought about putting our last name at the top but I wanted it to be clean and simple for now. What is great about this project is that I can add the last name or anything else I want in the future. I will be using a white sharpie marker for measuring the heights so it stands out. I have been keeping track at all of Tracen & Sky's height via check ups so I will be able to mark them on here. Jerek's aunt had been marking them off at our old house in the pantry but sadly we never transferred it over and the house has since been torn down and built a ginormous one in it's place. So! Thankfully I have kept track of them!

Here is the part where I offer up my services. I know this may seem easy to make to some but not everyone has time or space to do projects. Maybe you have a baby shower coming up or your girlfriend just gave birth and you want something to surprise her with. If you live in the metro Detroit area and want to order one there will be NO shipping charge, yes, you read that right! Make sure you enter "METRODETROIT" in the coupon code area when checking out. I will be more than happy to just coordinate a time to meet up with you, easy peasy lemon squeezy! If you don't live locally but want to order one there will be $30 shipping charge, or you can pay for my plane ticket and I will personally deliver it to you ; ) I've looked around and this seems to be the standard shipping for this size of item.

You can find the listing for the growth charts in my Etsy Store HERE.  If you would like one but maybe have a different idea {want it painted instead of stained, a name added to the top or a special embellishment that ties in with the nursery/your house decor, you can directly message me through Etsy or my email on here and we can create a personal listing just for you.}