DIY: GROWTH CHART

Mya never crawled. But once she started walking at 1 yr 2 wks, we wanted to start documenting her height at home. (Turns out it took me until she’s 17 months to actually do it, but so glad I finally did it! And it was SO EASY!) I was looking for something with the following criteria:

DESIRES
1. Something that could easily be taken with us during a move. (We don’t plan to move anytime soon, but don’t want to hassle with salvaging it when we do.)

2. Something that could stand the test of time and not wear easily.

3. Something that was fixed to a wall, but was not screwed-in. (If at all possible!)

4. Something that was cheap.

When I was growing up, we marked-up my Grandparents’ wallpaper with our varying heights; and I’m pretty sure the floral patterned print was not salvaged during their move. My parents still keep record on a door frame:

I’m totally working on getting my parents to move within a couple miles from us. And when they move, I will definitely be ripping off and saving that piece of trim for the sentimental factor– even though this thing is far from pretty… no offense Mom and Dad!

As you would have it, I am definitely not the only one who has thought of creating a measuring stick to document their kid’s height. Here are just a few ideas I found:

[ From left: Fabric, Wall Decal, Light Wood, Dark Wood ]

After smurfing the internet I decided on the following for our fam’s measuring stick…

DESIGN
1. It would be a light-colored/ light-stained wood. I was really drawn to the look of the dark-stained wood planks, but I figured writing on a lighter stain would be easier to read.

2. It would be located in our master-bedroom closet. I wanted to see it everyday, but not have it be in one of our main spaces. (Also, Mya has a lot of little cousins and I didn’t want them marking on it every time they came over. I plan on including them, but at my discretion!) AND our closet shelving system was conducive to securing it without using screws/ nails! (You’ll see…!)

Then it was time for “The Depot” run (one of my favorite parts of any project!) We walked down the trim aisle and found a plain, flat baseboard for $1/ft. We got nearly 7 ft. (Hey, even though I’m only 5′-8″ and Derek’s 6′-0″, we could have a 7 footer, right? Probably not, but just to be safe… and the price was right.)

DIRECTIONS
1. Rub Tung Oil on it with an old rag to bring out the natural colors and wood grain. (I already owned the Tung Oil, but you could use Polycrylic or Polyurethane if you already own that instead. Both of those will leave more of a shine than the Tung Oil.) Apply first coat. Let dry for 24 hrs. Apply second coat. Let dry for 24 hrs.

2. Measure each inch with pencil along one edge of your board.

3. Use black sharpie to more permanently mark each inch.

4. Draw some numbers at each foot measurement. (I wanted ours to have a “sketchy” look to it, so I drew free-hand and hashed the block numbers for a more casual feel. But you could easily use some number stencils like these— or you could print out some numbers  using your favorite funky font and trace them!)

5. I used C-clamps to securely fasten our measuring stick in our closet. Some may find this odd looking, but I like the ease of its removal and I’m all about exposed hardware, so this definitely works great for us!

6. Measure away!

How sweet is this pic below? I’m so in love. She’s like… “You’ve gotta be kidding me. I’ll never be that tall!”

How do you record your family’s heights? If you don’t already have a system, this one ain’t bad for $7.00 — or $10 if you use 2 swanky C-clamps! (I guess “$7” should be the theme for this week!)