Rustic Growth Chart

So there is this new blogger I have been following. Ok, maybe blog stalking is a more appropriate term. I think I originally found her on Pinterest and now I am so hooked. I literally went through all her blog posts from 2009 to 2014, day by day. I think my husband was getting a little concerned for me..... I am so addicted! She takes amazing photos, decorates her home perfectly, has creative and beautiful diys and has been featured in several magazines. Yeah, that's how perfect her house looks. Magazine worthy! The name of her blog is Dear Lillie. I just can't get enough. So she sells these amazing Ruler Growth Charts in her shop and I actually found a woman at a garage sale making and selling her own version as well (for around $60). I knew that I could re-create it for less. So I figured I would give it a try. Mine didn't turn out quite as nice, but I was able to make it for $15! And I love it. It's such a fun thing to have in the house for keeping track of how big the girls are getting and it has that perfect natural, rustic feel. Here is the how-to.

You will need:
A 9" X 6'-7' "common board" (You can really do any size or type of wood you want, but keep in mind you don't want it to be too heavy for hanging) The nice guys at the hardware store should be able to cut it for you (as they come much larger than this), if you can find someone, that is. The board cost me about $14 and I had all the other things I needed on hand.
4" Number stencils (There are many different fonts you can use)
Wood stain (I used American Walnut, but there are tons of shades and colors)
Black craft paint
Polyurethane
Painters tape or masking tape

Step 1. Stain the board. No need to sand it. I recommend doing this outside or in the garage as it is very fume-y. Wear gloves and protect the area where you are working. They call it stain for a reason. Oh yeah, and don't wear clothes that you care about. I was wearing a brand new white shirt one of the days I was working on it and as I was hammering the lid back on the stain can, it sprayed everywhere on me! Lesson learned! Allow the board to fully dry.

Step 2. Tape with painters tape, about 2 inches in, all along the board. This will help your tick marks to be straight.

Step 3. Line up a measuring tape next to the board so that you can see where the tick marks need to go. Tape so that your tick marks will be about 3/4 inch wide.

This part is tedious, so be prepared. Make the tape as straight as possible so that your "tick" marks come out straight. As you can see, I kind of folded the masking tape down the middle to make narrower strips.

Go down the entire board.

Step 4. Paint the lines, skipping every third line (as these will be the longer tick marks) and allow to dry completely before removing tape.

Step 5. Re-tape for the longer lines (meaning you will have to bring the very first piece of tape that was laid, i.e. the blue tape, out a bit) and then paint. My shorter tick marks were a little under 2 inches and my longer ones were 4 inches. Allow to dry, then remove all the tape.

So now you should be looking like this.

Step 6. Using a number stencil of your choice, paint the numbers at every fourth long tick mark. Depending on the length of your board, you should only end up to 6 or 7 feet. Allow to dry, then your growth chart is finished!  

Hang anywhere. This would be cute in the kitchen, in a child's bedroom or I just put ours in the girl's playroom.

This is what we used to hang ours. We used one at the top and one at the bottom of the board. That way the board hangs straight and doesn't sway around at the bottom. Since the board was going to be in the playroom where it could easily be knocked around, I thought (actually my husband thought) that this would keep it the most secure. And he was right. It's not going anywhere.

There you have it! Your very own rustic growth chart. And by the way, if you don't like the colors of this one, you can customize it however you like. The woman I saw selling these at a garage sale had Seahawks ones. They were really cute!

 This girl is getting too big. Almost 4 whole feet with her bun in. :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful start to the week!