Ruler Growth Chart

My parents moved out of their house of twenty-nine years this summer.  And they left their growth chart on the wall.  Painted over.  Never to be seen again.*  So sad.  I was measured on that wall at four years old and many times more into adulthood.  My siblings, nieces, nephews, and even a few neighborhood friends were on that wall.  So many memories.  Seeing that I knew I had to make a growth chart that I could take with me when I move.  I've wanted to make a movable growth chart for four years and just now got around to actually executing it.  I've seen cute ones all over online and found the ruler like ones on Pinterest so copied  one of those.  You can see the one I copied from 517 Creations here.

I purchased a pine board that was 1 x 6 x 6.  I stained it (well, my dad did a coat as well since he was hanging around) with a few coats of Minwax.  I like the stain & polyurethane combo for projects like this - it makes for one easy step.  I measured every inch and drew the lines with a paint pen.  I drew the lines one inch long and every fourth line two inches long.  I printed off a font of numbers I liked, traced them on and colored them in with paint pen as well.  I started, like she did, with the first number six inches up and hung it with the bottom of the board six inches from the floor so that "1" hit 12 inches from the floor.  I wanted it to measure more than six feet since I have some tall brothers...you never know!  Lastly, my dad sprayed it with another couple layers of clear polyurethane to protect that paint. 

I took the kids' measurements I've been saving up and wrote my sons in one color sharpie and my daughters in another.  I added my husband and I and hung it on the wall with 3M picture hangers.  I wanted it pretty flush with the wall so didn't want it hanging on a nail or screw.   Now I've got a chart that can move with us through the years and we can watch how the kiddos grow. 

*To my mom's credit, she did copy over all of the measurements onto a long strip of paper to take with her.