While searching for fun toddler activities on pintrest one day I came across a tutorial for making a knock off of the Ruler Growth Chart by Pottery Barn.
I remember my parents measuring us on the back of the laundry room door (even the dog got measured) and love peeking at it whenever we visit. The only thing is we moved when I was in 6th grade so all the cute little years were left at our old house. With our growth chart ruler if we ever move we can take it with us-a major plus!
So I headed off to Home Depot and bought the board and after two days of naptime I had a fun way to measure little bud and Mr. J every year on their birthdays! Little bud is currently 2 and Mr. J is just 6 months.
Below you will find my tutorial on how I made my Growth Chart Ruler.
I bought a 6ft x 8in board (note it is really not 8 inches more like 7 1/4 wide). You can really use any type of board for this, I opted for something that had some knots in it because I like that look. I think it was pine. Make sure to hold it up and see that it is pretty straight or it won't hang as well on the wall.
I brought that home and stained it using an old white t-shirt that belonged to my hubby and this minwax stain in the color "special walnut" I just got the tiny can and I think it would make about 50 of these rulers!
I did one coat, let it dry about 15 min wiped it off and did one more coat, let it dry 15 min and wiped a little off.
I let that dry overnight and the next day got to work on the lines and numbers. I would recommend using measuring tape to mark off the board not a ruler because I'll be honest I used a ruler and then had to do it all over again on the back because I had gotten off track somewhere..
So using my measuring tape I marked off a tiny line with a pencil at each inch mark going all the way up the board. I then went back and using a clear ruler as a straight edge (you could really use anything) I used a black paint pen like the one at this link and drew my lines using the pencil marks as a guide. I planned to hang my board 6 inches off the floor so when you look at the board the 1 foot mark is really only 6 inches up from the bottom. I started with two short lines (1 inch long each) and then 1 long line (2 inches long) and kept alternating that all the way up the board. The long lines mark the 3 inch, 6 inch, 9 inch and foot marks.
Here is a picture of what it looks like so far:
and here is one of the entire board marked:
A little tip: whatever you use as a straight edge I would wipe off from time to time with a paper towel because the black paint can get under it and leave marks on the board.
After that I printed out my numbers: you can pick any font you like, I used Century, and print out numbers 1-6 at 250pt for the size. To transfer the numbers to the board I flipped over the paper and traced the number on the back side with sidewalk chalk. Then I counted up the inches to find the foot mark (don't forget you started at 6 inches) and laid the paper down on the board (chalk side down). I then traced the number using my pencil. When I lifted the paper up the chalk had transferred to the board and left me a perfect line to trace with my paint pen and fill in. Here is a picture:
Once all the numbers had dried for a couple hours I wiped on Minwax® Polycrylic® Protective Finish click link for pics and details on that. To hang the board I hammered a sawtooth picture hanger like this one into the back and measured to make sure it was hanging so the bottom was at 6 inches off the floor and was done!
I hope my tutorial helps, sorry if it was too long an wordy..I'm the kind of person who always needs the details when I follow a tutorial so if you are too then enjoy!
I would like to give credit to the original blog that I found the ruler growth chart on pinterest: 517 Creations
Here are the supplies I used for this project:
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