Growth Chart

Christmas has come and gone, and now New Years will be here before we know it. I honestly cannot believe how quickly 2010 has flown by. It has been kind of a crazy year for us: too many hospital visits, too many injuries, too many surgeries. Just one of "those" kinds of years. So, I am looking forward to a New Year. Here is hoping that 2011 is a MUCH better year for us :)

Last year I made a growth chart for my hubby for Christmas. We have always tracked our kids heights on the laundry room door, but each time we moved (which has been a lot!) we would leave their height marks behind. So, I came up with a chart that we could take with us if we ever moved again (keep our fingers crossed we don't!).

Here is the one I made last year: {CLICK HERE to see the original post}

Growth Chart

Anyway, long story short, a friend of mine wanted to make some growth charts like mine for her family for Christmas. So, here is a quick tutorial for you in case you ever want to make one of your own :)

I started with a 6 foot tall 1X6 board.  I got mine at Lowes for around $5.

1X6 Board

If there are any rough spots on the board, be sure and lightly sand them.  Mine was pretty smooth, so I didn't need to do any sanding.  Also, a quick tip, make sure that your board is straight before you buy it.  Sometimes they are a little bit twisted and they won't hang well on the wall if they are.

Paint the board with whatever color you choose.  I used "linen" for mine.

Then if you want, you can find a little helper to come in and help you paint.  Here is a pic of my friend's son helping out with her Growth Chart :) 

After the paint is dry, I added some stain to the top for an aged look.  Adding the stain is super easy.  Just squeeze a little onto a rag, and rub until you get the desired look you want.

 

Stain

The next step is to cut the vinyl.  I designed mine on my Cricut Design Studio.  Then cut the vinyl out with my handy dandy Cricut.  Don't you think I should get some sort of a kick-back from Cricut for as often as I promote mine ;)  Ha!  I wish!  :)

I chose brown vinyl because I thought that it worked well with the colors that I had used to paint the board.

After the vinyl is cut, put marks on the board one foot apart and place the vinyl in the appropriate spots.  Then add the family name on the top.  Lastly, I drilled a hole in the top center and the bottom center of the board so that it could be hung.

Here is a pic of the three I helped my friend make:

Growth Charts

I randomly added flowers to mine.  She didn't on hers, but I don't think you need them.  The charts look cute either way :)

To mark mine, I just use a sharpie maker and write the name and the date of the person next to their height mark.  It has been a fun tradition of ours to measure the kids each Christmas and see how much they have grown the past year.  My middle son "Bones" was THRILLED this year because he is officially the tallest person in our family at the age of 15.  He couldn't brag enough about it on Christmas Day!

I will link up and party HERE and blog hop HERE this week.  Go on over and check them out.  There are some super fun parties out there.

Also, please stop by and visit and link up to my Thrilling Thursday Linky where YOU get to share YOUR creations and enjoy the creativity of others as well.  It is open each week from Wednesday night through Sunday @ midnight.