Giant Kids Growth Chart Ruler

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Some cute girls in my ward told me about these rulers they were going to make to measure their kids through the years. I thought this was an awesome idea since we will be going to school for a few more years and moving a lot, so we couldn’t mark it on a wall! I found one that Pottery Barn Kids had made and tried to make mine similar….except for A LOT cheaper!

Somebody is getting so big!!


This was the Pottery Barn Kids one that was $58

And here is how I made mine:

This wood is about 10″ x 72″ and I got it at Home Depot for $8.44! Not bad!

I used a “natural” shade of stain and stained the wood. The stain was $4.50 at WalMart.

Then I used a measuring tape to mark every inch so I knew where I would want lines painted.

I decided to make some stencils of short and long lines I wanted on my ruler and that was a HORRIBLE idea! Don’t do that! The paint seeps through!

So my cute husband told me to use masking tape and mark off where I wanted to paint. I would do a line at every inch and would do two 2″ lines, then one 3″ line for the markings on my ruler. Used a lot of tape!

Then I painted over the tape/lines with black acrylic paint

I peeled the tape off and luckily it worked! 🙂 What a relief! Then I printed out some numbers onto some paper that has adhesive on the back, cut the numbers out and used the leftovers as a stencil. I painted over those and took the sticker paper off. I used distress ink on the edges and did one more coat of stain.

I started my lines 3 inches off so that I could always hang this 3 inches off the ground, rather than just propping it against the wall. So now my ruler will measure up to 6’3″. I’m trying to decide if I want to pin a picture up of the age they were at a certain height or if we should just write it on…. Any thoughts?!

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Questions & Reviews

The Hills Family says:

That is darling! I've never seen anything like it before! It turned out so cute! I need to check it out next time I go to UT!
Camille says:

Lu, good job!!! It turned out awesome! I love it. I think that I would do both- write the date and age and put a picture up. It's amazing how quickly you forget the little things as your kids grow up, even though you think that you will always remember. Also, what if Cam grows taller than 6'3"?? Hee hee! You never know!!
Jaclyn says:

This is great! YOur little guys are adorable! I would love if you linked this up to my Make it for less party! It goes on every Monday at www.Simplycadence.blogspot.com
Ashley says:

this is a great idea!! love.
thanks for sharing:)
Just Jaime says:

Great idea!

I love that you have a sisters blog! My blog is with my 3 sisters and mom. It is so fun to collaborate.
Jill says:

Great work! Much better than a store bought one!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
Laura says:

I love this idea and you made it look really easy to do! I think I know what my next project will be. :)

Laura @ Come Together Kids
just jayma says:

I pinned this on my pinterest! How did you know what font to use for the numbers? It's right on! Can you share it with us? Thank you!
Sha says:

Hubby's honey do list just got a little longer!! :) Thanks for a great idea.
La June 52 says:

I think yours looks way better than the PB one! More pulled together! Great job!
tinyhandsbigvoice says:

I LOVE this! My husband is in the Army, so we move quite often. I have been upset that we couldn't do marks on a wall (like my parents did with my siblings and me), so this is a great alternative!
Jason Asay says:

question..how did you attach it to the wall?
Six Sisters says:

Attached a sawtooth hanger to the back. :)