I tackled a quick DIY project a few weekends ago. It was one of those rare times when the weather was nice for working outside, the baby was napping, and I had all my supplies on hand and ready to go as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Up until Libby turned one, we had taken a photo of her sitting in her crib every Saturday. 52 weekly photos are a pretty amazing sight to see all in one place (we displayed them at her first birthday party), but we decided monthly photos were a little more attainable after the first year.
Now that Libby’s standing (and walking), I thought a growth chart would be a great background for her monthly photos. I love the more intricate ones I’ve seen online, but this one had to be accomplished during nap time, so I went a bit more simple.
I started with a six foot long 1×6 pine board. I decided to hang it about six inches off the floor, so I marked off every six inches along the board and knew my first line would be one foot above the floor. Then it was just a matter of printing out the numbers 1 through 6 and tracing them onto the board before filling in every other stripe with white paint.
A quick tip for tracing numbers, use a ball point pen and press down on the number through the paper to make an indention in the wood without actually writing on it. This indention makes it easier to keep the paint inside (or outside) the lines, and there’s no erasing or trying to cover up pen or pencil marks as you go.
Once the white paint was dry, I sprayed the board with a quick coat of clear matte paint to seal it. Then Stephen drilled two pilot holes through the board and into the stud in the wall in our entryway and hung our height board up!
Here’s our little love bug at 13 months, showing it off!
When we were kids, my parents marked our heights on the kitchen door frame. Eventually they had to transfer the heights to a board so they could put a new coat of paint on the trim. I figured this growth chart would save a few steps down the line, and I love how it turned out!
Have you made something similar?
All photos: © Meredith Heard
