If you've spent any time on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen all the great tutorials on how to make the Pottery Barn growth chart that looks like a ruler. I loved the idea the second I saw it, but knew that I needed to make it my own so I made a few rustic changes and really love how it turned out and how it fits in our home.
To start you need a 6 ft board. I used a 1" x 6" x 6' cheap board from Home Depot, the cost was under 7 bucks.
Instead of just staining the board I decided to give it a few layers of color. Use anything you have. I love these cheap little bottles of acrylic paint, they are less than a dollar and you can get them at Walmart or any craft section in almost any color. So you can experiment with different combos, without the commitment of an expensive can of paint.
***Forgive the confusing photos to come, I made two.. one for my sister-in-law for Christmas and I loved it so much I made one for myself a few weeks later. For the first I chose black as the base and red as the top to match their house. For my growth chart, I used dark brown as the base and white as the top coat but you could use any combos you like.
To make sure that I end product, which I gave as a gift looked polished I painted the entire board.. front, back and sides black. Even though the back won't be seen once it's hung, I like the finished look of everything being covered.
Once the base paint was dry, with a foam brush I painted a light coat of red just on the top leaving the edges black. I wanted the top to look aged so I just slapped on a coat of red not worrying if it wasn't totally covered.
Now for the line, I used a tape measure attached to the board with painters tape to make this as easy as possible. Since I want to hang the board 6 inches off the ground, giving another 6 inches to the top of the chart I taped the six inch mark at the bottom edge of the board and the 6'6" at the top.
With a trusty painters pen (I love these!!! You can usually find them near the acrylic paint.) and a ruler I marked 3 inch lines for each foot, and staggered 2 inch and 1 inch marks in between.
For the numbers, instead of turning them sideways like a ruler or the Pottery Barn version I decided to make them straight up and down.
For the numbers I used cheap cardboard stencils also from the craft section and lined them up along the outside edge, centered at each foot line and filled them in with the painters pen.
To finish it off, I used a cowboy stencil to add a few decorative extras, then lightly sanded for a little distressing and to cover any proof of my not so perfect painting abilities or lack there of.
... then some Annie Sloan dark wax(love this stuff too) and a few upholstery tacks and you are done.
For the gift, I added some heavy duty command strips to hang it, but I added a little claw picture hanging piece to mine.
This is the red finished...
And this is mine. I love how it fits perfectly in this odd space in our house and the brown and aged white work great with the rest of our attempt at rustic western decor.
I added a little different flare to our chart with staggered stars and silver upholstery tacks in the center and a few down each side.
I can't wait to add the heights of our little ones and watch them grow. I plan to use a silver metallic sharpie to mark the heights, but just couldn't wait to share this project with you all.
This is a quick fun project for any family and a really fun gift. I love that no matter where we move, we'll now be able to take these memories with us instead of leaving them behind for someone else to paint over.
I hope you like this and make one of your own. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
Enjoy,
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