Thursday, September 6, 2012

A Project

My Growth Chart.

Step one.

Buy Lumber, Paint, yard stick.

Step two.
Paint wood. (Sorry this portion was not documented through visual stimulation)
I did white.. and after it dried I wetted down a paper towel, blotted it with brown paint and swiped over the desired areas to make it look a little....Rustic?

Step three.
Measure and Mark! As you can see, I decided to have just 4 inches before I Marked my First foot. This way when you hang it on your wall it can be 8 inches off the ground. Thus...It just looks better. If this doesn't make since...Just look at the picture.
Pencil your measurements first so when you measure wrong...(Well, it happened to me so I'm just assuming it will happen to you too!) anyway, you can fix it easy peasy. 
INCHES drawn on were measured 4 1/2 inches
FEET drawn on were measured at 7 1/2 inches
When all looked good I used a sharpie for the lines as opposed to paint.


Step four
Design my numbers! I drew them to have my desired look and cut out my home made number pattern. (You CAN buy stencils, but where's the fun in that?)

Step five.
Find desired color and pattern for numbers. I used scrap book paper. super cute. not too thin, not too thick.



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Step Six.
Make your cute as a button Numbers using your pattern or Stencil. I just traced my number pattern over the desired Paper of choice and cut. easy.
I also just Made each number have a border of opposite pattern.

Step Seven.
Decoupage the crap out of those numbers onto the wood.
(You can make the decoupage glue with half Elmer's glue and half Water. Bingo Bango)

Dry.

Step Eight.
Hang. This is a two person Job! You have to measure exactly right from the floor to the first inch on your Growth Chart. I was so close to losing my delicate language to sailor talk. And I was sweating with frustration. Ha ha. So, good luck with this part.
I use command strips (Velcro) to hang this beauty. I put eight on the back. This way it's Flat against the wall so when little kiddos lean up you get the most accurate measurement! and it's not MOVIN. If you move, easy off and easy clean up for the wall.

There it is. My eight step program to a Super Cute Home Made Growth Chart that comes in Under $20