Measuring

My most recent project was this large scale ruler to measure our son's growth.  You've seen them before, they're all over the internet; mostly because it's a really good idea.  When I was growing up, we marked our heights on the inside of a doorframe on our birthday every year.  Things would have been easier if our height had been tracked on something movable when the house was sold. 

Blurry but the best he could do!  Shaking his Easter egg shaker is too much fun to be still!

Enter, the growth chart made to look like a ruler.  I started 6 inches up, to account for molding.  And if Levi grows to be over 6'6"...well I'm sure he won't mind because he'll be an adult by then. 

It's just a 1x6 board, stained dark.  Then I printed out numbers 1-6 in my favorite "ruler-like" font.  That was Dillon's favorite part, I think. Choosing between 10 different "ruler-like" fonts.  I cut out the numbers and traced them with a pencil onto my board.  I used Martha Stewart craft paint to fill in the lines. 

Warning--this stuff doesn't wipe off easily.  If you make a mistake, get comfortable with it or be prepared to sand if off.  I had started out wanting to do thicker "inch" lines, but they looked wobbly because of the grain in the board.  So thinner, imperfect-looking lines won the day.  If you don't want to go through all the trouble with the painting, lots of people make vinyl stickers for this on Etsy.  I'm sure their lines look better than mine!! 

It took awhile to hang because I can't use a hammer currently because my de Quervains tendonitis is back.  So Dillon had to hammer the nails in the back and on the wall.  Measuring about a million times was my job, it's pretty important to get this sucker 6" exactly from the floor. 

Well it went up last night and we are all set for Levi's first birthday!  Now to get him to stand tall and straight next to it...