DIY growth chart/wall art

Last week my sister was invited to a baby shower and she sent me a quick text asking for a creative gift idea. I usually prefer the hand made, something no one has one just like it kind of gift, so I told her I'd have to think on it and get back to her. Sadly the idea came to me the day after the shower so she didn't get to use it. Bummer! {sorry sis!} On the up side, now I get to share it with you! :) My DIY growth chart that doubles as wall art...

There are a couple of trends that I'm loving right now and wanted to incorporate in this project... pallet art and thick horizontal stripes. Here is how it came together...

First, I enlisted some help from one of the handy guys in the office. {thanks Ben!} He attached the 3 smaller pieces of wood to the back of the two 4' pieces with some everyday Elmer's glue and several screws.

You'll notice in those photos that we used new wood for this project. When it comes to pallet art, I prefer to buy new wood and make it look old rather than use actual pallets.{you just never know where they have been}  To make the wood look aged, Ben distressed it with a hammer, nails and some sand paper.  Then, to achieve the rusty grey color, we made a mixture of steel wool and vinegar and let it sit for several hours. Then he brushed the mixture onto the wood and let it dry. {color will vary depending on wood and number of coats applied}

Next I measured out 6 inch stripes and taped them off with painters tape. Then I painted them in with a mixture of acrylic paint and water.

After the paint was dry I drew the lines for feet and inches with a sharpie, using a tape measure as my guide.

Next I created a vinyl stencil for the numbers with my CAMEO and adhered them to the board using the transfer tape. Then I painted the numbers with black acrylic paint, let them dry and removed the vinyl stencil.

At this point it is ready to hang and measure the kiddos! There are lots of ways to add a child's measurements to the chart, but to match the look I was going for I thought it would be fun to hang a "dog tag" with the name, age, date and height on an eye hook. So, I marked each height with a pen and went back to my computer. I opened the dog tag shape into Silhouette Studio and filled it with a grey color. Then, I typed in the stats and filled the text with off white.

Next I turned on the registration marks and printed the image. Then I put the printed paper on my mat just as it shows in the Silhouette Studio, loaded the mat into the CAMEO and cut my shape.

Once the tag was cut, I screwed the eye hook into the board where I had previously marked with my pen and hung the tag.  Here is a close up photo...LOVE the distressing and how clean the painted numbers came out too. :)

Here in Utah it is a rainy/windy day. Perfect weather for staying inside and doing some crafting! :) Have a great Monday!!