Hudson will be four months old for his first Christmas, so he isn’t really going to remember what we do or any gifts he’s given. However, it seemed sad to not get him anything at all! So Bart and I decided it would be a great opportunity to make a cute project that we’ve seen online, something that we probably would have made for him anyway…now we can stick a bow on it and call it a Christmas present!
I’ve seen these oversized growth rulers on Pinterest and Etsy, and I thought they were really cute. You can buy them from Etsy, but they are actually quite easy to make, and tutorials abound on the Internet. If we thought we could tackle it with a new baby, then you shouldn’t fear.
Basically, we purchased a 6-foot long pine board at Home Depot, which required no cutting at all. Then Bart sanded lightly and stained with a light color we already had.
Most rulers are meant to hang on the wall; therefore, the numbers start at around six inches, which gives enough clearance to be mounted above baseboards. However, we chose to start ours at zero like a normal ruler so it could rest on the floor if desired.
I carefully laid out the tick marks using a tape measure and a quilting ruler. Once I marked the hash locations, I took a paint pen to create the actual lines. Instead of marking 1/4th or 1/8th inches like a ruler, each tick indicates one inch, and the major unit is one foot…therefore, there are twelve ticks between big numbers.
I printed out large numbers and traced them with a ballpoint pen; that left a slight indentation on the wood. I used that as a guide and carefully painted the numbers with acrylic paint and a nice brush meant for sharp edges.
That’s probably irritatingly painstaking for some people, but it totally floated my boat. I usually find detail work to be soothing and satisfying. Regardless, I thought the finished product turned out really great, especially as easy as it was. It maybe took thirty minutes to stain and two hours max to mark and paint, not counting dry time in between.
We chose not to put his name on it prominently, as we would probably use the same chart for other kids if we have any. We will just mark his height each year and label it with his name if we need to differentiate.
We are really excited about this project, as it’s something we will enjoy for years to come. We also hope Hudson appreciates it as he gets older. The idea of giving him a hand-made gift for Christmas each year is really appealing, so maybe this will set a neat precedent for the future…not to overcommit ourselves or anything. :p
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