If you’ve been on Pinterest at all you’ve probably had a few oversized ruler growth charts pop up on your feed, am I right? I personally LOVE the idea of this. My mom always measure us in a doorway as we were growing up and she’s been doing it with my kids as well. It works perfect for her because she and my dad will be in that home forever and ever. Us on the other hand, well, we’re pretty sure this isn’t our forever home. We’ve lived in 4 house since Carter’s been born and 2 since Tuck, so marking a doorway didn’t work for us, unless we wanted to do a mini reno before moving out!
I’m sure you’ve noticed my whole love for arrows recently, so why not put a spin on the growth chart and make it an arrow? Great idea, I know, who doesn’t want an arrow in every room of their home?
Here’s what I used:
- 1 1×6 pine board
- jigsaw
- block sander
- Chalk Paint in Antibes Green
- a whole lotta PATIENCE – You’ll probably want to take a step back if you’re lacking in this area.
I measured 1′ from the top and 1′ from the bottom and then just played around with lines until I figured out what look I was going for with regards to the arrowhead and the fletching. I marked then darker and scribbled around them so I knew exactly where to cut with my jigsaw. It took some time to cut the whole thing out & my lines were a touch wavy along the sides but otherwise it turned out as I pictured it, so that’s always a good thing!
I used the block sander with a 22o grit to smooth out the edges before I started to paint.
I did a base coat in Everlasting Chalky Finish paint by DecoArt and then using the wax method marked the area’s I wanted to look distressed. From there I did two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antibes Green.
I wiped the paint off of the area’s I had applied the wax and then ended up taking the block sander again and going over the whole thing to distress it further. Once I was satisfied with the overall look I marked out my notches at 3″, 6″ & 12″ starting at the base and working my way up.
I used the Everlasting to paint on my numbers and then used a Chalk Pen to go over the notches along the side. Once it was all dried, I distressed the numbers with the sander to match the rest of the board. I sealed it with a coat of Annie Sloan Soft Wax and it was ready to go!
You’re probably thinking I’m a little late to the game when it comes to measuring the 9 year old right? Here’s a secret about why I love this so much. It’s moveable! I plan to bring it to my moms, measure it up alongside her doorway and just transfer the markings onto my own board for my own record! We’ll be keeping the growth arrow in the playroom downstairs so that the kids can see how fast they are growing all the time. It’s one thing to say it to them, but it’s another for them to see it for themselves!
What about you? Have you been marking a doorway, or a wall or a ruler?