Getting Crafty: Growth Charts!

Did I tell y'all that I dropped my iPhone in the toilet? No? Well, I did. Anyway. I consequently inherited my husband's old iPhone (first world problems, right, I know, lame) and the picture quality isn't as good, so don't mind the fuzzy noisy less-than quality pics displayed in this post. 

And don't drop your iPhone in the toilet.

So! Growth charts!

As I was measuring Cub the other day, I realized that the girls don't have their own growth charts. So I walked over to the computer and after some clicking around I was disappointed to discover that paper growth charts ran at around $20 while wooden or canvas growth charts ran at anywhere from $60 to $80. Hm. Not that my little ladies aren't worth it, but, you know. Let's be just a little thrifty here.

So, I loaded the crew in the car and headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies to make the charts myself. As I perused the aisles, I discovered some rolled cork board that had an adhesive backing, measuring at 48 inches tall, for five bucks. Perfect! I picked up a few other goodies and headed home.

Now. I have three kids. So, any craft I do has to be easy. And this one was. 

My supplies: Rolled cork with adhesive backing, hot glue gun, decals, letter, paint, measuring tape, sharpie. I already owned everything but the cork, the decals, and the letters, so the cost of this project was about ten bucks per chart. Sweet!

I unrolled the cork and weighted it down with two books at each end, and left it that way for a few hours to help it flatten. After the kiddos went to bed, I painted the cork board yellow. It turned out distressed-looking, which I like, but you could do two coats to make it more even, if you're more of a paint-looks-better-even kind of gal. I painted each of the letters (I made one for Naomi and will make one for Lydia when I get a chance ... someday ...) and hot glued them to the painted cork board. I kind of made the rest up as I went, adding a vine-y looking thing with the crocheted flower decals, and painting the measuring lines green. When everything was dry and finished, I peeled off the paper backing and stuck it to the wall. I hung it crooked the first time and had to peel it off the wall and re-stick it, and the paint on the wall was totally fine, so no worries there.

Ta-Da!

I love it. I might add ribbon to the top for a little something extra. And the cork may or may not hold up for a long time, so I may need to pin it to the wall. But I love how it turned out! It was a fun, easy project and Naomi loves it. Score!

Have a lovely day.