DIY Growth Charts

My kids like to see that they are getting SOOOO big! They always want me to measure them.

We had a wall at our old house where we marked their heights on the wall every six months...but with 4 kids all growing-the wall got to looking very cluttered. :)

I decided it was high time they had their own growth charts.

I started by cutting a piece of plywood into 4 somewhat equal pieces. The size isn't important, as long as you mark it right later on.



The tutorial I am showing now is for the 3 boys, I did another style for my girl that will be shown in another tutorial.

I sprayed the three boards with Krylon Gloss Blue Ocean Breeze. I had to use two cans to get the coverage I needed...it really pays to sand better...and to have someone to hold your needy baby for more than 5 minutes while trying to sand and paint would also be a big help! :)

Using my trusty old school Cricut and some black vinyl I cut out the numbers for the boards. I wanted to give them a playful look, so I did an assortment of styles.

Then I applied them, I wanted them all to be a little bit different but still cohesive since eventually they will all be hanging next to one another. My husband measured out the boards and decided that 5'4" is tall enough...they aren't going to want these long before they reach that height I'm sure. I wanted to be sure I could put their birth height on them and then on up. So I measured from the top as 5'4" and then moved down.

For the marks on the board I used the scraps of the vinyl from cutting out the numbers and letters-finally it didn't feel like such a waste! I hate cutting things on the vinyl only to have a couple things cut out and lots of unusable space left. This was a perfect use of those scraps.

Using a tape measure, I pulled the end to the top and left the holder at the bottom marking my inches. Note that these inches were not the actual measurements, I was just using the inch marks as guides. I cut fatter pieces of vinyl for the foot markers and the half foot markers.

Then I marked all the other inch marks. The easiest way I found was to cut long thin strips, mark the inches and then cut it off after marking it. Saved a lot of time from cutting a bunch of tiny little pieces and trying to place them in just the right spot.

I attached a DISChanger to the back of each one. These things are so easy to use. Just wet the backs, wait a few minutes for them to get tacky and stick them on. You let them dry on their good and tight over night and they are super strong.

My last step was to put a vinyl chalkboard label on from ten23 designs.

I can then write how big they are on whatever day they want to be measured.

Notice the awesome art work that this little thug contributed to the walls?

Mind you we've been here for just about a month. Grrrr!

The littlest guy's is in his room...he's not quite ready to share a room with the "big" boys yet, but he wanted to get in on the measuring that was going on in this room.

My final goal is to gather pictures from each year of their lives around their birthdays and post them up the side at each height and write their height and weight on them...maybe have them looking like Polaroids up the side.

What do you think?

This post can also be seen over at the DIY Club.

See all of my posts over there while you are at it!

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DIY Cultured Knives

This kind of thing has been done before...and I am certain it will be done again.

But just in case you don't know how to give your kitchen a super quick and happy pick me up...

Here are the steps;

1-Get tired of looking at your run of the mill ugly old knife block.

2-Take it outside with a beautiful gleaming can of Black (or any other color you desire) Krylon Spray Paint and spray her down. It doesn't take much to cover it up and make it nice and pretty.

3-Bring your now beautiful knife block back into the kitchen and fill it with knives that need to be replaced...or at the very least sharpened.

4-Then think that your knife block needs just a little something extra...not a stencil this time...not a vinyl letter this time...but a vinyl chalkboard sticker from ten23 designs!

But what oh what do you write on your super cool little chalkboard.

Your name? Nah.

Someone else's name? Maybe.

You know, like...Sling Blade or something.

Get stumped for a little bit.

Then realize that Google has a really cool translator tool, Google Translate that you just type in a word such as "knives" and the language "Italian" and your knife block is not only pretty and shiny...but it's now cultured as well.

"Arrivederci!" (That's how you say goodbye in Italian-yay for Google Translate!)

This post can also be found over at the DIY Club.

See all of my posts over at the DIY Club and be sure to enter the monthly contest.

It's a BIG one! :)

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DIY Cheeky Spare Key Holder

My husband always is working on some car.

Whether it's a junker he's picked up off of Craigslist for a project...somebody who needs a timing belt done in the neighborhood...changing a body over...cleaning a motor...whatever.

He loves it.

I hate it.

I don't like the junkyard that accumulates in our yard...and how long it takes to get the junkers out of our yard once they make their way in.

I also don't like the pile of keys that always seem to end up in my kitchen...he hangs them up or puts them in a drawer...but ugh.

We kind of butt heads on this...a lot.

So I decided to stop being a nag about it...well at least try to bite my tongue a lot more.

I love my husband and have decided to support him in his "hobby" and try to 'cuten' it up as much as I can.

I went to Michaels and picked up a wood scrapbook frame, it will hold a 12x12 piece of art. I also picked up some pegs.

I picked out this cheeky little tile vinyl from ten23 that says, "Still Plays With Cars."

And I attached it to a 12x12 piece of cork board that I had on hand (you can pick up a 4 pack of these for pretty cheap at Wal-Mart).

Using the fabulous Gorilla Wood Glue I added a dab of glue to each peg before sticking it in the hole. Some of those key chains get pretty heavy. I let it dry for a bit and then (I forgot to take a picture of this step) used a small 1 1/4 inch DISCHanger on the back and let that dry.

It's hanging up in our garage now, and my hubby loves it.

He laughed when he saw it and realized I was making an effort to 'fix' our little on-going back and forth about the car situation, so it made him super happy. I got the keys out of my kitchen and he has a gets a reminder of how much I love him every time he hangs up another set of keys of the latest project he's working on. :)

This tutorial can be found in full over at the DIY Club

Be sure to go over and join the party-the prize packages are hard to beat! :)

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DIY Interchangeable Banner

Another project being featured over at the DIY club today!

This time it's for one of my DIY photo props...an interchangeable banner using cute stuff from Canvas Corp.

Here it is being used on a recent session...

I have been getting my photography blog all fixed up and ready so that I can spend a lot more time over there, I would love it if you would come over and say hi!

I will be doing lots of DIY props, photo tips and tutorials, guest posts from other photographers, giveaways and of course lots of cuteness!

PumpernickelButtons

Check out these cute sites to make your world cuter!

DIY Painted Canvas Placemats

You may remember a couple months back when I did my table makeover and posted it over at the DIY Club? Well I wanted some place mats to match.

Using Canvas Corp's place mats, some silver So Soft Glittery Fabric Paint and a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils I got a set of 6 to match just perfectly!

Head on over to the DIY Club to check out the tutorial and see all the other pretties the lovely ladies there have been posting.

Also be sure to check out and link up to the fabulous monthly linky party contest-the prize packages are HUGE and full of super fun DIY stuff-enough to project your blog for months of projects!

Check out these cute sites to make your world cuter!