DIY: Pottery Barn Inspired Rustic Growth Chart

I am so bad at keeping up with projects I do around the house! Maybe because it’s because I only do them after 11PM and i’m always half asleep…

DIY: Pottery Barn Inspired Rustic Growth Chart

I originally found the idea in a Pottery Barn Kids store… then as with any craft project I do… I probably spent more time looking online at ways other people did it, then the time it took me to actually do the project. The ones I found on Pinterest were either giant rulers or the numbers were placed sideways. I wanted mine a little more traditional looking (not a giant ruler) and I also wanted to have my numbers right side up (just my personal preference).

Here is what I used:

Plank of wood – (we used 7ft cedar because of the amazing wood grain/knot patterns)
Stain – (I used Minwax Dark Walnut because I love it and because I already had it, I also did not use wood conditioner because I wanted to keep the light and dark pattern of the wood grain)
Sandpaper – (optional – I didn’t do it because I forgot, but I would have worn down the edges a little for an extra rustic touch)
Printed numbers – (Mine are approx. 200 pt font)
Transfer Paper
Ruler or tape measure
Pencil
Paint pen

I had already stained the wood months ago and it was just sitting there on my husbands work bench, waiting for me to bring it to life! Be sure you decide on where you want to hang your growth chart before you put your numbers on. Account for baseboards, moulding, etc. and then measure where your “inch ticks” should start. I used a regular ruler and a pencil to mark off the inches, making my marks at each “foot” slightly longer.

Several of the blog posts I looked at used vinyl decals for the numbers – I was going for a more rustic/antique look and wanted my numbers painted on. I saw a few people print their numbers out, cover the entire backside of the printed paper with pencil led and then trace onto the wood (so the pencil lead would transfer to the wood… yes, brilliant, but my gosh too much work). I of course pulled out my transfer paper. If you have never used transfer paper before, it is amazing and one of my favorite crafty tools.

After tracing my numbers with the transfer paper, I sat there for literally 10 min deciding on white or black numbers… Ultimately I chose white (thank god, black would have been too dark on my dark stain). Instead of using a paintbrush (too much room for error) I used a paint pen. If you get the hang of how the paint flows out of the pen, you can do a pretty decent job making it look rustic and not out of a pen lol.

Viola! I really enjoyed doing this one, super easy, super fast, and looks great! We have it hung with a sawtooth picture frame hanger, but I have a mischievous little troublemaker of a 15 month old who thinks its fun to watch it swing on the wall… Needless to say, we are looking for a more “secure” way to hang it.