Watch em grow.

When we moved in May, we had to leave this behind...

 

I tried talking Derek into cutting the board out of the wall and replacing it with a new one but he thought I was being ridiculous.  I was so bummed to leave it behind.  It had memories, and my baby's milestones.  It was the original.   We moved.. and the board stayed at our old house, but the measurements did not!  I have been determined to make a new growth chart.  A chart that we can take with us where ever we end up.  I couldn't be happier with the results!  Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration!  There are many different versions, but this is the one I fell in love with. 

My afternoon started out like this..  I attempted to quickly sand one. little. spot on the board.  I forgot the stain can was sitting on the board.. without the lid.  'Oh Shit!!' 

 

This is exactly how I looked at that moment.

 

I ran in the house to get Derek because I panicked.  He is SO particular about the garage.  I just calmly said 'Honey, please come outside.  I need your help with something.. you are going to kill me!'  

 

 He didn't kill me.  I'm still here!  He didn't even yell at me.  He never does.  Such a sweet husband with a laid back personality!  Praise the Lord!  I called the paint store and drove there as fast as I could to purchase this $13 bottle of magic!  The floor actually looks much better than I ever imagined it could.  Derek is quite impressed too!

 

 

 Ok, so on with the show!  None of the project got done during nap time...except the mess and clean up.  The rest of it happened after bed time.  I was determined to get it done!

Step 1:  Stain the board.  I put 2 coats on.

Step 2:  Tape off 6 in. sections.  This took me the longest.  I kept putting my blue tape on the wrong side of the lines.  (You will see the stained sections are narrower than the white painted sections.  Once the tape is pealed off, the sections are all the same size!)  I set the numbers in place so I knew which taped off area had to be painted.  I used 2 coats of an off white craft paint.

 When the paint was dry, I peeled up the tape.

 The next step was positioning my number stencils, taping them down & painting them!

 After it dried awhile, I took the stencils off.  The paint did seep through in a few places, but no worries. After the next steps, you would never know the difference!

 After the painting & sanding is complete.. it's time to beat the board up!  I used one of Boston's baseball cleats & both ends of a hammer. 

 Once the board is roughed up, you sand the entire thing.  Extra sanding on the edges of your board.

 I used this little hook that I already had to hang it!

I am so happy with the finished product!  Derek is not entirely thrilled I hung it in our dining room, but I wanted it to be in a place that everyone would see it!  I think its perfect! 

For now I have the measurements in pencil, but I am on a hunt to come up with a 'fancier' way.

 

Project Complete.  This may be my favorite crafternoon yet!