DIY Cricut Growth Chart

 

I've always loved these growth charts! They make great baby shower gifts that people can use for many years-not just in the baby stage. I've made a few of these over the years and love how simple of a project it is. My first growth chart was actually for my sister in law who was not actually having a new baby. I made it for her because they had recently built a new house and she told me that she was sad because they had marked the growth of all 4 of her kids on a pole in the basement. They were prepping the house to sell and she was sad that she was going to have to paint over it and lose those memories. One of the benefits of this type of growth chart is that you can take it with you wherever you move to! She was so surprised when I gifted her this growth chart and she was able to transfer her kids heights onto the board and bring it with her to the new house. 

Things to consider before making this project: 

- Length of the board- typically these are made on 1X8 by 6 ft boards. If you are making this for a family that is tall you may want to consider a longer board. When you make the board you actually don't start at 0 you start at 6" so the total measuring ability is 6ft 6in but still. One of my coworkers was 6'7 if I had made one for his family I would get an 8ft board and cut it down to 7ft because I would expect his kids to be tall. 

- Color of board and color of vinyl.  When it comes to the color of the board- the world is your oyster you can paint it or stain it whatever you want. Something to consider is if you choose to stain or paint it a dark color you will need to use a white or silver sharpie to "measure" kids each year. This may be something you want to gift the person as well because they may not think of it until they go to measure the child. 

-Another thing that I take into consideration is the color of the trim in the persons house. If the person has white trim I would consider doing a darker wood or painting the growth chart white to compliment the trim. If they have wood trim I try to match the stain color of the growth chart to their trim so that they compliment each other.

Materials List 

- 1X8 pine board 6ft- can be purchased at your local hardware store. If you want to upgrade to a nicer wood like cedar you can but I don't find it truly necessary. 

-Paint or stain of your choice 

-Vinyl in color of your choice- I typically use black or white 

- Tape Measure 

-Polyurethane. 

-Sawtooth hanger 

Prepping the board

-I like to take my time and purchase a board that has a lot of "character" to it. Keep in mind this is going to be on someone's wall so I like it to look very "woody" 

- Usually the boards I purchase don't need to be sanded- but if there are some super rough spots you may want to consider giving the board an overall quick sand

-From there, stain or paint the board in the color of your choice. If you stain the board you MUST polyurethane it or your vinyl will not stick. I typically apply two coats of polyurethane to wood that I am planning on putting vinyl on just to give it a nice seal and make it easier to apply the vinyl. 

Printing the Vinyl 

So one of the biggest issues with this project is that if cut it with your cricut like you would lay it out you end up wasting a lot of vinyl- literally like 6 feet of it. When I was starting to think about this project I was attempting to figure out how I could cut it out with the least amount of wasted vinyl. I ended up going on etsy and finding a prefabricated file that fits everything into roughly 2 feet of vinyl- it was a $3 purchase and I figured it was worth it for the amount of time I would ultimately spend manipulating the file in design space and I knew I would most likely make multiple of these as gifts over the years. 

Applying the Vinyl to the Board 

After I've used the Cricut to cut out the vinyl I lay the board on the ground and I take a tape measure and lay it next to the board. 

I place the end of the board to that it lines up with the 6" mark. You want to start the growth chart at 6" inches because you have to figure most infants are going to be at least 6" long (and if they aren't they typically aren't at home to be measured) and you want to hang the growth chart above your trim. 

Then I start by applying the vinyl on each of the 1ft marks according to the tape measure. To be perfectly honest I don't actually use transfer tape when I do this- you can and feel free to do so I just find that its easy for me to peel the hash mark off and place it without it. 

After I finish placing the 1 foot markers I go in and place the 6 inch markers. I purposely do this to ensure equal spacing between all of the hash marks. After the 6 inch markers I go in and place all of the inch markers and then lastly the number marks on each foot. 

Optional: I like to add either the child's name (if I know it) or "The ___ Family" at the top opposite of the hash marks. I just find it makes it more personal 

Finishing touches 

After placing all the vinyl I like to apply an additional coat of polyurethane over the vinyl just to make sure it doesn't accidentally peel off over time. 

I also apply a sawtooth hanger on the back so that it can be hung on the wall. 

Pro tip: install the sawtooth hanger exactly one inch from the top of the board to ensure accurate hanging. 

Tips for hanging and overall use 

1. Especially if you are giving this as a gift at a baby shower or something where there is a lot of chaos I would write hanging instructions on the back of the board. Specifically write that in order for the chart to be accurate to hang the bottom of the board 6 inches off the ground. It may be a few weeks or months after the person receives it before they go to hang it and might have forgotten the installation instructions. 

2. I asked my sister in law if she had any suggestions because she received my first one a couple of years ago. She suggested if you have more than two kids (she has 4) that are all being measured on the chart to use different colors markers to avoid clutter and confusion. 

3. Pick a time to measure kids at the same time- typically their birthday or every 6 months in the beginning. Write their age down when you mark their height on the chart. 

And ta-da you have your self a super cute growth chart!!! 

Overall 

Overall I find this to be a fairly easy project that makes a super cute gift that families can use for many years. I also like that it is something that they can take with them if they move and hang in a new house and continue to watch their family grow.