Growth Charts

I love my babies! Who doesn't! Anyone who has babies, knows that they don't last long! I loved the idea of a growth chart.  I originally wanted to do it on the frames of their doors.  But I realized that may not keep forever since we could move or redo the house or yup, a fire.  (Ours would not have ruined the growth charts if I did do them on the trim by their doors, but that's a mute point now)

Of course, it had to be inexpensive. And they are no beauties after seeing some of the other ideas online (more of that later) but it doesn't matter, because they are ours.  So I bought an inexpensive chart from current catalog.  They are listed for 19.99 right now, but I used online coupons and waited for a sale.  I want to say I got them around $6, maybe $10.  I'm sure you can find cheaper ones till but 7 years ago, there wasn't much to pick from.

When I got them, they are just computer printed cardstock.  Which is fine, I didn't have the time to get creative on the computer.  However, the sheet does not start at 0" and go to 60".  I decided to put them on boards to give them stability and hopefully increase their life.  Also, we wanted the child to be able to stand up next to it and accurately give their height, so my husband used scrap wood to make up the difference.  (Did that make sense?) Maybe this will help..

Now the board is accurate.  When the child stands next to it with their feet on the floor, we can mark their actual measurements. 

Of course, I had to make it even better and meaningful.  So now that the girls are old enough to write their names, they write their name next to the line.  I add the date and their age.  This way not only do we watch them grow, we can also see how their handwriting changed over the years.  :)

 Even though there are tons of better ones out there ( just check this pinterest search or you can buy some on etsy - just now, over 2,000 listed on etsy! Wowza!) I know mine will be just as great as any of the others.  It's not about how cute it looks before, its about how amazing it is as you go!