I know, I know DIY wooden growth charts aren’t anything new but I wanted a modern spin on the ruler-like one you see on Pinterest.
In addition, I wanted to create one where the measurements were in the middle of the board so that each kiddo has a side to easily see their growth! I’m always looking for ways to make my crafts not just cute but also functional! 
To make one like mine, you will need the following supplies.
- White MDF board. I got this one from Home Depot. It measured 1″ x 4″ x 8′.
- Silhouette CAMEO (link) or a similar crafting machine
- Adhesive vinyl. I chose one color for the number and another color for the tick marks.
- Transfer tape (link). I really like this one a lot!
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Saw (miter, chop, or hand saw with miter box)
Here’s a summary of how I made the modern wooden growth chart!
Step 1: Cut the board down to 5′. You may want to make it taller if you plan to have the board resting on your floor. I have ours hanging flush with the wall using strong command strips.
Step 2: In Silhouette Studio design program, begin creating your number and tick mark cutouts. I used Lori Whitlock’s LW Tall Sketch Font for the numbers for a couple reasons. Not only is a tall font but it’s very narrow so visually it wouldn’t be too bold. It also matched the modern aesthetics of my kids’ shared bedroom. I sized the numbers to be 3.75″ tall. For the tick marks, I simply created a narrow rectangle that measured 0.75″ wide. You can alter these however wide/tall according to your style. That’s the best part of making a custom project – design it however YOU want!
- I suggest putting your numbers together in one layout and putting your tick marks on a separate layout.
- For tick marks, I recommend mimicking how it would look on the growth chart and setting them one inch apart. Depending on the height of your numbers, you will need to adjust/figure out how many tick marks go between the numbers. See pic below. For mine, I needed seven tick marks which I set an inch apart and grouped the seven together. I duplicated this set several more times to go between each number.
Step 3: Send your design to cut using the appropriate cut settings. You may want to do a test cut to make sure your cut settings is good enough.
Step 4: Next, weed (remove) the vinyl you don’t need and apply transfer tape over the design. Prior to removing the vinyl’s backing, I suggest cutting out the numbers individually. However, keep your tick marks grouped together.
Step 5: Roll out the measuring tape along the entire length of your board, apply the numbers first to the board. Then, apply the tick marks in between the numbers, double-checking the correct placement with the measuring tape. I had to readjust a few times so I recommend not pushing down the vinyl hard until you are 100% sure of its placement.
And that’s it! Hooray for a pretty easy project that you can complete in an hour or so! This would be a great gift for a baby on the way or when transitioning into a big kid’s room! Just throwing out some ideas as I know we are heading into gift-giving season! 🎁