All you Parents and Grand Parents or even soon to be ones, Growth Chart Story Boards make a great DIY gift!

Create a Life Story Board!

Growth charts can be customized a little or a lot, year to year. They can last for several generations and move easily, not left on a door jamb somewhere. Let your imagination run and use your child's special interests and hobbies to make their story board uniquely theirs!!

These were made on a 1" x 10" x 6' pine board from Home Depot that runs just under $13. Remember, those are not actual measurements - the rest of the story. I chose to use my wood burning tool to make the measurement increment marks and to fill in the stenciled numbers - but they could easily be painted or use vinyl numbers.

The other markings were done on my inkjet printer onto the wrong side of a overhead projector sheet or wax paper. Remember to reverse any text printed, so it will transfer correctly. They are designed to be hung so the bottom is 12" above the floor.

The wire hearts and stars are more like paper clips and can be used to hold pictures, photos, drawings, etc. that can easily be updated and as the years go on. The pine wood is soft enough that each measurement can be dated and noted in any way. Each board can be updated with any number of trinkets and souvenirs.

The 3-D charms on these boards are attached in a way that they can be removed for easy moving. Arts and craft stores are great places to find the types of charms that are life related. You may also want to include miniature toys, trinkets or pictures from when the parents were little to capture even more of the life story!

BTW - if you opt to post pictures, make sure the full name and birth date are NOT included - don't give any info to the bad guys!

Material/sources:

• Home Depot - board, clear matte spray finish
• Jo-Ann - fishing bag, paint kit, tire swing, hanging plant, hopscotch, chalk board
• Amazon - ballet slippers, fishing pole,  heart and star clips, silver charms, wood cutouts, clear door knob bumpers, glass bottle, number stencil
• Ebay - cowboy hat
• www.straightdope.com - why boards are not actual size

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