DIY Giant Ruler

 I saw this on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect to make for Nicole and her family. Kids grow so fast and I thought it would be fun for them to mark their growth and add pictures of them at different times of their youth. The great thing about it is that you move it from house to house if you move. It's not like marking up a wall or door and having to take that with you. 

Giant Ruler Supplies:

• Plank of wood: 1" x 8 or 10"
• Paint pen: Black (Don't use a permanent marker)
• Pencil
• Ruler
•  Clear spray paint for wood

 If you have a wooden ruler handy, grab it. That way you can have the mini version to follow. 

Start by making one inch marks on the whole board up both side, lightly with a pencil. Marking both sides helps you keep your lines straight.

**Remember that your "1-foot" mark will start 6 inches from the bottom**

Feel free to make your marks whatever lengths you want, but here's what I did: 

• Foot marks 3 inches long
• 6-inch marks 2 inches long 
• 3-inch marks 1 inches long
• 1-inch marks 1/2 inches long

Once all the lines are pencil marked, go ahead and use the paint pen to go over them

 The numbers can be drawn in however you want but I wanted them to look like they were printed out. I used Century font at size 250 and I made it just the outline. 

If you use the glass from a picture frame and place a light (or your cell phone) under the glass with the piece of paper with the numbers printed on it, you can trace the letters (pushing the pretty hard).

Once they have all been traced, lay them where you want them and trace over the printed side so that the pencil led from the opposite side leaves an outlined trace on the wood. 

Here is an example of what it looks like:

I did it with the writing as well. Same exact process as with the numbers.

Then you fill it in with the paint pen, like so:

 And here's what it looks like when it's complete:

Oh and before you're finished, you should spray the whole front with a coat of clear spray paint so that all the paint and markings are sealed and separate from your kids measurements.

Finish it off by adding a frame claw hook thing into the back at the top. 

Do it at the 6-foot mark so that it will be easier to hang at the right place on the wall.

 It's easy and fun! I spent a lot of time on it but I really enjoyed it and watched some movies while I did it. Hope that's clear, but let me know if you have any questions:)