Something that we had been planning on making once our son started standing was a baby height ruler. It is simply a large 6 foot tall board which roughly looks like a ruler and every few months you mark the child's height. Also you can mark the height on birthdays and Christmas and things like that.
I looked online and saw many different styles. The one i liked and decided to make was one that had a natural stain finish. So i started by going to Lowe's or Home Depot and find a nice board to start with. Since this would be something we would have in his room for years, i wanted to get something nice. I'm always surprised when i see how much a board cost.
The price of oak, cedar, and maple are crazy. I'm not spending $30 for a board. So i went over to the pine side of the isle. I got a decent 6' pine board for $5.
When i got home i sanded all the sides, corners and edges and made sure it was cut to 6'. Then it was time to layout the distances. So using a pencil i marked every 2", making slightly longer lines every 6" and 12".
Then i used a wood burner to burn those pencil lines into the wood. I don't use the wood burner a whole lot and it can be a little tricky. If you go to quickly the temperature drops. Too slowly and it burns really dark.
I found a number and letter pattern online and printed numbers 1-6 and the letters for my son's name. Using an exacto knife i cut them out and then traced everything onto the board with a pencil. I wanted the numbers and letters to be large but also fit nicely onto the board.
Close up view
After that i applied a cherry stain and then 2 coats of wax, with a slight polish after each coat. I could have gone with polyurethane but i feel like the wax gives it a nicer look and feel.
We usually only check it now every few months.
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