Make your own kid-friendly growth chart with painter’s drop cloth customized with a cute design. Growth charts are an easy way to cherish the toddler years and you can add to it for years to come!
This cute canvas growth chart is a chic way of charting your kids growth. My sister-in-law Sara made these artsy growth charts with a few simple steps that anyone can follow! You can customize a length of canvas with any design you’d like to make a super lightweight growth chart that won’t easily fall off the wall.
Painters’ drop cloth is a great material for a kids’ growth chart. It is super durable canvas and the price per yard is very affordable. Not even a house full of kids can destroy this stuff. You can find painter’s drop cloth at any hardware store.
Design your own artsy growth chart!
To make a canvas growth chart, first decide how wide and how long you want your chart to be. Keep in mind that you will hang it a foot from the ground. Fold the canvas material and cut it to size. Nothing fancy here.
My canvas growth chart is 5 1/2 feet tall by 18 inches wide. With the added foot from the floor it measures 6 1/2 feet tall.
Make a simple hem around the growth chart to keep the material from fraying. Drop cloth is already hemmed on all four sides so if you cut a piece off the end you will only have to hem one edge. Iron your growth chart smooth before moving to the next step, painting!
Now comes the fun part! Place another drop cloth under the growth chart. Fabric is porous and the paint will soak through onto your floor without a barrier.
Add a little water to the paint before you begin for easy application onto the fabric. Fabric soaks paint up very quickly and it is impossible to spread if the paint is thick.
My sister-in-law Sara decorated her growth chart with a simple tree pattern. She did a quick outline with the paint and then began filling it in. The right side of the growth chart is for the design and the left side is for the measurement markings. Make sure the design doesn’t crowd the left side too much or there won’t be enough room to see your measurements.
Continue to fill in and adjust your design. Add artistic details and embellishments; make it up as you go!
Start at the bottom of the growth chart to make the measurement markings.
- Use a tape measure to mark off inches and feet with a permanent marker.
- Make the feet lines slightly darker so they stand out.
- Mark numbers at every foot measurement, keeping in mind that the bottom of your chart starts at one foot because you will hang it a foot from the ground.
Stand back and admire your work for a moment! Hang up your growth chart with one small nail in each corner.
I customized my growth chart with colorful card stock labels showing each of my kids heights and corresponding ages. We measure our kids every 6 months and mark their heights on the canvas growth chart.
Originally I had marked the kids heights directly on the canvas chart with a marker but I wanted to give my flower embellished growth chart a face lift. I made simple paper labels to glue into the chart. Every 6 months I can add a new paper label to mark each of my kids’ heights.
A DIY canvas growth chart is a fun way to create memories and celebrate your kids’ growth milestones. Which artsy growth chart design will you create?
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 3 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, taking photos and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!
How do you attach to the wall? Great idea. Doing dinosaurs for my grandson.
Hi! I believe I used small picture nails to attach it to the wall. A dinosaur design sounds like fun!
What a GREAT idea! Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for something to track my kids growth that wasn’t too expensive.
Perfection! Love this! Thank you!
This is so creative and cute! I love this, it is such a better idea then putting pen all over the doorframe to measure the kids!
I love DIY, such a great idea!
This is so cute and it looks so easy to make too! I love that it is DIY, too. Nothing like a awesome home project that you can use for a while!
This is so cute! I have a 2.5 y/o and another boy on the way and I think this would be great for them!
Super cool idea! Going to have to make one of these.
What an amazing idea!!! THANK you so much for sharing and I can’t wait to make one of these for my little loves