diy : grow like a tree {growth chart tutorial}

Recently, my little girl turned a 1/2 birthday! Oh you know, just looking for excuses to celebrate something in these wintery months. We went out for muffins and tea and had a sweet time ‘celebrating’ ;) We all acknowledged just how big she was getting.

Yes, you’re growing like a tree, my dear ;)

Miss Gabriella excitedly asked if we could measure just how tall she is – even on the 1/2’s it’s a big deal you know. So there she was, standing so proudly by her tree – her growing-tree chart. This is a fun activity for us to do on any time of the year – but we only mark the special days on the trunk of her very own tree in her very own room.

During our little moment of watching my daughter grow like a tree – for real ;)  I realized I did not really share with you this fine standing tall and strong tree. So here I go with this simple tutorial:

Supplies needed:

• wood piece, I used a 2×2 in 6′ length lumber that we had left over from our renovation
• tree decal, mine was from Ikea but I don’t think they have them anymore
• scrap paper, I used a greeting card
• mod podge or other glue
• paint for the wood
• scissors, tools to secure the wood piece

(don’t want to get a tree decal, consider stencilling the leaves in or painting the branches and leaves right onto the wall)

Putting it together: First it all depends on your tree decal, as that will help you decide what colour you will want to paint the tree trunk. Paint your piece of wood and let dry for 2-3 days. Decide on the place of your tree and secure it to the wall with screws and/or brackets or a non-toxic strong adhesive. Apply your tree branches and leaves from your tree decal. To make the age markers, simply cut out numbers from your scrap paper and apply to the wood with Mod Podge.

On the day of each birthday, we mark our daughter’s growth with a pencil, and then  layer over the decorative paper numbers. As you can see, this girl is already 4 1/2 and mama still needs to put the 4 on! ;D

This is one of my favourite features in her room (photos on Apartment Therapy) and an idea that was born when I was still pregnant – would you believe? And that’s why I bought this tree decal five years ago. (Mind you, it was sitting around for a long time before I got around to doing this ;)  So I do apologize if you like this design and can no longer pick it up from Ikea.

What I also love about this project is that if you ever were to move, you can just remove the stick/trunk and take it with you. Most decals do say they are re-stickable, but it’s not 100% certain that they will. In my experience, they do peel off once you re-use them. So with this idea, you would just get a new tree decal but wouldn’t have to re-do all the precious growth recording of your child.

Hope you like our tree – didn’t I just say I want a tree in my house? I forgot that I already have the perfect one ;)

Do you mark your child’s or children’s ages somewhere? How and where do you mark the big milestones?

Here’s more posts from Miss G’s room:

Her room featured on Apartment Therapy won 1st place for Smaller Cooler Contest

I did this heart garland with mini lights for her head board

I did a great makeover on her off-the curb desk with decoupaged drawer handles

photo of  tree wall decal – on white wall