She's Crafty

With the passing of MCA of The Beastie Boys, this article's title is a nod to their creative nature. I might not have agreed with every single thing they did or word they sang (nor did my parents...), but you really can't stifle creativity. Thanks fellas, from those of us old enough to remember. She's crafty and she's just my type. She's crafty...

If one word could be used to describe me, would it be crafty? Probably not. Imitator? Definitely. Isn't imitation the most sincere form of flattery... or something like that? I'm not that person that comes up with new ideas, but if I see it done somewhere else, I'll give copying it a whirl.

A few years ago, I fell madly in love with a wooden growth chart from Pottery Barn Kids, but was unwilling to pay the hefty price they were asking. At the time, we were living in a house that we knew we wouldn't live in for much longer and I had already moved from a house where we had to putty up the growth milestones and paint over it-- talk about a day of tears!! That's when I found the growth chart and had a revelation. This was the perfect way to record my kids' growth, but I would never have to worry about leaving their growth behind, when we moved.

So I put my thinking cap on... A friend had told me that they always measured their kids on the molding around a door and they couldn't bear to leave it behind, so when they moved, they pried the wood off & took it with them. Obviously, however, they replaced it for the new owners. :)  That's when it hit me: I'll use molding for MY growth chart! My creation isn't nearly as wide as the one from PBK, but it also wasn't nearly as expensive! Here's the skinny:

I purchased an 8 foot piece of molding from my local home improvement store and cut it off to the height of the door it was going beside (ours is near the door the family goes in & out, where we stash all the kids' backpacks). I measured off 1 inch increments and marked every 6th inch with a somewhat larger line (like you'd see on a wooden ruler). I also purchased a sheet of large mailbox-type stickers and used those to mark the feet.

With me reaching my peak height in 7th grade at 5'6" and Financial Guy sneaking in at 6 feet, you can see I have high hopes for my kids by having the ruler reach 7 feet. If they outgrow it, heck, I'll write on the doggone wall!! :)

Now, we record each growth milestone on the growth chart, rather than the molding. That way, if we ever move, it goes with us without having to replace the entire door frame. :) Crafty, I'm not. Cheap, I totally am and wear that badge proudly! Stay cheap, be thrifty, and save on, friends!