With the birth of my brother’s children, I had a memory lapse of my own children’s statistics when they were born. That was a sad reality as those precious little beings my husband and I created are probably the most important things in our lives.

I got the idea from Pinterest. The original blog post for this idea is here: Baby Stats Subway Art.

This is one of those projects that I REALLY wanted to do, and even had it on my own priority list of projects. When a particular challenge came up, I knew it was time to get these baby stats wall art projects done for my kids.

The toughest part of this project was getting the power-point print to fit on the piece of wood I purchased. Fortunately for you I have attached the power point file, links to the types of font I used, and some tips throughout the step-by-step process I took to create these cool stats-art for your own children.

If you’ve got a handle on power point, and your computer savy enough to download new fonts, hopefully this piece of art work will be a cake-walk for you and all you have to do is type in your child’s birth stats and enter the info.
If you don’t know power point well, I’ve tried to make the instructable as clear and simple as possible, BUT, you may run into a snag or two where I assumed that the person reading this knows how to use power point, “enough to get by.”

Either way, I hope you can use this instructable to get your own baby’s birth statistics done.

Step 1: Gather Materials, Tools & Equipment

Materials:
8” x 10” wood piece; I purchased the one shown at Jo-Ann’s, but you can make your own if you have the equipment
OR an 8-1/2” x 11” piece of wood
(Optional) spray paint primer
white spray paint
white cardstock paper
acrylic sealer spray

Tools & Equipment Needed:
newspaper or other paper to cover your work surface
computer with Microsoft Power Point program
color printer – I have an ink jet
Mod Podge
Sponge Brush for mod podge
Flat scraping tool (I found the one shown in my husband’s tool box – I think it’s for ice on the windshield)
Sandpaper (optional) – I used 100 & 150 grain
Paper cutter or scissors (if your wood piece is 8x10 like mine)
pencil

Step 2: Download the Fonts

There are three fonts used on this sheet that are generic Microsoft word fonts:
Arial or Arial Black
Courier New
Georgia

Next, download the different font styles. Fair warning – These font sites are addictive, (at least they were to me) just like instructables!
The site I got them from is: www.1001freefonts.com
Since the time that I’ve downloaded them, I had to find one from this site: www.fontyukle.net/en

You can do a search for the font names, (I suggest by alphabetically) or just use these links:
Armlite Rifle
Blue Highway Linocut
Boopee
Mufferaw

The process to download a file is relatively easy, and hopefully you already know how to do it. If not, here are the general instructions, shown in the photos in this step. (Please note that the font name is just an example font.)

Download the file
Go to the Control Panel in the Start Menu
Click on the Font Icon
Under the File menu, click on Install New Font
Find the file location folder, save as, and click OK

Step 3: Download the File

Just like the title says, this step is to download the attached file. If you don’t have the fonts on your computer (as listed in Step 2), it will look really weird. Given that it’s a free file, I hope you can make this your own art work and this is just the start.

Each box has the “stat” type and the name, size, and color of font listed.

The first photo is what the file should look like when you open it in Power Point.
If the file downloaded properly and you are ready to type in the statistics, please proceed to Step 4.

Should the file not download properly, or you want to create the file from scratch, I’ve included the dimensions of the text box and the location of each one that I used, again, as just a start for your masterpiece.

First, change the page setup to portrait.

You can format the shapes of a text box by right clicking on the edge of an existing or new text box and clicking on either “Format AutoShape” or “Format Placecard”.

Date:
Font: blue highway linocut, size 120, color dark grey
Size Tab: Height: 1.25”, Width: 5.42”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.08” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 0.08” From: Top Left Corner

NOTE: I did not change any of the other tabs, which included the “Text Box” tab. It’s Internal margins were unchanged, and you can see those dimensions in the photo.
Also, there is “no fill” for both the colors and the lines under the “Colors and Lines” tab.

Day of the Week:
Font: Georgia font, size 66, color black
Size Tab: Height: 1.58”, Width: 5.17”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.25” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 1.33” From: Top Left Corner

Name:
Font: Arial font, bold, size 135, choice of color
Size Tab: Height: 4.25”, Width: 7.09”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.08” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 2.08” From: Top Left Corner

Length:
Font: courier new font, size 48,color black
Size Tab: Height: 1.58”, Width: 6.17”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.08” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 6.09” From: Top Left Corner

NOTE: For one of my children, I had to make this box longer (due to the ½” addition to the length,) as the setting in my Power Point program was to ‘wrap around’ the text box.

Weight Number – First line:
Font: - Mufferaw font, size 110, color dark grey
Size Tab: Height: 1.83”, Width: 2.5”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.5” From: Top Left Corner
Vertical: 6.92” From: Top Left Corner

Weight Number – Second line:
Font: - Mufferaw font, size 110, color ligh grey
Size Tab: Height: 1.83”, Width: 2.33”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 0.33” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 7.92” From: Top Left Corner

Measurement (for Weight) – First line:
Font: boopee font, size 110, color medium grey
Size Tab: Height: 1.83”, Width: 4”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 2” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 6.84” From: Top Left Corner

Measurement (for Weight) – Second line:
Font: boopee font, size 110, color dark grey
Size Tab: Height: 1.83”, Width: 4.17”
Position Tab: Horizontal: 1.92” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 8.09” From: Top Left Corner

Time:
Font: armalite rifle font, size 12, color medium grey
Size Tab: Height: 2.39”, Width: 6.75”
                  Rotation: 270-degrees
Position Tab: Horizontal: 2.07” From: Top Left Corner
                         Vertical: 2.26” From: Top Left Corner

Power Point File-For Instructable.ppt
Download

Step 4: Prepare the Statistics & Print

Of course, I’m sure you are more prepared than I and don’t have to look up your child or children’s statistics like I did on his/her birth certificate….

I found the day of week my children were born by looking on this website:
Day of the Week Calculator

This step involves the typing the statistics and getting it to look like what you want before printing.

As you type in the stats, you will have to delete all the other information in the box.

If you have (Step 2) downloaded the fonts, (Step 3) downloaded or re-created the file, and (Step 4) typed in the information and it looks like something you want, please, print it.

I had to make it WIDER, because I wanted the words to completely cover the wood backing.
Here is how I stretched the words to fit across the entire page, all at the same time:

Select all of the text boxes on the page. I did this by pulling the cursor around the entire page.
Next I RIGHT CLICKED and selected the “Save as Picture” line.
Save the picture as a file in a place you will be able to find in about ten more seconds.
Open page 2.
Insert the picture from the file.
Stretch the photo to fit across the page, and possibly some outside the page limits to get it to the look you want.

Print on white cardstock. Sealing the page is in Step 6.

Step 5: Prepare the Wood

I started with spraying one coat of white primer on the wood over my covered work area. I sprayed the sides and the front, but not the back.
I wrote down (optional) for the primer because two coats of white paint should cover the wood completely. I had the white primer already so I used it.
Let this coat of paint dry for at least an hour.

Next, I sprayed one coat of white spray paint. Let it dry for at least one hour.

NOTE: I spray almost all spray paint and sealers about 8-10 inches away. Also, I was planning on “roughing up” the edges with sandpaper after the paper was glued down to the board, so I wasn’t too concerned about paint coverage for this project, but I also did not want the existing color of the wood to be seen through either.
To prevent drips from the nozzle, shake the can for at least one (1) minute before spraying.

Step 6: Prepare the Printed Statistics

In my case, the page of stats had to be cut to the size of the block. If you cut your own wood or was able to purchase an 8-1/2” x 11” piece of wood, then you can omit this next section.

This is how I cut the page to fit the block:

Take the page and hold it up to the wood. Looking at a light, I lined up the words to be centered where I wanted them to be on the block.
Next, I turned the block over on a hard surface with the statistics page underneath, and took the pencil and drew lines along all four corners of the block on the page.
Finally, I used my paper cutter to cut the excess off, which subsequently also made the edges straight and parallel to each other, even if my centering was not perfect.

Once the page is cut to your wood block size, on your covered work surface, spray the printed page of statistics with acrylic sealer. Normally, I spray paint-or-sealer from 8-10 inches from the object, BUT FOR THE PAPER, I recommend spraying the sealer at least 12” away from the page to prevent bleeding of the ink, especially if you use an ink jet paper.

The sealer will be applied again after the art is assembled.

Step 7: Assemble the Wall Art

With a generous amount of Mod Podge, apply a smooth layer of the glue to the wood block using your sponge brush. I placed the glue directly on the wood and placed the excess in a separate container.

One photo is me picking off a piece of dirt that got onto the board while placing the glue. I wanted the paper to be as smooth as possible on the block, as I knew any raised object would show through the paper when complete.

As you place the cardstock print on the block, I suggest working from corner to corner to get it centered, trying not to smudge the print. (I didn’t trust the acrylic spray to be perfectly sealing, but that’s me.)

Once you feel comfortable that the paper is centered, smooth out the paper over the block. I used a scraper I found in my husband’s tool box. It worked very well to both not smudge the ink and get any bubbles out.

Let the mod podge dry at least one hour. I suggest checking to make sure any excess is clear.

Optionally sand around the edges of the block and paper to give it a distressed look. I used 150 grit first and followed up with a 100 grit piece of sand paper.

After wiping off any excess grit from the sanding, I sealed the block and paper with acrylic sealer once more. I let that dry for a little more than one hour before handling it again.

The original blog has a unique design to hang the artwork with a bunch of other framed items.
The ones I made for my kiddos are in our bedroom, and I plan on putting a framed photo of them with the group of stats.

Yes! It’s DONE!

Introduction: Baby Statistics Wall Art