Do you live in an area that gets a lot of snow? I was born and raised in Southern Ontario Canada, so when I moved up north to Greater Sudbury… well let’s just say the seasonal difference is ridiculous. This year I decided to make a simple snow scale that would give me an idea of how much snow has accumulated throughout the winter, and I’m sharing the easy (and fun) DIY so that you can make your own!
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You’re going to need a few supplies, and I’m happy to report that Krylon sent me all the paint for this project :)
Items Required:
- 3′ long stake
- Painter’s tape
- Measuring tape (not pictured above)
- Permanent marker
- Two contrasting colours of spray paint (I used Paprika and Pistachio)
- A clear sealer spray paint for outdoors
The first step is to paint your long stake in one of the colours you chose. I actually did this project over a few weeks, and gave it the first coat way back when I painted my DIY Boo Light-up Board!
Once that has fully cured, tape off areas of your stake in 6″ sections. Remember to keep enough of a gap at the bottom (where the stake will go into the ground). We kept about 5-6 inches, including the pointy part.
You’re going to completely tape off each alternating section, and then spray paint the exposed parts. You may have to do a couple of coats depending how the coverage is.
(The paint I chose just happened to almost match the colour of my tape!).
Once it’s dry, carefully remove the tape then use your marker to write the numbers corresponding to the inch measurements from the bottom. I went with 6″ sections for each colour block; and drew little lines showing every inch mark.
You’ll want to wait a bit for your marker to dry, then give the entire stick a coat or two of clear sealer (since you’ll be putting it outside). I didn’t wait, and some of my numbers leaked a bit when I sprayed the clear coat on top.
Oh – I also wrote the numbers on two sides, one facing the house and one facing the road!
Hopefully you live in a warmer climate and haven’t gotten any snow yet – because now you’ll want to hammer the stake into the ground! (ie: if the ground is frozen, it will be hard.)
We hammered the stake into the ground up to our first colour block, essentially at “0” inches.
These initial photos were taken a few weeks ago, right after we got our first real snow. It was just under an inch high, but the grass kind of throws the measurement off.
We stuck the simple snow scale right in the middle of our front yard so that it wouldn’t be affected by any shoveling piles (away from the edges of the walkway or driveway). We also let Tootsie run around in the backyard, so her paths would have skewed our super scientific results if it was back there.
A few days later, everything melted… and I thought we would have a late winter again this year.
Hahahaha just kidding – this week we got a big heap in two separate days!
Yep, we’re right under the 5″ mark, and with the temperatures getting colder every day I don’t think it will be melting until the spring.
What did I tell ya, was that not an easy and fun project!? If you hurry, you can probably make your own simple snow scale and stick it in the ground before the snow hits in your area. Although let’s be honest, if you don’t have snow by now… you might not need the whole 3 feet stake – I’m just hoping it’s long enough for the snow we get here…
I wish that was a joke :(
I’ll make sure to include an up-to-date picture of our simple snow scale in my Monthly Update posts, that way you can at least feel better that you live somewhere less snowy hahahahaha!
Krylon did not directly sponsor this post; however I did receive free paint for this project. Thanks again :)
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