DIY silhouettes

My new house has TONS of wall space which is great for someone like me who really only feels good about a craft if it's good enough to hang. My latest project has been making these amazing silhouette portraits like the ones my mom had made when I was little! The "professional" silhouette from my childhood is a bit more detailed than the ones that I made but mine totally have way more personality because of the cool paper I used. Right? Right! To make these silhouettes all you need is:

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digital camera

printer

black cardstock or construction paper

X-acto or sharp craft knife

tape

craft paper that isn't black (patterns look cute!)

frames

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The first step is to take a profile shot of your subject. It's not important how you look but it is nice to have some textures in the image because they read so nicely once you cut them out of paper.



I pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail and left it curly to add a little something extra to my silhouette. As you can see from the photo, I didn't do much else to prepare. Eek!

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Once you have the perfect photo, print it out, tape it to your cardstock and carefully cut it out with your X-acto. Trace out as many of the details as you can because this is what makes the silhouette so cool. I spent a lot of time on my hair but some people accentuate eyelashes, clothing or jewelry. It's totally up to you.

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The final step is to pick out some cute paper, tape your silhouette to the paper and frame it!

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The finished product: