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DIY Silhouette: How to Make a Silhouette The Easy Way

I have always loved a classic piece of silhouette art – especially when it’s my kid! When I wanted to make a silhouette art wall in our home, I figured out how to make a silhouette myself. And you know what? It’s easy! Find out how to make your own DIY silhouette below! 

Remember last week, when I showed you my DIY tassel garland?

You, do? Good.

And remember in that same post, I said that if all went according to plan, I would show you how I did my silhouettes?

You, do? Good.

Well, you are about to see how to make a silhouette. But, over the course of the week, all has not went according to plan with the silhouettes. You see, the other day, I was just sitting at my dining room table minding my own business, trying to be a good blogger, when out of nowhere one of those silhouettes fell right off the wall. And the glass shattered into a million little pieces.

No lie.

And what’s weirder? There was no apparent cause for this fall. Nope, the nail was still in the wall when I went over there and the hook was just fine on the back of the frame.

Strange.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I believe in ghosts.

I think my Pap was just bored and trying to entertain himself at my expense.

Just wait until the end of this post to call the asylum on me, you’ll want to see this first.

DIY Silhouette Wall Art - an easy way to make your own silhouette art.

So, here is the story of my silhouette wall and and the easy way to make silhouette art.

How to Do a Silhouette

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First off, I only made one of those silhouettes on the wall.

How to Make a Silhouette Easily

Mine and Grunt Labor’s silhouettes were both made when we were kids. I smuggled mine away a long time ago and when Mama (Grunt Labor’s mom), found out I wanted a silhouette wall, she went and dug out his from long ago. Both of ours may be considered antiques by now.

Heaven, help. If anyone asks, I’m 25.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I digress. So, all I needed was a silhouette of the kid.

Materials Needed:

  • Side Profile Photo of the Person You Are Making a Silhouette Of
  • Printer
  • Black Paper
  • Scissors
  • Contrasting Paper for Mounting the Silhouette On
  • Mounting Squares

Steps

Step 1

The first thing you’ll need is a side profile photo of the person you are making a silhouette of. You’ll want to have the person turn to their side, stand in front of their side straight on and snap a picture.

In a rare moment of stillness, I snapped this side profile of my kiddo.

How to Do a Silhouette - Snap a picture of the person.

Step 2

After I had my image, I loaded it onto my computer and cropped it around just her face using Picmonkey.

Easy Way to Make Silhouette - side profile shot of person.

I also turned it black and white, because all I have is a black and white printer. That’s not necessary of course.

After you’ve cropped your image, save it to your computer.

Step 3

Next, open up a blank word document. Insert the picture you just cropped and saved into the document and make it just about as big as the whole page, then print it out.

Step 4

Using scissors, cut out the profile from the image you printed out. Also, cut a kind of curve into the chest of the person’s profile.

How to Do Silhouette Art - cutout of person's profile.

No, she doesn’t have a golden dinosaur growing out of her head. When I was done with the silhouette, I just popped it on my craft room wall with one of those push pins from my sassy message board.

Step 5

Lay the cut-out silhouette on black cardstock, trace the outline onto it and then cut it out.

Of course, you could also use white paper or colored paper to do your silhouette. Black is just the traditional color.

Step 6

Mount your silhouette onto a contrasting piece of cardstock or paper.

Silhouette Easy Art

I spray painted frames gold I already had and mounted the silhouettes to scrapbook paper to serve as a mat. I like the unexpected pattern it adds to the art.

And that my friends, is the easy way to make a silhouette.

Do you have any tips for how to do silhouette art?

Share them in the comments!

Need more easy DIY art ideas?

Monogram Photo Art – super easy wall art using your own photos!

Free Printable Find Her Jesus Keep Her Well Art – perfect for those little girls in your life!

DIY Wall Decor from a Gift Bag – there are some gorgeous gift bags out there these days!

And here’s my trick for hanging heavy frames, mirrors and more!

Want to come back for the instructions later? Just pin the image below! 

How to Make Silhouette Art the Easy Way

You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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Comments

  2. Cathy says

    Well that IS cool!! And easy! I’m thinking even craft-challenged me could do this one. Thank you for sharing this Jenna..

    Reply

  8. Julia@SouthernColor says

    Great tutorial!! I have been wanting to make one of my fur baby for the longest time and you finally convinced me to go for it – I didn’t realize it was so easy! I have a feeling the hardest part of this project is going to be getting an actual pic of her in the right pose…but that’s what doggie treats are for, right?!?

    Reply

  11. Jona@bohowillow says

    I can’t cut a straight line with scissors, much less a full silhouette! Nicely done. Now that you have a Silhouette machine – even easier! Have you used the trace and print and cut functions yet??

    Reply

  12. Lauren @ The Thinking Closet says

    Brilliant. Yes, definitely brilliant!

    (And I love that you have a family wall of Silhouettes – – I think that’s something I might need to create in our house down the line when we have little Silhouettes to trace.) Thanks for the tips! And the chuckle, as always, Jenna.

    Reply

  13. Carrie This Home says

    This is brilliant, Jenna! My mom has some silhouettes of me and my brother and I always thought it would be great to make some of my kiddos. Now I can! Pinning this now! Thanks so much for the inspiration!

    Reply

  17. Pam says

    I love this! I have always loved silhouettes. I have an old one of me that was done when I was about 7 or 8. We had some done of both of my kids on a couple of different occasions at Disney World. (Just a few days ago, my grown son was looking at the ones of him and his sister, and in a dead-on impression of my voice, he said, “Sure, while we’re here at one of the most fun places on earth, let’s make our kids sit still and get a silhouette done.” haha Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!

    Reply

  19. Barbara Chapman says

    You’ll have to make a new silhouette of your daughter now that it has been a few years, Jenna! Good post. 🙂 I had a silhouette made of myself, actually, last December at a Dickens Festival. I need to pull that out and frame it/hang it. Oh, and what about the picture falling off the wall? Any more ghost stories?? Anyway… featuring your post for it’s summer fun here at Share Your Style #212, thank you! <3

    Hugs,
    Barb 🙂

    Reply

  20. Donna says

    OLLLLLD fashioned way… have child sit near a wall with white paper on it so shadow is cast on paper. Have a lamp, such as a ‘gooseneck’ shining on the child so that the silhouette shadow is clear and can be traced around, then cut and transferred to black paper to mount in frame. Just tricky for real little ones who can’t sit still

    Reply

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