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.
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.
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.
Step 2
After I had my image, I loaded it onto my computer and cropped it around just her face using Picmonkey.
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.
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.
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!
You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.
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