Easy Peasy Silhouettes

I have long wanted to have silhouettes made of my children. Every so often there is an ad in our paper announcing the arrival of a certain maker of fine silhouettes to nearby shopping centers for a limited time. This man, whose name escapes me just now, is credited with creating ones for the grandchildren of President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush. Each time I've seen the ad I have always thought I should set up an appointment and take the kids. I have yet to follow through with that thought, though.

So, I thought for the time being I might as well just try to make some myself. Honestly, I am probably one of the last in bloggerland to try this. I had seen some on someone's site (their name also escapes me) that were made using a photo editing option in which you create a contrast between the head and the background and then erase everything but the head and shoulders. I tried this with little success. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong but I had a very hard time getting a smooth edge around the faces.

Anyway, I decided to cheat a little.


First, I took profile shots of my kids against my kitchen wall.

In case you're wondering (though you probably aren't), the paint color in my kitchen is English Red by Porter Paints.

After downloading the pics onto my computer I just printed them off onto regular paper. Then I cut them out, traced around them on black construction paper (which is all I had at my disposal at that particular moment), and cut them out one more time.

I cut out a piece of pretty scrapbooking paper to fit my cheap ($3) faux wood frames from Wal-Mart - On a side note...I miss the fact that few things are made from real wood anymore - and used Mod Podge to affix the silhouettes to the paper. I put a light coating of the MP on the back and pressed it into place and then put a very thin coating over the entire front of each silhouette. It goes on white but dries clear and gives it just the slightest sheen.

Finally, since they were small (5x7s), I picked a spot of minimal wall space so they would seem more in proportion. I hung mine in our foyer.

I didn't quite get Ren's on as straight as I would have liked so I will probably be redoing them at some point in the future. But for now, they do the trick and add a little something special to the entry of our home.

I am linking to these fabulous sites. Be sure to check them out for ooodles of ideas.