Easy Kiddo Silhouettes - A Tutorial~

Okay, okay. I know that silhouette tutorials are a dime a dozen on the interweb. And if I wasn't bringing a little something new to the table, I wouldn't bother you all with this. But I figured out a little something clever and I wanted to share. (If someone has already done this...please don't tell me. I like feeling clever.)

I needed some art for an awkward spot. Long and narrow. I have been mulling over what to do for some time, and finally settled on the idea of doing silhouettes of the kids. And because I wanted to use things I already have on hand, I decided to create the silhouettes out of adhesive vinyl. (And you don't need a cutting system to do this...just scissors!)

Here's what I did...


1. I took photos of each of my kiddos in profile. I took them in front of a window because the bright light from the window made the kids images darker and made their profiles easy to distinguish.

2. I carefully cut out each profile photo, and used the cut out as a template which I traced onto the paper backing of the vinyl.

Note: make sure that you reverse the image when you trace it onto the vinyl.

3. I then used scissors to cut out the vinyl along the lines I had traced.

4. Now here is where I think I am particularly clever. (Even more clever than choosing vinyl as my medium.) Rather than sticking the vinyl to paper...I stuck each onto the glass for the frame I was using. I used a credit card to carefully smooth out the bubbles.

Note: Whenever I see decent looking wood frames at the dollar store, I stock up on them. Then I have them on hand for projects or gifts etc. It's easy to simply spraypaint the wood to my desired color...in this case white.

5. Then I placed each piece of glass back in it's frame and put some pretty patterned paper in each. The great thing about this is that I can switch out the patterned paper and completely change the look! I also love the fact that sticking the silhouettes to the glass gives the finished piece a bit of a 3-D effect since the silhouette sits "above" the backing paper on top of the glass.

Here is where they are hanging...this is one of the project areas I am currently working on. Any guesses what this area is going to be?

Have a great day~

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