| |

How to Make Old Fashioned Silhouettes

I partnered with Silhouette America for this post.  They sent me a Silhouette Portrait for Christmas and I love it.

A Silhouette Keepsake

I’ve been wanting silhouettes of the boys for as long as I can remember.  My mom has a few silhouettes of me when I was little that she had done down the Cape.  They are hanging in her bedroom in simple black frames.

I’m sure you’ve seen the vintage silhouettes in design magazines.  I LOVE this one from Country Living:

silhouettes-hat-ladies-0614-lgn-60943214
Via Country Living

 

knew this would be so perfect for our dining room and knew that a Silhouette Portrait would help me achieve this!

Wanna learn how I did this?!?

How to make pretty silhouettes of your children

How to Make Silhouette Portraits

Materials

  • Camera
  • Photoshop or Gimp
  • Black Construction Paper
  • Silhouette Machine (I used a Silhouette Portrait but you can also use a Silhouette Cameo)
  • Black Oval Frame (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
  • White Paper (I used watercolor paper)
  • Glue Stick

Method

  1. Take photos of your kids in profile.John ProfileA light background is best.Conor ProfileConor had a hard time understanding that I needed a full profile and wanted to “ham” it up!Conor clowning around
  2. Using Photoshop turn your photographs into silhouette images. First select the profile of the image.Screen Shot 2015-01-04 at 3.54.03 PM

Once the image is selected, then you want to fill the area with black.  We had the brush tool selected here.

Screen Shot 2015-01-04 at 4.23.20 PM

This is how it came out:

Screen Shot 2015-01-04 at 4.23.46 PM

3. Create jpeg images from the photoshop images and import into Silhouette software. Use the “trace” tool on this to outline your silhouette image.  The red line is what will be cut with the silhouette machine.

Screen Shot 2015-01-04 at 5.26.46 PM

4. Make sure the sizing is how you want it.  I did my sihouettes to fit inside 5×7 inch frames.

5. Take your black construction paper or card stock and affix to cutting mat. The mat has a sticky adhesive to hold the paper in place.  Make sure the blade is the right height for your paper choice.

6. Send design to Silhouette machine to start cutting.

Silhouette Portrait in action

I was surprised and excited how quickly the Silhouette cut these images out perfectly!  Hooray!

7. Carefully remove your silhouettes off the sticky back mat,making sure not to tear them.

8. Press between books to get them to lay flat.

9. Time for framing!  I decided to use these lovely frames from Hobby Lobby.  I had a hard time finding oval frame and knew I wanted the traditional look of these!

Materials for framing

Take your glue stick and apply all over the back of the silhouette and center on your white paper.  I used watercolor paper because I wanted a little texture to my background.  I think burlap or a patterned cardstock would also be nice.

I traced the card that was in the frame to make sure mine was the right size.

Tracing image

10. Hang your silhouettes and admire!

Silhouette Portraits

What do you think?  Will you try this?

Silhouette Portraits in black frames

They make such a statement on our wall.

 

Make your own wall decor

I love them!

how to make tradition silhouettes a step by step tutorialIf you’re interested in getting yourself a silhouette, check out the current deals by clicking the button below:

 


Sharing with:

French Country CottageHome Stories A2ZgiveawaysMod Vintage Life CRAFTBERRYBUSHThoughts from Alice

5 1 vote
Article Rating

Similar Posts

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jennifer@The Chronicles of Home

What a great idea and such a sweet memento of your boys while they’re little. I am impressed you got Conor to sit still at all!

Gigi Harlan
9 years ago

Now that’s pretty neat!

sandi
sandi
9 years ago

Forty five years ago when our children were very, very young I took them to a store that had a special guest come in and she cut silhouettes from the black paper. She just had the children sit there and she studied their profile and cut the silhouettes right on the spot with her trusted little scissors! Thinking back, I just can’t imagine how she could do that. We still have the silhouettes and they are just as special as they were back then. Amazing talent!

Erica
9 years ago

Super cool! I got a silhouette cameo for Christmas and this would be an awesome project to try! Thanks for sharing!