Silhouette

I've been following a handful of blogs for about two years now.  I called them my "mommy blogs" because most of them were just that--moms who blog about projects they do with their kids.

Sometime last fall I saw that someone posted a link to a person that made silhouettes for you.  While that's great for the non-crafty person, I thought to myself "I can do that!".  I had already put together my bosses Christmas gift, but filed it away in my head for this years gift.  That's right.  I've known what I was going to do for my bosses Christmas gift this year for over a year.  Frankly, I think it turned out fab-u-lous!

I didn't take pictures of the process because I am not showing Little Man's face, but here is are the steps.

First, I took a profile picture of Little Man.  I actually took 2 just to make sure.

Next, I went to Meijer and printed them out.  I printed them in black and white.  I also adjusted the contrast and brightness of the pictures to make it easier to see the outline of his figure.

Originally I printed them out as 5 by 7's.  However, after I got them printed I immediately realized I was going to need them as an 8 by 10.  One good thing is that after I printed them out as 5 by 7's I was able to choose which picture would work best.  Then I only had to print one 8 x 10.  All 3 pictures printed were about $4.  Not bad.

I went on a hunt for the perfect frame and the perfect scrapbook paper.  I know silhouettes are usually done with a black piece of paper, but I wanted it to match the decor of the house.  I chose a cream colored frame from Michael's (which just happened to be on sale!).  I also bought 2 pieces of brown heavy duty scrapbook paper that had a little texture and sheen to it, and a cream colored piece that had browns, blues, and greens in it.

I carefully cut out Little Man's head from the picture.  I traced this onto the brown paper and then cut that out again.

I also cut down the scrapbook paper to have a layered look.  I also wanted the colors to contrast and stand out from the frame.  I used spray adhesive and glued all the papers together.  I stuck it in the frame and it was good to go.  The whole thing took me about 10 minutes, cost me about $20 and looks like a million bucks.

What do you think?