Custom Silhouettes in Five Easy Steps

Today I was pondering what to give my mother-in-law for her upcoming birthday so I went to my favorite gift-purchasing site, www.Etsy.com.  Etsy is a cyber-marketplace where hundreds of thousands of artisans and crafters hock their handmade goods.

One item that always catches my eye are the custom silhouettes offered by many of the shops.  Several years ago I thought I might attempt to make and sell personalized silhouette gifts on Etsy, but alas like so many of my plans, it never came to fruition :). 

I did at least manage to do silhouettes of one of my sisters' four children (below).  I subsequently lined the silhouettes up and printed them on a set of note cards, which I gave her as a gift. 

Today I was again inspired to create a silhouette, this time of my daughter, Lily.  I searched through pictures of her, looking for a good silhouette shot, and managed to find one from her birthday party (below).

And after about 30-minutes of craftiness, voila, her silhouette (below).  Note that I left out the big bow headband, as I thought that might look like some crazy alien growth on her head, and instead, embellished her little feminine curls.

I plan to use the silhouette to create some sort of gift for grandma, but in the meantime I thought I'd share my tips for easily creating your own custom silhouettes!

EASY CUSTOM SILHOUETTE:

1.  Find (or take) a good profile picture of the intended subject (could even be your dog!)

2.  Optional - scale to desired size on computer

3.  If it's a digital picture, print a copy onto plain computer paper

4.  Use a glue stick to adhere the picture to cardstock

5.  Using small precise scissors, cut around the profile to create the silhouette

And that's it ... so get on with your crafty self and go make a silhouette keepsake of your own, my friends :).  Good day!!

**UPDATE**

Granny Avery loved her silhouette of Lily, which I ended up framing in a lovely little vintage-looking frame (below).