Create Custom Silhouette Art

I feel like the mark of a crafter is when you see something so cool and your first thought is "I bet I could make that!". That is what happened when in a 1-week span I saw 5 different friends post silhouette art of their kids. I saw some doing speed cuttings, I saw the traditional black and white silhouettes, and then I saw a beautiful silhouette using leftover paint from fine artwork. I immediately thought I need one of those and I'm sure I can do that.

So many times when I think up a craft project (especially ones that are kid-oriented) I automatically think of our neighbors Amanda and Andrew. Their daughter Polly is just 6 months younger than Paige. Both of the girl's names start with a P. Amanda and I share a similar decorating style along with our loves mermaids and pandas. I have made matching dresses for the girls and they have matching pillows. When I thought about making a custom silhouette for Paige I knew I had to make one for Polly too. Her 1st birthday was on July 2nd and this would be a perfect gift.

I tried to be sneaky and make it a surprise but, it is very hard to ask for a profile picture of a kid and not give an explanation. However, I was actually able to ask for that with next to no explanation because Amanda is used to my crazy request by now. With a profile picture that was close to what I needed I was ready to start.

I started by painting the base. I used my normal favorite colors of turquoise, blue, pink, purple, and silver. Lucky for me Amanda has picked the same colors to decorate Polly's room.

I then printed out pictures of the girls and made sure I had the best size for the silhouette cutouts.

If I'm being honest this is the point in the project that I got stuck. I made it to this point and just couldn't seem to move forward. I was plagued with indecision and second guessing myself and my idea. I saw how sweet the solid cut outs looked against the painted background. Would that look better than cutting the silhouette out and having it on a solid background? I do what happens in these situations and I froze. I stayed stuck for a few weeks. I went to the craft store and got supplies to do it both ways but that seemed like a big undertaking to do multiple versions and I stayed frozen. I will admit that Polly's first birthday came and went without me finishing the project.

Finally one night after a long day, Paige was asleep, Richard was out playing softball, I poured a glass of wine and picked the project up. I told myself that finished is better then perfect. If I didn't like the way it turned out then I could do it the other way. I just needed to keep moving forward and get it done.

I used an Exacto knife and scissors to cut the silhouettes out of the painted paper. I found these fun picture frames for the silhouettes. I was originally going to have a solid white base behind the silhouette until I found some mattes on clearance at Joann's. I love the way it turned out.

I'm glad I was able to talk myself into completing this project. If it wasn't for the fact I already told Amanda about it I might not have finished. I have so many unfinished projects that are sitting there (taking up room) just begging to be finished. I am working on having the confidence to pick them back up. Amazing things could be created.