Craft: Homemade Silhouette

So Silhouettes have been popping up in my life a lot lately. Mostly in the form of Cameo's (which I have quite the collection of). If you want to get technical... Cameo's aren't silhouettes, but let's not get finicky. ANYWAYS! I had a plaque that my brother picked up for me at a thrift store a million years ago. It's kind-of old fashioned and was not really my style anymore, so hopefully he will forgive me. I sanded down the lacquer and applied a coat of white paint. Using a steady hand (you might want to tape around the white when dried) I painted the edge black. I let this dry for many many days as I figured out the best way to do the next step...

Find a nice picture of yourself in profile. Size it to fit the plaque you're using and print it out as is. Cut around your face trimming off the background of the picture. Now you should have a good outline of your head and a bit of neck. If you want to get fancy and are slightly anal-retentive (such as myself), Sharpie the print off to make a paper silhouette. This way you can judge if you like the way it looks. Place it centred on the plaque and trace. You should have the exact shape of your cutout faintly on your plaque. Using black paint go over the outline and fill in the middle. Let it dry, and display wherever you like!

Not bad for my first try at silhouetting. Now who has a really bright lamp and wants to have an old-timey silhouette party!? Common! You know you want to be a dork with me!