Heika’s DIY paper silhouettes

My friend Heika DeHart beautifully transformed her daughter’s bedroom. One of her handmade projects in that room were these stencils. And she’s sharing how she made them. She writes, “This was a simple, inexpensive project. I thought it would be sweet to have silhouettes of my daughter hanging on her wall but found it impossible to keep her still long enough to trace her outline. I settled on this solution.” (This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, I may earn a small commission. You can read my full disclosure here.)

“I found these simple frames at a dollar store. The entire project cost less than $10, but it adds a personal touch to her room.” Click here to see the rest of her daughter’s room.

In case you’re wondering, Heika purchased the blue wall flowers from Bombay Kids (now out of business). She saw similar — and just as cute — ones at Hobby Lobby. UPDATE 2/19/21: Some similar wall flowers can be found at Menards (in store only) or online at Amazon.

1. Search your photo collection to find images that are profile or silhouette shots. Copy or print them as large as possible on an 8½- x 11-inches sheet of paper.

2. Tape the photo page and scrapbook paper back-to-back then cut out around shape of the child in the photo.

3. Glue the silhouettes onto white card stock and frame them.

UPDATE: I found an awesome photo tutorial for making silhouettes using this same process at Simple Gifts. Check it out here.

Reader Gallery

Made this project? Email your photo(s) to monica (at) craftynest (dot) com, and I’ll share your version here!

Rebecca Kenyon made these silhouettes as a gift for her friend’s birthday. Rebecca found the images online. The silhouette on the left is Audrey Hepburn. On the right is a hair model from the 60s.

She found the frames at a thrift store, painted them white high gloss, then used sand paper to get the shabby look. Rebecca’s whole project cost $5. Nicely done!