There’s been an impostor on our wall. A placeholder silhouette of a little girl has been staring back at us from Clara’s frame display since before she was born. It’s finally time for that fake profile to come down so Clara’s real profile—well, a rendering of it—can take its place.
After taking Clara’s weekly photo on Friday, we decided to capture a side profile to use for a silhouette. Our goal was a clean shot we could edit later, so we removed her onesie that was bunching around her neck and photographed her against the sunroom curtain to get a soft backlight. Making silly faces helped get her looking sideways most of the time, and Sherry snapped away from the side.
After about 15 frames, we landed on this shot that worked well for turning into a silhouette (quirky neck mound and all):
If you don’t have Photoshop, there’s a simple low-tech method you can use in about ten minutes:
- Print your profile photo at the size you want for the silhouette—even if it becomes a bit blurry when enlarged, it’s fine.
- Cut the head profile out so you have just the outline and no background. (Yes, it will feel odd to cut out your baby’s head.)
- Trace the cut-out on black construction paper, then cut that shape out to create your silhouette.
We went the Photoshop route since we didn’t have black construction paper handy. I cropped the photo, desaturated it to black and white, and adjusted Brightness & Contrast until the profile was mostly a silhouette:
Then I filled lighter areas with black using the paintbrush tool to create a crisp black silhouette on a white background. I added a few eyelashes and wisps of hair for that classic silhouette look and extended the shoulders slightly so the final cut would have more to work with. We didn’t obsess over perfect lines on the shoulder extension since the scissors would clean it up later.
Once printed at the size we wanted (about 3.5″ x 5″ to fit a 5 x 7 frame), Sherry—steady-handed as ever—cut the silhouette out with small hair-cutting scissors she keeps around for trims. The small scissors made it easy to get around the delicate curves.
We then swapped the new silhouette into the frame, replacing a colorful piece of craft paper we’d been using as a placeholder. Seeing the new profile next to the old placeholder really highlighted how different our expectations were—especially about hair. But she’s got plenty of time for that to change.
To get a more traditional silhouette shape, Sherry trimmed the bottom of the shoulders slightly as she cut, creating a classic rounded base. I had left extra black in that area when printing to allow for this freehand shaping.
And with that, Clara’s round little profile is officially on the frame wall. We’ll probably update the silhouette as she grows—especially once more hair shows up. Have you tried any silhouette DIY projects or cut profile photos for a craft? It can feel a little funny at first, but the result is a sweet, timeless keepsake.
Psst— Want to know where something in our house came from or what paint color we used? Click the button below:
