One of my favorite Christmas decorations is my kids’ silhouette portraits that I made out of felt back when they were little. My daughter was a toddler, my son a preschooler. This year I started bringing in all the Christmas decorations from the garage, and by the time I was done, my daughter already had their silhouettes up on the stairs. Apparently it’s one of her favorites, too.
It was a simple DIY project, but because it involves getting children to stand or sit still, it does require some patience, and some speed. The faster you are, the less patience you’ll need!
What you need:
- large piece of paper
- painter’s tape
- pencil or marker
- scissors
- large piece of black felt (sold in bolts in the fabric department)
- flashlight
- a helper or two
What you do:
Using painter’s tape, tape the large piece of paper to the wall. Position your squirmy child in front of it, hand them a distraction (or have a helper make faces at them to keep their attention) Get a helper to shine the flashlight so the child’s shadow falls on the paper (or, set up one of those tripod flashlights). Take a photo to help shape the design later if you need it.
Trace the outline as fast as you can. Don’t worry if it’s messy, you can clean up the lines later. If you have to be neat, start with a pencil so you can sketch quickly, then go over the lines you want to keep with a marker.
Warning: your child will move. Just move them back. Get what you can.
For my daughter at the bottom of the stairs, I had her hold up one of her toys to get her hands in that position. For my son, I had him sit on the bottom of the stairs and hold up a Hot Wheels car.
If we had had a third child, I would have done another set of silhouettes, this time with a Christmas tree on the wall, and the shadow kids hanging up ornaments. As it is now, I’m thinking about tracing our dog, maybe nose up to that star on the garland.
After you’ve finished your tracing, complete the pattern, cut it out, pin it to the felt, and cut that out. There you go. Your very own silhouette keepsake portraits.
Tip: You can use painter’s tape to put the silhouettes up, but a better way is to use Command Poster AdhesivesÂ
If you complete this project, I’d love to see it. Link in the comments, or if you come too late and the comments are closed (sorry, it’s my way of dealing with spam) then shoot me an email with a link (not attachment), or send me a pinterest picture.
