Chelsea Morgan

I love the idea of silhouettes as art. A major fad in the Victorian Era, silhouettes continued to be popular well into the 20th Century. And I love both art history and rustic chic, so I thought silhouettes could be an awesome addition to our apartment. Specifically, a pair of awesome silhouettes of Michael and myself that we hand-crafterd for the wall above our bed. 

While I don't have pictures for the assembly of the project, (because my boyfriend Michael is amazing and he cut, assembled and stained them both) I DO have a step-by-step guide and some sassy photos of the finished product. So here we go!

Materials: 

Wood (we used discarded/leftover fence)

Stain (Your choice of color! We used Miniwax)

Thick paper

Tracing paper/pencil/source of light

Tape

Black Acrylic paint

Flat paintbrush

Burlap

Elmer's Glue

Patience 

Lots of patience

 My Silhouette

First off, I needed to trace our actual silhouettes. I ended up using the overhead projector in my mom's art room (so I cheated a little) but you can use a STRONG light source, pencil and paper. Just stand in profile between the light source and wall (where you've taped up your tracing paper) a-la-solar-eclipse, and have a buddy trace your outline. 

Next up, cut out the silhouette and trace onto your heavy-duty paper. Cut out the heavy paper silhouette and paint over with your black acrylic paint. Use your patience. Let dry.

Mike's Silhouette

In the meantime, have your glorious boyfriend (see above real-life representation) cut and stain the pieces of wood you'll use as your background. If you're short on a S.O./friend/general life contractor for this step, I recommend going to Home Depot and grabbing some awesome scrap wood and doing whatever you want with it! Our background was definitely simple and grainy, but think outside the box. (Pun slightly intended). Think of all the shapes, surfaces, etc. that you can put your face on!

Next up, you're gonna cut your burlap around the border of your silhouette. I preferred mine to be rough and threaded (hence the use of burlap) but feel free to use other patterns/materials. Cloth works well for this, in my opinion. 

FINALLY you'll glue. I tried a variety of adhesives that began with rubber cement and ended with me weeping on the floor. I was reluctant to use it because you can get gross lumps, but good ol' fashioned Elmer's was the best option for getting the burlap and heavy paper to stick to the wood. It also didn't show throught the burlap like I suspect a wood glue would have. This is where your patience will come in the most handy. I recommend gluing the silhouette down first and then placing the burlap around it, gluing a small portion at a time. The glue will bleed through the fabric, so make sure you're spreading evenly and giving it time to properly dry. 

And that's it! This is one of my favorite pieces of art in the apartment, and it was not totally hair-pulling to make. That said, I had a LOT of help with this project and could not be more pleased with the result.