Silhouette Ornaments, The Perfect Christmas Keepsake

I made these little silhouette ornaments for my Kindergarten students this year. They turned out soooo stinkin' cute!!! After posting them on IG and Facebook, I had so many requests to do a tutorial...so, here goes....

First, I asked my Dad really nicely to cut some wood for me :) My parents live about a 3 minute walk through the woods from me. We all live in the middle of the woods and our properties are loaded with trees so luckily, wood is not real hard to come by for me :)

So, anyway, Dad said we would need a wood that was tight so that when it dried out, the wood wouldn't separate and the bark would stay on :) So, we picked a nice, straight Hickory tree that was about 3 inches across and he was able to cut about 70 circles that were about 1/2 inch thick. He used a miter saw (below) to do this. Then, he drilled a hole in the top of each one with a 1/4 inch drill bit.

O.K...now onto the silhouettes :) You will need to take a picture of your subject in front of a white background. I just used some white bulletin board paper and clipped it to the front of my easel, it made for the perfect backdrop :)

 I am on a PC and use Powerpoint 2010 for pretty much EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! Sorry Mac users!! This probably isn't going to be the same for you :( I have no idea how a Mac works. Everything seems a million times more complicated to me!!! Ha!

Anyway, insert your picture into Powerpoint. Make sure you click on the picture so that it is selected. Then, just go up to the top toolbar and click "color". A bunch of color choices should appear for you to choose from. Click on the choice that shows the picture completely blacked out with a white background. Wah-lah!!! You now have your PERFECT silhouette!!!

I shrank the image down quite a bit. To shrink it down without distorting it, you must grab it from the CORNER and drag it in. Do NOT resize by dragging from the bottom, top or side! It will distort the image.

When you have it to the size that you want, just print it out on regular printer paper. You will need a small, sharp, pointed pair of scissors to help cut your tiny features precisely. It's really not hard at all!!!!! But, a good pair of scissors will help!!!

Next, use a sponge brush to paint a layer of Mod Podge on the front of your wood circle.

Position the silhouette and stick it down.

This step is optional, but, I highly recommend it to help avoid any bubbles developing under the paper. This is just a little seam roller tool used for wallpapering. I'm sure you can find one at your local hardware store, or you can order one HERE on Amazon. 

Just take the roller and roll over the paper to make sure there is no air trapped under there.

Last,  Just add one more coat of Mod Podge over the top and let it dry.

{NOTE: If after it is all dry, you find that you still have some problems with the paper bubbling up, you can use a hot hair dryer and blow it on your silhouette. Use the roller to roll out the bubbles again.}

When the front was dry, I flipped it over and repeated the same exact process with a small piece of paper that had their name, grade and year printed on it.

Almost finished....

To finish off the ornaments, I put a piece of orange yarn through the hole and made a loop in it. I cut a small piece of ribbon and stuck it through the loop and pulled the loop tight. I then made another loop in the yarn and pulled it tight so that there was a knot in the top.

Next, I tied the ribbon in a knot to make like a little bow. Last, I tied the two ends of the yarn together at the top to make a knot.

And, there you have it!!!! The perfect keepsake for your Kinders!!! You will be AMAZED how perfectly these silhouettes turn out!!! They look EXACTLY like my students ;)

Hope this little tutorial helps!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

XOXO