A couple of weeks ago I showed you a few simple things I did to improve the look of my living room. Namely, moving a large mirror above the couch and creating a wreath and family silhouettes.

Sorry about the glare – here’s a side shot of the silhouettes that is a bit more clear.

I remember doing silhouette portraits in grade school. I stood where the light from an overhead projector could cast the shadow of my profile onto a piece of paper tacked to the wall. I remember having to stand as still as I could while my teacher traced the shadow for me to cut out.
Since I don’t have an overhead projector and I don’t think I could get my family to stand still for that long, I made mine the easy way.
Step 1
Take a profile photograph.

Step 2
Print on card stock and cut out. I like to use an xacto knife and my handy glass cutting mat (though a sharp pair of scissors and a steady hand will work too).
Step 3
Turn photo over to blank side and paint black (or whatever color you like) with craft paint.

Step 4
Mount on background paper, mat if desired, and frame.

I used pages from an old paperback Harry Potter book as my background.
(I had used the covers a long time ago to make Newt some spiral notebooks.)

After hanging my silhouettes, I needed something to balance them out. I remembered seeing this book wreath tutorial online. I also remembered that my really cute niece had made a really cute one herself, and I still had a whole lot of Harry Potter pages left.

Here are a few more shots of the finished product:

Now I can curl up with a good book, under the pages of a good book. What do you think?