Live Action Silhouettes...The Perfect Gift

I have been faced with the never ending challenge of what to give the person who has everything? How do I give a gift that when opened the recipient truly felt like they had been really considered. Can you relate?

Silhouettes are all the rage in design right now. And what a personal gift they make. I have seen them on everything from Christmas Ornaments to pillows to wall hangings. Some time ago I saw a blog post where someone (I wish I could remember who) inspired me to take my silhouette design to the next level. I found some wonderful action shots of my children doing what they do best and added beautiful papers and backgrounds to the images that represented their personalities rather than using the traditional black and white format.

This really embodies the spirit of who my son is. He is the King of the Ball field.

This piece captures the charm and whimsy of my daughter's personality. I cut out the necklace she was wearing as you will always find her in high style in my accessories and she loves the butterfly.

Inspiration photo that I extracted Keaton from in Photoshop Elements.

Inspiration photo that I extracted Payton from in Photoshop Elements.

To create a one of a kind wall hanging. I uploaded my photo into a photo editing software. I use Photoshop Elements, but you can use what ever you like. I went into the Magic Extractor tool and I selected the area of the photo that I wanted to use as my live action silhouette.

Then I recolored the picture black and then paper clipped the papers I liked to layers of the photo I created and added text.

For a more handcrafted feel, once you extract and remove the color from your piece, simply print it and use scrapbook paper, gift wrap, magazine pages or whatever medium you desire and paste it directly to your print to match the shape.

I had my projects printed at Office Max for about $.24 cents each for a large print and placed them in a beautiful $9.00 frame that came with a mat from Hobby Lobby and viola...a very unique and personal gift.