THRIFTY and EASY Silhouette Art

Hi thrifty friends!  I am so happy to be back at All Things Thrifty for my second contributor post.  I hope you remember me from my post on DIY Art Canvases, but as a reminder, I am Tasha and I blog over at Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body.

Today I am going to share with you another thrifty art project that I created for my twin girls’ room.  Better yet, I am going to show you TWO different ways that you can create this princess silhouette art!  But wait, you have boys?  No worries, the methods I used could be use to create ADORABLE art for your little boy’s room as well 🙂

Materials Needed:

• Inexpensive picture frames.  I purchased mine at the Dollar Store.
• Paint, if you want to change the color of the frames.
• Scrapbook paper in 3 different patterns/colors that you like and that coordinate with each other well.
• Scrapbook paper in a solid color.
• Scissors OR a Silhouette CAMEO
• Double-sided tape

Step 1:

If you want to paint your frames, that will be your first step.  I purchased basic, black plastic frames at the Dollar Store and decided to paint them a happy pink color that I already had on hand.

Step 2:

Cut your background scrapbook paper to the size of your frame.  Set it aside.

Step 3: 

Select your silhouette shapes.  Just hop on Google and search until you find something that you like!  That’s what I did and was thrilled to discover these awesome Silhouette downloads from Crafty Mama Blog.  At the time, I did not have a Silhouette CAMEO, but I downloaded the Silhouette software and printed the princess images off on my printer.   I found my castle by just Googling until I found a shape that I liked.

The possibilities are endless!  Do you have a little boy who loves soccer?  Find images of soccer player’s kicking a soccer ball and use that as a silhouette image.  Does your little girl love birds?  Find images of birds.  Have a little boy that loves race cars?  Go find some car shapes!  You could literally choose anything!

Step 4:

The Old-Fashioned {but effective} Method:

This is pretty darn simple.  Cut out your printed images.  Then trace the image onto your solid color scrapbook paper.  Then cut it out!  This is the method that I used when I first completed the project and as you can see, it turns out fabulously using this method!

But now, I am a happy owner of a Silhouette CAMEO {as many of you are} so I decided to give it a try on my lovely new machine. That leads me to…

The Silhouette Method:

I used the same Silhouette downloads that I used the first time around for the princess silhouettes.  I preferred the look of a more simple castle, and found this one in the Silhouette store.

I added my scrapbook paper to my Silhouette for each shape and let the machine do the work.  About 3 minutes later, I had three beautiful silhouettes!

Step 5:

Attach your cut out princesses and castles to your background scrapbook paper using double-sided tape.

All that is left to do is to pop your silhouette art in your frames and hang them up!  That’s it!

Here is a photo of my “old-fashioned” method art:

The project turns out wonderfully no matter which method you choose!  The Silhouette method did allow for a more intricate castle, but I honestly love both of the castles!  I guess I will have to let my twin girls pick which they like best 🙂

Time Spent: 

Both methods result in adorable, custom artwork.  The Silhouette method is faster {taking me less than 10 minutes}, but using trusty old scissors works well, too if you don’t have a cutting machine!  The scissor method took me no longer than 45 minutes, which included finding the images.

Cost:

The frames cost me a total of $3.00.  I already had the paint on hand.  I used a total of 6 pieces of scrapbook paper, which cost me a whopping $4.00.  So, for $7.00 I was able to create adorable artwork that my girls ADORE!

Regardless of the method you choose, this is SUCH an affordable, quick and versatile DIY art option!   I just love the personal touch that these add to my girls’ room.  And when they outgrow the princess phase, I can easily create new silhouette art for them to love using the same frames and background scrapbook paper!

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy the full reveal of my twin girls’ “big girl” bedroom where this art is hanging!

And you will love learning all about how I transformed a boring, beige room into an inspired playroom for my girls!

Thank you so much for hanging out with me today!  I can’t wait to join you again in a few months.  Meanwhile, I would love for you to come hang out with me over at my blog!  Please come and visit me at my blog, Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body, or connect with me on social media.  You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and Hometalk!