Silhouette How-To

For Auntie Leila (I say "An-tee", you say "On-tee"):
Safety notice: This is not a craft for kids unless you let your kids use mat knives!

When I couldn't find a statue of the Holy Family's journey to Bethlehem that really spoke to my heart, I remembered the striking simplicity and beauty of our St. John Vianney cake inspired by the talented Aussie Annie. The silhouette idea came to mind and here is how it came about.

1. I printed off a silhouette I found doing a Google image search. If you are not very well practiced with a mat knife or Exacto knife, do yourself a favor and choose a fairly simple one. This one, although absolutely gorgeous, would be a pain to cut, unless you are Sister Mary Jean Dorcy (or unless you cut out the tree).

2. If your printer starts acting screwy like mine, then you might want to trace the outline with a black marker. Then glue, image side up, onto black cardstock.

3. Start cutting. Go slow and be careful! Have lots of light around and avoid shadows. It helps to see the outline clearly and cut precisely.

4. Clear away any straggling pieces you might find hanging off.

5. Use popsicle sticks for support. I made a simple stand out of more black cardstock glued onto the back to help it stand up. It's not pretty, until you turn it around.

Your image will be reversed from the original. The only way to avoid that is to print out the image in reverse to begin with or cut the image out first, then glue image side down on to the black cardstock and cut around it again which is what I did the first time and my hand regretted later. Hope that helps!