Silhouettes

When making the benches for my fabric storage I ended up with two scrap boards that were about 12" X 10". Instead of letting them take up space in the garage I decided to use them for a piece of art. 

Before collecting my other supplies I sanded the wood. I started with a course (60) grit and went over both flat sides and all four edges. Then, I moved on to a finer (100) grit. Then, a finer (150) grit and finally the finest (220) grit that I had. Next, I chose the scrapbook paper I wanted to use. Once the paper was chosen, I picked a coordinating color of acrylic craft paint and painted the edges and about 1" of the flat surface.

After that, I traced the wood on the front of the paper. Using the tracing I cut the paper about 3/8" smaller on all four sides. Then, I used Mod Podge to glue it to the board. You can see how I ended up with an orange frame around the paper. You could make it larger, smaller or none at all if you want. Once it dried I gave the entire thing (except the back) two coats of Mod Podge and let it dry.

While the boards were drying I snapped these pictures of the princesses in profile and printed them out on regular copy paper in 8" X 10".

Next, I cut out just the head making sure I got as much of the detail as I could. After that I scanned them back into my computer. I put them on the tray with the back/white side down and put a piece of black paper on top. This way I could move it into my Silhouette cutting machine. After getting all the cut lines set I cut the silhouettes out of black adhesive vinyl. If you don't have one just print your picture on a piece of cardstock and cut it out to use as a template. You may need to enlarge or reduce it to get the right size. Once your template is set just trace it onto a piece of black paper or a sheet of vinyl that you can buy at the craft store near the cutting machine accessories. 

Once the Mod Podge was dry I stuck the vinyl silhouettes on. They turned out better than I thought! The vinyl  was surprisingly easy to work with and I can't wait to do more with it.