DIY Magazine Silhouette Art

by Craft Box Girls by Lynn Lilly

In the market for an inexpensive gift idea? (Who isn’t! Right?!)

Or maybe you’re in desperate need of some projects to entertain the kids over Spring/Summer Break!

(You can only hear the phrase “I’m bored” so many times before you break!)

You’re in luck! I’ve got just the thing for both occasions!

Magazine Silhouette Art to the rescue!

Perhaps the best part about this project is that even though it looks expensive and dare I say.. Professional (ooo-la-la!), it is created from materials you probably already have lying around the house!

You will need:

Colorful Magazine Pages (cut to ½” strips)
Scissors
Glue
Exacto Knife
2 Pieces Cardstock/Tagboard
Image Idea (hand-drawn or printed)

Choose the direction that works best for you and begin gluing down your colorful magazine strips onto one of the pieces of cardstock, allowing them to overlap such that no white is showing through.

(I chose this direction so that if I didn’t like part of a strip because of a word or image, I could adjust the height to avoid the part I didn’t like!)

Once the glue dries flip it over and cut off any area of strips that go beyond the edge of the paper.

Decide on the image you want to highlight. One of my besties teaches at a local high school, so with her birthday coming up I chose an image of their mascot with the word “PRIDE”. I remember her telling me that her classroom needed some new décor so this piece will be P E R F E C T !!!

I lightly traced the school logo onto the other piece of cardstock/tagboard.

Using an exacto knife, I carefully cut the image/letters out

without making cuts/breaks in the remaining paper to keep the image silhouette in tact.

(If your image isn’t too complex, scissors could work if you don’t have an exacto knife.)

Place the cut out silhouette image on top of the colorful magazine strip background.

(Glue it into place at this stage if you don’t plan to frame it.)

If giving as a gift or using as décor, these colorful silhouettes look GREAT finished off with a frame!

(Also, with the frame temporarily holding it together instead of glue,

you can change or switch out the silhouette image as you please!)

UPDATE: She loved it!! The piece looks absolutely awesome on the shelf in her classroom!! Hooray!!

Enjoyed the project?

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Frequently asked questions

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2 questions

KimH on Mar 25, 2017

Is there a way to strip cut pages at 1/2 intervals? I have arthritis in my hands, and so many magazines and catalogs that i can use for this idea! but I can't cut for very long without my hands starting to act up..any help or information would be awesome!

3
Cheryl on Apr 03, 2017

I have at least 60 unmatched earrings; does anyone have a project that I can use them for?

2