F’s birthday was rather uneventful, as birthdays seem to be for us nowadays. Besides a trip to Otis’s pediatrician and a platter of cookies at work for everyone whose birthday fell in September, the highlight of the day was his dinner. He got to choose, like he did when he was growing up, and he got his favorite: BLTs with thick cut bacon, juicy tomatoes, and a rustic baguette from our local bakery. And I baked him a supply of brownies to keep in the freezer, which he taps into late at night while he’s working. I fixed ice cream sundaes with brownies, vanilla and mocha java ice creams, almonds, and this fantastically decadent Mexican chocolate sauce that our friend Lynna brought over for us. I literally felt sick after 2 bites and could not eat anymore. But F obligingly gobbled the rest of it up.
With the sleep issues, I haven’t had the time to dream up wonderfully clever and inventive presents for F. He’s received yet another shiso mama version of the “coupon” present (you know, like you give to your mom on Mother’s Day to promise “one breakfast in bed” or “one foot massage” ) – a homemade present. I made him a silhouette cut-out family portrait. I’m pretty pleased with the results, and it was easy, so here’s a tutorial in case you want to try one.
Take pictures of the subject(s) in profile and print it out in the desired size of the finished product.
(Babies may need to be enticed to sit still by repeated viewings of ambulances on YouTube.)
Using tracing paper, trace the outline of the silhouette, catching some of the small details if desired (like stray hairs). Just trace up to a certain point on the neck.
Place the tracing paper on the back of the colored paper. The direction your portrait is facing is the direction of your finished silhouette so if you want it to face the other direction, trace the back first and place THAT side on the back of your colored paper. Retrace the silhouette, so that the pencil lead is transferred to the back of your colored paper.
Cut out your silhouette and glue. Here is F’s original photo, along with his finished silhouette.
And here is the finished product. We just need to find a suitable frame for it, and we’re done! It’s amazing how much it looks like us (and how much Otis looks like a baby even though his head is the same size as ours).
09.26.06 at 10.22 pm
You should start a side business where people send you their digital “profile” photo, and you create a nice, framed thing like this for them. Could easily do $50 a pop. Not to mention that with the wonders of Photoshop you wouldn’t even need to do the tracing, but perhaps it would lose some of the charm ;)
09.27.06 at 6.47 am
it is amazing how much the silhouettes look like you guys! i love it!
09.27.06 at 3.26 pm
shiso, doesn’t it look like there is a hand coming out of your head holding a piece of paper? This is such a cool idea! I wonder if the family is going to order copies…. :)
09.27.06 at 9.10 pm
Oh crap, Nathan. Are you telling me I just gave away the secrets to my million dollar idea? Actually, I saw something like this in a magazine a while back, and remember feeling shocked at the prices they were charging for what a helper monkey with a little training could do. As for a side business, I have no shortage of ideas, it’s mostly the marketing that I need help with. Tiff, you listening?
Bernice, are you trying to tell me that I need a trim so badly that it looks like things are growing out of hair? You know, I bet just the family would make a good side business at $50 a pop.
09.27.06 at 10.22 pm
I’d pay $50 if I could send you three photos and have a framed piece sent to me in the mail…
09.27.06 at 11.22 pm
Gotta try this. Thanks for the inspiration!
09.28.06 at 9.29 am
I think these are fantastic! I’d buy it. Besides, most people don’t have the time or inclination to train a helper monkey. ;-) We gotta figure this business thing out.
09.29.06 at 8.42 am
by the way, can helper monkeys use scissors? do they have opposable thumbs?
and thanks for checking in, dr. pugawug.
11.16.06 at 11.30 am
siluetas de sombras para hacer en casa.
Desde hace un buen rato estoy por compartir con ustedes este tutorial que me encontré en el blog de shisomama.
Es un tutorial para hacer siluetas de sombras con sus personajes favoritos… Yo empecé con el de Rosa porque creo que es un excelente rega…
03.1.07 at 7.29 pm
[...] at Z Recommends there was a post about making shadow portraits, which pointed readers to this excellent tutorial at shiso mama. I think something like this would be a great gift, either to your own family or for grandparents [...]
03.1.07 at 7.43 pm
[...] Over at Z Recommends there was a post about making shadow portraits, which pointed readers to this excellent tutorial at shiso mama. I think something like this would be a great gift, either to your own family or for grandparents [...]
04.6.07 at 1.04 am
[...] can find a simple tutorial over at Shiso Mama, a blogger who set out to create a silhouette family portrait for her husband’s birthday. Her [...]
12.7.08 at 10.08 pm
[...] here and here on how to make your own silhouettes (the latter, you’d have to scan and digitize to use on [...]
02.18.09 at 1.35 am
[...] Small photo tracing tutorial (shown above, tutorial found at bottom of the linked page) [...]