There’s been an impostor on our wall. For months a placeholder silhouette of a little girl has stared back from Clara’s framed pictures—present long before she arrived and quietly waiting to be replaced. Now it was finally time for that faux profile to make way for the real thing: a silhouette based on an actual photo of Clara.

After taking Clara’s weekly photo on Friday, we decided to shoot a quick profile while we had the camera out. The goal was simple: capture a clean side view that could be turned into a silhouette later. To get a clear outline, we removed her onesie that was bunching around the neck, positioned her in front of the sunroom curtain so the backlight would emphasize her shape, and made silly faces to get her to look in the right direction long enough for Sherry to take a few shots.

We took about 15 photos and selected one that had the best profile—head tilt, visible eyelashes, and even a little lump at the back of the neck that felt adorably real. That shot would be the starting point for the silhouette.

There are two straightforward ways to make a silhouette from a profile photo. If you prefer low-tech, you can:

1. Print the profile to the size you want the silhouette. Even if the enlarged print becomes a little soft, that won’t matter for tracing.
2. Cut out the printed head so you have only the profile and no background.
3. Trace that cut-out onto black construction paper and cut the shape again to produce the silhouette.

We used Photoshop instead because we didn’t have black construction paper handy and it’s faster for fine tuning. The steps were basic: crop the image close to the head, desaturate to black and white, then use Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast to push the photo toward a strong silhouette. After that I used a paintbrush tool to fill in lighter areas with solid black, smoothing out details and adding a few subtle features—like eyelashes and wisps of hair—to mimic classic silhouette cutouts. I also extended the shoulder area a bit so we’d have extra black to trim for a traditional silhouette shape.

Once the image looked right on screen, we printed it to the size needed for our frame (about 3.5″ x 5″ to fit a 5″ x 7″ frame). Sherry, with famously steady hands, used small hair-cutting scissors to carefully cut around the printed profile. The same scissors she keeps in the bathroom for quick trims worked perfectly for the delicate curves and little hair wisps.

We swapped the new paper silhouette into Clara’s frame where a colorful piece of craft paper had been serving as a temporary background. Seeing the finished profile in place highlighted how different the real hairline is compared with our original placeholder—proof that even small details change quickly in babyhood. For a more traditional look, we gently tapered the bottom of the shoulders while cutting, giving the piece the classic silhouette curve at the neck and shoulder line.

With the swap complete, Clara’s round little head is now properly represented on the wall. It felt oddly satisfying to replace a generic placeholder with something that’s actually hers. Of course we’re already thinking about updating the silhouette as she grows—especially once her hair fills in a bit more. Creating a silhouette this way is an easy DIY project: it’s quick, sentimental, and a simple way to personalize a gallery wall with a child’s changing profile.

Have you tried a silhouette DIY? Cutting a printed profile or making a digital silhouette is a fun, low-cost craft, and it’s also a gentle exercise in paying attention to small details that mark a moment in a child’s growth.

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