DIY Silhouette Ornaments: A Keepsake Christmas Craft

Every year we try to add one ornament to the tree that really means something, and this year it was these DIY silhouette ornaments. They are those classic black profile portraits, the kind you see in old frames at grandma’s house, but made from a quick photo of your kiddo and a few minutes in Canva.

We made one for each of our kids with their name and the year underneath, and we are already planning to do it again next Christmas so we can watch those little profiles change. If you are looking for a keepsake Christmas craft that doubles as a grandparent gift, this is the one!

What You’ll Need

• A phone or camera and a plain white wall (or a white poster board)
• Background remover and a way to make the sillohette black and white (we use Canva Pro)
• A printer and white cardstock or photo paper, or a 4×6 print order from your favorite photo lab
• Scissors or a paper trimmer
• Frame ornaments. Here are the ones we used and loved: Set of 3 gold wreath frame ornaments (Threshold with Studio McGee), oval frame ornament (Hearth and Hand with Magnolia), rectangle frame ornament (Hearth and Hand with Magnolia), 4-pack of mini vintage gold frame ornaments, and 8-pack of mini vintage picture frame ornaments

Want to compare them all? Shop all of our favorite frame ornaments here.

How to Make Silhouette Ornaments

1. Snap the profile photo. Stand your child sideways in front of a clean white background with good light. A white wall by a window works great. Have them look straight ahead (not at you) so you get a true side profile, and take a few shots so you can pick the one with the cleanest outline. Ponytails, bows, and wispy hair all show up beautifully, so leave them in!
2. Open Canva and set up your design. Create a new design sized 4 x 6 inches (that is the size a standard photo print comes in, and it trims easily to fit most frame ornaments). Add one page per child so you can print them all at once. Upload your photos and drop one onto each page.
3. Remove the background. Click the photo, choose Edit Photo, and hit Background Remover. Canva Pro does this in one click and does a surprisingly good job with hair.
4. Turn the photo solid black. With the photo still selected, go to Effects and choose Duotone. Open the custom settings and drag both color sliders all the way down to zero. That turns the whole image into a crisp black silhouette instead of a photo.
5. Add the wavy bust. Search Elements for a wave shape, make it black or white (whatever works best), and tuck it across the bottom of the shoulders. This hides the cut-off edge of the photo and gives you that classic old-fashioned silhouette look with the soft, wavy base.
6. Add the name and year. Underneath the silhouette, add a text box with your child’s name on one line and the year on the next. We used Copperplate in all caps and kept it small and centered so the silhouette stays the star.
7. Print and trim. Download as a PDF for print or a high quality JPG. Print at home on white cardstock, or order 4×6 prints from a photo lab (we have done both). Use the frame’s backing or insert as a template and trim each one to size.
8. Frame and hang. Slide the print into the frame ornament, add a ribbon if yours needs one, and hang it on the tree. Done!

No Canva Pro? Three Other Ways to Make the Silhouette

Canva Pro made this quick for us, but you do not need it. Here are three other ways to get the same black profile, from fully free to fully hands-on.

1. Lift the subject on your iPhone (free). Open the profile photo in the Photos app, press and hold on your child until the outline glows, then tap Copy. Paste it into a free Canva design and the background is already gone. From there, select the cutout, go to Effects, choose Duotone, and set both colors to black for a solid silhouette.
2. Use a free background remover. Download the PNG, upload it to Canva (the free version is fine), and use the same Duotone trick above to turn the cutout black.
3. Go old school with scissors and cardstock. Print the profile photo on plain paper, cut carefully along the outline, and trace it onto black cardstock. Cut out the black silhouette, glue it onto a white 4 x 6 card, and hand-letter the name and year underneath. This is the way our grandma did it, and it is a sweet one to do with older kids.

Why We Love This Craft

Silhouette ornaments never go out of style. It is the kind of ornament you keep forever, and it is so simple that you can realistically make one for every child in one evening after bedtime. We also love that the photo part is quick for little ones. You need about five seconds of them standing sideways, which is about all the cooperation we can count on with a toddler.

They also make the sweetest gifts and since you have the design saved in Canva, printing a few extras is easy.

Tips for the Best Silhouette Ornaments

• Light matters more than the camera. Natural light from the side or front gives you a clean outline. Avoid harsh overhead light that throws shadows onto the wall.
• Pull hair back from the face, or leave a ponytail in. Either looks great, but stray hair across the forehead can blur the profile.
• Check the chin and lips. After you turn it black, zoom in. If the outline looks muddy, go back to the original photo and try a different shot before you spend time on the rest.
• Keep the text tiny and simple. One serif font, all caps, two short lines. Busy fonts fight with the silhouette.
• Make a yearly tradition of it. Save the Canva design and duplicate it next December. Seeing the profiles line up year after year is the best part.

We hope you love these DIY silhouette ornaments as much as we do. They are easy, inexpensive, and they turn a quick snapshot into something your family will pull out of the ornament box for decades. Have you made silhouette portraits of your kids before? Tell us in the comments which frames you used, we are always looking for new ones!

Once your silhouette ornaments are on the tree and you are looking for more ways to make the season feel cozy and calm? Check out our low stimulation Christmas shows for toddlers, perfect for the afternoon you spend trimming these ornaments.