This is a classic meaningful little gift idea. And… so easy. Hooray to easy. Cheap, too… hooray for cheap!
I did about 28 of these last week for my daughter’s class. The most challenging part was getting 4 year olds to “freeze” for 25-35 seconds. That’s forever, when you’re four.
To make these, you’ll need:
black construction paper (large size, sold at craft stores-maybe the big super centers as well)
chalk
white heavyweight paper (same as above)
A kid, or whatever person you want to save on paper. Heck, you could even try your cat or dog…
scissors
glue product (stick is best)
clamp light or lamp without shade.
Directions:
Tape black paper on a wall, and position a chair next to the wall. Place “subject” (kid) on the chair. Tell them to stay still and “freeze”. 😉
Place the light source approx 1 1/2 feet from subject, you may have to adjust distance to capture the subject’s shadow on to the paper.
Trace the shadow using the white chalk.
Cut out and glue onto white sheet of paper. (You could also used colored paper, if desired…)
ADVICE AND TIPS!!!
Don’t worry about it looking really bad when you first trace it, it looks MUCH better once you cut it out.
I was worried some of the kids (including my own) were going to look like shadow blobs, but.. they all came out looking like humans… yay!
I used regular scissors to cut the main shape, and a smaller pair to get more details, such as eyelashes and hair strands.
Glasses are hard, you’ll need to use manicure scissors to get the outline just right.
Don’t worry about tracing the shadow “perfect” , as you cut it out, you can round out any jagged lines you may have gotten.
The stiller the subject, the easier it is.
Use a minimal amount of liquid glue, so it doesn’t wrinkle the paper. (Glue stick works best)
Have fun and enjoy!
This is awesome and this is why:
Taa~Daa!
