How to: Make Silhouette Portraits

My sister-in-law, Valerie, and her husband, Jack, are two of the most creative people I know: Jack makes movies (and awesome birthday videos for his nieces and nephews), and Valerie builds bookshelves from scratch, makes her own upholstered headboards, sews the most amazing quilts, and creates the lushest container gardens you've ever seen.

Seriously, these two inspire me to live more creatively, adventurously, and thoughtfully every single day. I'm so lucky to have them in my family.

Here, they share step-by-step instructions for their latest DIY project: Making Photoshop silhouette portraits of their four furkids ... uh, I mean cats. But you can follow these steps to create silhouettes of just about anything you choose -- your pet, your kid, even an inanimate object (I might try my mouse at a few botanical silhouettes, for instance):

"* Using a digital camera, photograph your subject from the side. It's best to shoot against a white wall or a white posterboard to make it easier to digitally remove the background during the next step.

* Open the picture in Photoshop. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the background for removal. Once clicked, the background will be outlined and highlighted. Go to 'edit' and click 'cut.' The background will disappear.

* Now go to 'image' and click 'adjustments.' Select 'desaturate' to remove all color.

* In 'adjustments,' select 'brightness/contrast.' Lower the brightness and increase the contrast until your image takes the form of a silhouette.

* If the image isn't completely silhouetted, use the Paintbucket tool (with black as the color selection) to fill in as needed, placing the cursor dead center and clicking until your desired effect is achieved.

* Using the Image tool, select 'image size' to set your desired dimensions.

* Save your silhouette as a JPEG file.

* Burn the file to a CD and take it to your favorite photo-printing or copy shop (or simply use on online printing service like Shutterfly or Kodak Gallery), printing it on whatever paper or card stock you choose.

* If you want greater depth or thickness or a different background color, augment the printed image with paint.

* Trim the edges of the finished silhouette as needed and place it in the frame of your choosing. We used the black oval Ung Drill frame from IKEA that we then painted gold."

Thanks so much, guys -- I love how digital cameras and photo-editing tools can help even us non-artistic types unleash our inner creative spirit. (Next, I want a how-to for making that beautiful headboard ... )

Readers: If you have a simple DIY project to share, send me photos and instructions and I'll be happy to feature it here!