DIY Skeleton Silhouettes

These DIY Skeleton Silhouettes are sponsored by Cricut. All opinions are mine alone.

I’m back to DIY this week with my Cricut Explore to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving! As part of the Cricut Design Space Star Challenge, I am a member of a team of talented bloggers and each month we choose a theme and create a project based on that theme. This month our theme is Skulls and Bones and today I’m sharing my Skeleton Silhouette Wall Art.I made these using my Cricut Explore so they look like real, old-timey, handcut silhouettes, you know, like the ones you get at Disneyland! Don’t they fit right in with my antique silhouette collection?

Before we dive into the project, let’s chat for a hot minute about the Cricut Explore. First of all, I was blown away by these silhouettes when I pulled them out of the machine. BLOWN AWAY. Look at that detail! Plus, this was only my 4th project I’ve ever made using a Cricut. I’m still a newbie. Seriously, if I can do this, you can do this. I hadn’t been interested in any of the die-cutting machines before the Cricut Explore because you had to use their designs, and I like being a little bit more … one-of-a-kind.  But, with the Cricut Explore, you can upload YOUR OWN DESIGNS! So cool right? And, the Cricut can cut so many different types of materials including paper, card stock, felt, fabric, metal, and wood! Check out the Cricut Explore Cut List here. So throw away your scissors! You won’t need them anymore!

Ok, so let’s get started making these haunting silhouettes. You’re going to need a few materials.

Materials Needed:

• Cricut Explore
• Cricut Weeding Tool
• 1 12×12 sheet of card stock – black, gold, your choice!
• Framed Skeleton Lady Silhouette SVG file (Free Download!)
• Framed Skeleton Man Silhouette SVG file (Free Download!)
• Framed Spider Silhouette SVG file (Free Download!)

 Optional Materials:

• 1 12×12 sheet of card stock (in case of any mistakes)
• Vintage/Thrift frames, or
• Adhesive dots
• Cricut vinyl if you want to make these into window clings
• Cricut Tools Scraper – This would totally have helped me clean up and save time! Wish I had one!

Instructions: I designed my silhouettes in Photoshop, exported them to Illustrator and made SVG files, meaning they are vectorized files and you can make them as big or as small as you want (but not too small, those little teeth are pretty itty bitty, and yes, the Cricut can cut that small. BLOWN AWAY, right?)

Step 1: In Cricut Design Space, simply start a new project, then click “Upload Image”, click “Vector Upload”, browse and choose the downloaded skeleton silhouette files, and click “Save Image”. Repeat the steps to upload the second silhouette. The two silhouettes will then be at the bottom of your screen, click on both of them, giving both a green checkmark, and click “Insert Images.”

Step 2: Remember how I said these are SVG files? Well, you can make them any size you would like. 4×6? Done. 5×7? Boom! 10×12? Okay! The only limitation is your Cricut mat. So go ahead and scale the silhouettes to the size you want them to be. They come with their own paper frames, so don’t worry about framing them!

Step 3: Once you have the images at the sizes you want, click the green GO button, follow the instructions to load the mat and then let the Cricut do all your dirty work cutting!Step 4: Once the Cricut is done, remove the mat from the machine and CAREFULLY remove the paper from the mat. Be VERY careful around the neck areas, and her hair ribbons as the paper get a little thin there. Use the Cricut Weeder tool if you need to in order to get under the paper and help it off the mat.

Step 5: Use the Cricut Weeder Tool to remove any of the paper that you do not want. You will probably have some cuts in the frame and in the teeth that need to be helped out. And with that weeder tool, it’s just like your silhouettes are going to the dentist!Step 6: Admire the detail. Aren’t they just like old-timey, hand-cut silhouettes?!? So much better than those cheap silhouette window clings you were thinking of buying at a craft store or dollar store, right?

Step 7: Attach self-adhesive glue dots and attach to wall.Optional Step 8: Or print the silhouettes using vinyl and attach to wall.

Optional Step 9: Want to frame them yourself? Grab the frameless versions below and put them into vintage/thrifted frames:

• Frameless Skeleton Lady Silhouette SVG file (Free Download!)
• Frameless Skeleton Man Silhouette SVG file (Free Download!)

Or if you don’t have a Cricut Explore, you can download the PDFs:

• Framed Skeleton Lady Silhouette PDF  (Free Download!)
• Framed Skeleton Man Silhouette PDF (Free Download!)
• Framed Spider Silhouette PDF (Free Download!)
• Frameless Skeleton Silhouettes PDF (Free Download! 

Disclaimer: I’ve been invited to work with Cricut. For my participation in Cricut’s Design Space Star competition, Provo Craft & Novelty, Inc. gave me a Cricut Explore. The Cricut Explore and access to Cricut’s Design Space featured in this post has been provided by them, but the ideas and opinions here are all my own. I am a member of the Cricut Blogger Network. I may receive prizes in exchange for my winning projects. (Fingers crossed!) Even though I am not being directly compensated for these posts, I am under consideration for a prize with Cricut Design Space Star™.

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