Princess Maddie sign!!!

No words can begin to describe how excited we were to work on a sign for Maddie. We have probably wanted to do one for her since the beginning! Now we are getting ahead of ourselves. First we must tell you who Maddie is! Maddie is the daughter of our best friend Jackie. Although we have only met her once, we hear a lot about her from her mom and see lots of pictures on facebook. She is energetic, adorable, funny, smiley and has gorgeous curly hair just like her mama! So of course when it came to what to put on the sign we put Princess Maddie because what little girl isn't a princess! Or for that matter what girl (no matter what age) isn't a Princess!

For Maddie's sign, for the girliest girl, we painted it pink and sponge brushed white paint. For this one we used my new Cricut machine to cut out purple charm letters for Maddie's name. We used Princess scapbook paper and cut out the word "Princess" as well as the cutesie hearts that were on the scapbook paper. We decoupaged all the things to the canvas and added glitter, lots and lots of glitter and a bow! You'll also notice we drew a glitter line to connect the letters, to give the appearance of a necklace! So cute for sweet, sweet Maddie!

We love Maddie!!!



xoxo Amy and Christina

Mystery revealed!!

Now we can finally share the story behind our latest project that we hinted to a while back!

Christina has been friends with Jackie since college. She recently moved into her new house a couple weeks before we moved into ours. She told Christina she was going to have a cross wall and she wanted us to contribute. Christina rushed out immediately searching for the perfect cross! However the search failed because nothing really spoke to her like "I MUST HAVE THAT ONE!" Finally Amy says why don't we just make her one. We went to Michaels to pick up a canvas that we think will be just the right size. We stare at said canvas for weeks not knowing what to do. Finally the inspiration comes in the form of Jason Gray's I Am New video.

Then the ideas start flowing. Christina try to explain to Amy what she want it to look like. Amy doesn't understand so Christina did this drawing.

 We make another trip back to Michaels to get supplies. When we see they have a new Martha Stewart line of paint! We get some Martha Stewart sponges and brown glitter paint and got  to work!  Christina took our tiny paper cutter and start folding and cutting paper. She piece it together and got this...

We show our mom and she is like "WOW you really did that!" We then paint the canvas sage green and use our Martha sponges to sponge paint blue over it. The hardest part of the whole thing was piecing together the cross and decoupaging it onto the canvas. Add a little glitter...OK a lot of glitter! Jesus loves glitter right? Write in the lyrics around the cross. It really does take your breath away. In addition to the lyrics on the front a personal message was written on the back to inspire Jackie on her journey with Jesus!

Finished product!!

We are happy to say we mailed it to Mama Jax and she LOVED it! We are so glad because we LOVE her too and worked really hard on this one! We don't know if we can say it was our favorite project because we love them all but it was for sure fun to work on!

We love Jesus! We love Jackie! We love all of you reading this too!

xoxo
Christina and Amy

Much love to Mama Jax

Remembering 9-11

On September 11, 2001 we were still in high school, believe it or not! Many people will reminisce where they were this year 10 years ago. But we aren't going to do that here. We are going to tell a different story, one that involves a craft project of course!

The second semester of our sophomore year of high school, which was 2002, we took a fashion design class. In the class we made wall hangings from different pieces of cloth. We had planned a trip to New York, both Rochester where our mom's family lives and to NYC. We decided to make a wall hanging for the FDNY in honor of their heroic efforts on 9-11. In the end, we didn't end up going to a fire station while in NYC but this wall hanging we made so many years ago now hangs on the wall in our parent's house.

We will always remember. Where terrorist sought to divide, God used to Unite! United we stand! God Bless America!

Although we don't really remember how we put it together. It is beautiful just the same and we love it!

~Amy and Christina~

Emily and Evann's signs

First off we must say that this one holds a special place in our hearts. We have know Emily and Evann's mom, Tiffany, for several years now. Tiffany is like a sister to us and Emily is our Goddaughter! The idea for this project, yet again, came from being invited to another baby shower!

The first sign we made was for baby Evann. Weeks before we actually started working on the project we thought about what to put on it, after several ideas being tossed around we found it. The "it" in this case was a set a stickers that had a little gift tag looking one that said "You are my sunshine" with a butterfly on it! Perfect! Next was the matter of the lettering. So far we have painted them on, we have used a Sharpie paint pen, and we have used die-cut letters.  For this one, we decide to use the die-cut letters the we used on the Parrott family canvas, but for Evann we just used the bright girly letters. We went through and selected all the ones that we like and would fit on the canvas. We couldn't decide on an "E" and second "N" that we liked so we picked the one that were white and you could doodle on them. Christina took the "E" and with the Sharpie paint pens drew on a dotted navy blue line and pink hearts. Amy did the "N" and colored in the border pink with green dots and pink lines in between. We decided to paint the border purple and used sage green for the background. Instead of just doing a straight line border, we scalloped the edges. We decoupaged the letters on and added glitter! We used this adorable ribbon that had Ric rac printed on it.

We got a cute light yellow basket with floral cloth lining from Home Goods and put all the baby clothes, blanket home made burp clothes (courtesy of our mom) and name sign in it and wrapped it with a bow!

Of course we didn't forget about big sis Em! We wanted to make them similar cause they are sisters but different enough to be unique. For Emily's sign the theme was a easy. She likes cupcakes, so we put cupcakes on it! We painted hers the same sage green as her sisters, but with a pink border. Instead of a scalloped border, we put a loopy border. We used a picture of a cupcake sticker and a sticker of the word "cupcake". For the letters we got a piece of scrapbook paper with pink cupcakes on it. We used the die-cut sheet were he had already punched out letters as stencils to cut out the letters for her name. We used a single cupcake from the scrapbook paper to dot the "i". We applied glitter and the same Ric rac ribbon as her sisters and it was completed! Our goal was to make Em's a little more grown up so that it would fit with her big girl room. Mission accomplished!

We love Emily and Evann!!

~Amy and Christina~

Baby Judah

Our next project came when we were invited to the baby shower for Alycia. We know her from church and decided we wanted to make a sign for her son Judah. Initially we didn't know what to put on it or what colors to paint it. We decided to review the baby registry to find out what his bedroom theme was. As it turns out the theme was under the sea. Needless to say we were excited since we had never done one like this. First we picked out the colors. We wanted something bright so we picked lime green for the border and bright yellow for the background. We decided instead of using a picture at the right or left like we have in the past, we would uses stickers. Before placing the stickers and writing his name, we felt like something was missing. We thought to add some "waves" to the bottom of the canvas to give it more of an ocean feel. Once the paint was dry we used a navy blue Sharpie paint pen to write his name on it. Next we placed the sea animal stickers in the waves, a little blue glitter and were done!



That's not all we did for this one! For the present for the shower we decided to make a diaper cake. We had never made a diaper cake but thought it would be cool to try it out. After watching a video on YouTube, we got the supplies and put it together. With a few modifications for it to fit our specifications, it turned out great! We decided to hang the name canvas from the diaper cake. The final product:

~Amy and Christina~

Parrott Family

The next project that we worked on actually wasn't a name canvas! It was a very special project that we did for a friend who was moving into her very first new home with her husband, and 3 beautiful kids! For this project we wanted to make something to represent family and what better way than making a sign that says family!

We bought pre-cut letters, one girly and one masculine. We went through and carefully picked out each letter and made sure they would fit on the canvas. This time around used a bigger canvas, 8x10. We painted the background and sides all one color, yellow. We opted out of the different color border given that the sides were so small it would be hard to get the border exact. Like the other projects we decoupaged on the letters and assembled them at various heights. Once they were completely dry we wrote the names of each family member along the sides of the letters. Now is where it gets crazy! After a recent purchase in Michaels dollar bin of several different colored glitter glues, we took to the canvas with much enthusiasm! We finished off the project with a cute curvy line and hearts border! The finished product:

We <3 The Parrott Family!

~Amy and Christina~

Project Update

We are currently working on a project that we are very excited to share on here. There is one catch. It is a birthday present for a very good friend, so we will have to wait to share the details until after she gets it. We can say that this is the first time we have worked on a project of this nature. Hopefully not the last! :)

Have a blessed and safe holiday weekend!

~Amy and Christina~

2 More fun signs!!!

For a while we became very busy with making name canvases. Thanks to our friend Maryann, we got commissioned for 2! Both ladies worked with her and saw our work on Christian's at her baby shower. It was so exciting to get to do one for someone we didn't even know! Ok, so yes it was exciting but it was also nerve-racking! The pressure was on for sure.

The first one we did was for Patti. She wanted a name sign for her grandson Colton. Unlike previous projects where we selected the color, theme, etc. we relied on Patti to make the select for us. We wanted to make something that was tailor made for her and her grandson. After several emails, the end decision was made to have football themed name canvas with the same coloring as Christian's name canvas. You might remember it was a brown border with blue center. We just so happened to have sports scrapbook paper with die-cuts. Instead of using one solid picture, we decided to create a picture. First we put the die-cut of the football together with the words touchdown. Since the picture still didn't look complete, we used the same grass pieces from JJ's sign to give us the complete picture!



After we painted the name on, we decoupaged the football, word and grass. In the end, we decided to put the grass all along the bottom of the canvas and it turned out pretty cute! For the lettering on this canvas, we used a smaller paint brush so the letters are thinner then the previous canvas lettering.  Overall, the finished product is both sporty and cute and definitely something baby Colton can grow into!

It has to be said, upon completing this project we were both super excited about how it turned out and hopeful that Patti and Colton's mom and dad would like it!

The other project we worked on was for Pearl's son Layo. Much along the same lines as Patti's, we exchanged several emails before the project was completed. For Layo's sign his mom told us she wanted a horse themed one. Upon hearing this, Amy suggested the theme of Toy Store featuring Woody and Bulls-eye.  Along those lines, we painted a blue border with a bright yellow center. For the lettering on this one we used a different technique. Instead of using a paint brush , we used a Sharpie medium point paint pen. By using this, it gave us the ability to create a lasso like handwriting. As for the picture that we put on it, this took some thought. We decided on going to Party City and getting Toy Story table confetti. We did something different with this canvas from previous canvas. Instead of the usual picture to the right or left of the name, we centered the name, since it wasn't very long, and placed Woody on one side and Bulls-eye on the other. Since there was still  free space we put a couple of other pieces on there that came in the confetti set.  Add a hanging tie and viola!

It was such a pleasure working with both Patti and Pearl and both there name canvas signs turned out amazing!

Each time we make a new sign, it gives us the opportunity to create something new and special for the person receiving it. God gave us a gift and we love sharing it with the world!

~Amy and Christina~

Baby Logan

The next project we had the pleasure of working on was for our friend's Tri and Abby for their little boy Logan. The idea for this name canvas wasn't hard to figure out. His dad is a huge fan of Superman. We knew right away that we would paint the canvas red and blue. The border would be red and the center of the canvas would be blue, with yellow for the letters. Figuring out what picture to use on the canvas became the tricky part. After much thought and serveral internet searches, we found it right under our nose! As it turns out, we decied to use the picture from the Superman bobble head box that we had, as well as the letters that where on the box. Since the box was a thin cardboard we weren't sure how well it would work with the decoupage. In the end it turned out just perfect. We love Logan! See for yourself.

As you can see we also put a ribbon hang tie on this canvas. We try to find matching ribbon for the canvas so to have everything cohere. You will see ribbon hang ties in all future projects!

~Amy and Christina~

Baby JJ

Of course it didn't take long before we started work on our next sign, but this time it was personal. On December 15, 2010 Joseph James was born. He made us aunts for the first time!! Needless to say we were beyond excited to take on this new role of Aunt! We didn't initially make him a sign since his parents had already bought him name letters for his nursery. After seeing Christian's name sign, his mom asked that we make him a sign too! Of course the first thing we asked was what she wanted on it. She said a monkey since he had a monkey bouncer. The colors on the bounce were green and white, so we decided to paint the base a sage green and the border brown. We tried to give it a unique junglesque appearance by leaving rugged edges and using vine lettering. We then applied the monkey and little grass pieces we cut out from scrapbook paper that we had on hand. The monkey we used is actually the very same monkey that was featured on his bouncer. A finishing touch that we added to this one that we did not do on the previous one was a ribbon tie so that the sign could be hung up on the wall. Finished product below:

Aunties love our sweet little JJ!!

~Amy and Christina~

Baby Christian name sign

The first name sign canvas we did for a baby shower of our friend Maryann. She now has a precious baby boy named Christian. The idea for the name sign came out of the need to do something personalize and special for her baby shower gift. Keep in mind this was our first attempt at doing one of these, so we were very nervous and overly critical about making it "perfect."

We came up with the theme for the canvas from the baby registry. The room theme that Maryann had selected was Show Doggies, which also matched the invitation that we received.  The first thing that we did was find a picture to put on the canvas. After looking through several dog cartoons and clip art we settled on one. A cute blue dog in a dog house.

After that was done, we painted the base of the canavas a light blue color as well as painted a brown boarder. Our idea was to to make it look sort of like a picture frame. We played with the idea of making the frame a perfect line but in the end decided to make it look imperfect for a more natural look, after all this was for a baby and they can be messy! We added the touch of dotting the "i" with balls that looked like the ball from the picture on the canvas. We printed the picture and decoupaged it onto the painted canvas. Once everything was completed we applied a finishing spray and viola! We also wrote the meaning of his name as well as the bible verse that goes along with it. Christian: Believer in Christ. Isaiah 40:31.  There you have an original, and unique name sign for Baby Christian! His mom loved it and and one day I am sure he will too!

I didn't actually get a picture of the finished product but this is as close as it gets.

This is the finished present. We like to make our wrappings unique and useful. We got this basket from Michaels that can be used to keep the babies things even after the present has been opened. It's cute and functional!

~Amy and Christina~

Welcome to Twice as Nice!!

First of all, welcome to our blog!! We are excited to finally have one and get pictures posted soon!! If we can figure it out! :)

To introduce ourselves, we are Amy and Christina and we love working together and creating master pieces!! We decided to start a blog together, but honestly what do we not do together! Mostly we wanted an outlet to share our crafting creations. We have started a new hobby of name sign canvases and have made them for baby showers we have gone to, for friends and have even been commissioned for a few! It is a new and exciting love we have to create these works of art and to have the people they are given to love them as much as we do! I hope you will enjoy browsing through the projects we have worked on and hope to make more in the future! Not only do we have that going on, we also love to bake and try out new recipes. So we may post baking creations as well, but only time will tell!   Look forward to sharing with whoever decides to read!

~Amy~