February 10, 2012

DIY Scratch-Off Valentine Cards


Visit my etsy shop to buy a pre-designed scratch off card for any occasion you to print
right from your own home.

Print and make as many as you want for only $1.99!



Tonight for our weekly activity for the young women at my church, we made scratch-off Valentines cards. I have seen DIY scratch-off card ideas circulating around pinterest a while back, and thought it was the cutest thing, which is not surprising at all due to my love for the lotto

The cards were surprisingly very easy to make and only required a few items:
1. Acrylic Paint (I used silver, but any color can be used)
2. Dish Soap
3. Pen
4. Small paint brush
5. Card printed on cardstock
6. White crayon



After you have all the material, you will be shocked at how simple the process is. 



1. PRINT: Print card design on cardstock (see my designs below which can be downloaded).

2. WRITE MESSAGE: In the hearts that will be scratched off, write sweet things for your Valentine with a pen. In my case I offered small acts of service, but it can be anything...be creative. Warning: Before you move onto the next step make sure the ink is COMPLETELY dry. A thin Sharpie may work best, but not necessary.

3. CRAYON: Cover message, and where ever the scratch-off area will be, completely with a white crayon. 

4. MIX PAINT: Mix two parts acrylic paint with one part liquid dishwashing soap. You don't need a lot a little bit goes a long way!

5. PAINT: Paint mixture over the area that you covered with the crayon. You will need to be very liberal with your your application, as the wax from the crayon will act as a repellent. I applied very thick amounts of paint on in a dapping motion. You can also repeat this process once it has dried.  If the paint appears bumpy or uneven don't worry because when it dries it will be perfectly smooth. 

6. DRY: Due to the thickness of the paint and the fact that the paint can't be absorbed in the paper, the valentine will need to dry for about 1 hour before it is completely dry. 

7. SCRATCH: Provide a penny for your Valentine to scratch off their personalized message that is just for them. 
Click here to download PDF.
Click here to download PDF.
Click here to download PDF.

60 comments:

  1. You, my dear, are too talented for words. This is adorable and a great YW activity!!

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  2. Super cute Linz! I made some similar ones from the Dating Divas for James. I think I like your cards better though! :)

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  3. Can I be in your yw class? These are adorable, and I'm sure they loved them!!! Way to be talented!

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  4. You are amazing! Thanks so much for sharing the printables. I'm totally making these...next year ;)

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  5. This is amazing and very simple, I must try it :)

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  6. I am so thankful for this! My son wanted a Spy Party and I needed something easy and cheap to do for invites. It turned out awesome. Thanks so much!

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    1. That is awesome! So glad it worked out so well for you!

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  7. I have seen other tutorials for this that use clear tape over the area to be painted then scratched. Makes painting easier.

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  8. I love this idea! Do you have any anniversary cards? If you do that would be great :)

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    1. No other cards just yet. They are in the works so keep in touch!

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    2. What is the paint mixture? I can't find it on the website.

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  9. Love this!! So cute! I will definitely be doing this!

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  10. Absolutely something I will be doing! Love them!! Also, can't wait to try for birthdays!

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  11. Can also use this sort of technique with old business cards. I rubber stamp a design on the blank back, cover with a square of packing tape then paint over with silver craft paint. Works great!

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  12. Very cute idea! I love it. But just as helpful advice about math terms, in the future to avoid confusion, order of words corresponds to the ratio so it should say "a 2 to 1 ratio of dish soap to paint" and then you wouldn't need to clarify "the 2 being the dish soap." :)

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    1. Haha thanks! I couldn't figure out how to word that one!

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  13. What if you forget the dish soap?
    Does it still work fine?

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    1. I am pretty sure that you need the soap. Let me know if you try it without and how it works!

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  14. Is it hard printing on card stock? How do you make your own designs?

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    1. It is not hard to print on card stock at all. Most printers will take the paper with no problem. If your printer does have a problem you may have to change the printing setting to tell the printer what kind if paper you are printing on.

      To make your own designs you can do a variety of things. I used a design program call Illustrator but you can also use PowerPoint or do it by hand!

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  15. does it work with regular paper? if not where can i buy card stock

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    1. I would not recommend regular paper as it will tear easily. You can buy card stock at an office supplies store, FedEx Kinkos, Walmart, or any store that carries an array of papers. You can also buy it online (there is a link to amazon within this blog post). Good luck!

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  16. Is poster board the same as card stock? Or will it work if it isn't?? I was thinking about doing a hand written one since I do not have a computer

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    1. Card stock is not the same thing as poster board, but I think poster board would be fine. The only concern I would have is that it may need extra drying time on the glossy side of the poster board since it is not as card stock. Let me know how it works out!

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  17. Didn't work for me at all until i used tape instead of crayon. Even then all the paint would move into the center. Then i had to wait for it to dry and fo over the edges again.

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    1. Sorry to hear that! I wonder if the type of paper or paint makes a difference. I am glad to hear the tape worked though!

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    2. I had to paint four times---then just used the paint and baking soda--it worked great. They are for a party this weekend.

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  18. What a cute idea. This would be great for a gender reveal party.

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  19. Do you have to use cardstock?

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    1. I don't think card stock is necessarily required; however, card stock is not as porous as normal paper and it also makes it easier to scratch off because it is thicker than normal paper.

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  20. Do you think you can give me some ideas of things to write on the hearts for my boyfriend? <3

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    1. Oh the possibilities are endless really. You can have:
      -a night on the town
      -movie night
      -dinner on me
      -foot rub
      -back rub
      -dessert night
      -your favorite dessert
      -a kiss
      -a night of dancing

      You can do anything that he likes to do. My favorite is putting something that my husband loves but I hate. That way they know it is a real gift....like watching football!

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    2. Honestly, these are so so cute. Thank you for sharing this!

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  21. Really cool idea! Thanks for sharing it :)

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  22. These are so cute Lindsay! Such a good idea and it looks so easy. Thanks for sharing - I think I'm going to try these out this year! Melissa x

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  23. hello...
    is it possible to use poster paint besides acrylic paint?

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    1. I am actually not sure about that. I think it needs to be acrylic, but if you do try it with poster paint please let me know what happens!

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  24. Thank you, my son wanted to make his valentines and this is a cool boy idea. :)

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  25. I tried this and it didn't work for me. Oh well. :/
    Super cute idea!

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  26. I'm trying to do it as we speak--using red paint (pink dish soap) instead of the silver.
    However - it seems transparent at the moment so I keep adding on paint. Hopefully that doesn't ruin it!

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  27. Love this idea! Working on it now, but I think I misinterpreted the step: "Mix a 2 to 1 ratio of dish soap to paint on a small plate." I used 2:1 dish soap: paint, but is it supposed to be 2 parts paint to 1 part dish soap?

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    1. Yes! I am sorry I must have gotten that mixed up! Oh geeze! Mix two parts acrylic paint with one part liquid dishwashing soap!

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  28. Does this work on the non-glossy side of poster board?

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    1. I have never done it, but I don't know why it wouldn't work!

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  29. Wow a gorgeous creation and great take on our Bingo theme this week,

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  30. I did this today using the paper side of poster board. It turned out great.

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  31. Does it work with liquid hand soap too? Or it has to be dish soap?

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    1. I think dish soap would be better because hand soap may have moisturizer in it.

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  32. Umm, you are SO creative! Totally going to do this tomorrow. Do you know/think that the type of dish soap makes a difference? I have 'Method' brand...

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    1. Nevermind. I tried it, and it worked! Super cute, and fun! Thanks for sharing the idea :)

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  33. Super cute! Just an FYI the sheet with the balloons... it says "Valetine's Day" there's an "n" missing! OOPS!

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    1. hahaha you are the first person to realize that! Including myself!

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  34. this did not work for me at all.

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  35. Thank you...these are super cute! The only suggestion I have, is giving the buyer an option on the size they want. For example, 1 per page vs. 2 per page or 4 per page. I am doing this for a classroom craft (2 per child) and printing them off one at a time is a litte excessive. Luckily I figured out a way on my printer settings to print 2 on one page, but have to do it on both sides of the paper (printing one on the top of one side, then flipping the page over to print on the opposite end). Maybe there's an easier way?? And I'm just not savvy enough to figure it out?! :-P

    Love the idea...hope the kids like it!

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  36. Hey Lindsay!

    First off, thank you so much for this wonderful post I found on Pinterest! My boyfriend LOVED his and scratched them all off immediately! I did have a little trouble printing the pdf's on my computer though (I am computer illiterate!). So I ended up adapting yours a little bit into an editable word document. I thought I'd share it with you incase you wanted to include it in your "printables" :] It prints 4 coupons per page and are spaced evenly for 2 simple cuts down the middle. I had them printed on 130 weight card stock and they turned out great!!

    https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxLqg9RkWQ8CLUp0ZmV5elpBS2s/edit?usp=sharing

    Side note** I used a silver acrylic paint with lots of glittery sparkles and I don't think it worked as well as plain silver would have. It ended up needing about 5 coats to cover and didn't scratch quite right. For others having problems with scratching--you could paint contact paper from the craft store and cut out the heart shapes to stick on the cards :]

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  37. These turned out PERFECT! So excited to use them for a bridal shower. Thank you!!

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  38. this idea is awesome! just a quick question. Would this also work with pictures underneath, so that they scratch and underneath is a picture instead of words? I havent tried it, but maybe someone else has?

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