DIY Silver Linings: DIY Scratch-Off Cards

Great technique to create save-the-date wedding invites, coupon scratch-offs for businesses or holidays, or hide a secret message!

To make your own scratch-offs, you will need:

Something you want to turn into a scratch-off
Clear packing tape or contact paper
Acrylic craft paint in any color (metallic makes it more realistic)
Scissors
Paint brush
Dish soap
Hairdryer (optional)

1. Create your card, or get your card ready if it’s already made. For this project, I am creating my own Florida Trivia scratch-offs, which I made using the GIMP photo editor. To reveal the answer of the Florida Trivia questions, someone will have to scratch it off.

I created 4 different question cards and then printed them out on colored paper. Since you need the paper to be somewhat sturdy, I cut around my printed cards and pasted them onto a stiffer paper for support. To make them a bit fancy, I cut the edges with decorative scissors.

2. Use your regular scissors and cut a peice of clear packing tape or contact paper, the size you need to cover up the words you want to scratch off, and then place it on the card, sticky side down.

*Tip: If you use contact paper instead, you can paint the contact paper first, then cut out shapes and stick them over your text.

3. Then, mix 2 parts paint with one part dish soap. Using your paintbrush, paint a thin layer of this mixture over the packing tape. I used a hairdryer on a high heat setting to help dry the paint. You need to make sure the layer is completely dry before painting the next layer. It will take about 4-5 layers to hide your text, unless your text is fairly small. So you will follow this order: paint, dry, paint, dry, paint, dry, etc. until your text is covered. (I know mine looks a little messy, but it is just a demonstration for this DIY!)

*Tip: To know if it is completely dry, it should feel just like dry paint. If it has a soapy feeling, or if you can leave a fingerprint on the paint when you touch it, it is not dry enough.