Monday, February 3, 2014

Scratch Off Valentine's Day Riddles


  
Homemade scratch off Valentines with riddles! These were so much fun too make. Of course I had to make a couple samples to see if they really worked. Now I better get the finished cards in the mail to the Grandkids soon, or I'm going to scratch them all off myself. It's addicting !

Last month on Pinterest I noticed several ways to make DIY scratch off tickets. They didn't look too hard and seemed adaptable for fun, kid friendly, Valentine's greetings.  Since all the kids live too far away for coupons for cookie baking or even hugs, I needed something that would make their cards fun. Riddles seemed a good way to turn their Valentines a game.

First, I searched the web for cute riddles and line drawings to go with them. To find the pictures I searched for 'Valentine Elephant' and 'Valentine squirrels' for example.Adding the words 'coloring page' to the image search makes finding the drawings quicker.  Then I spent some time with the computer publishing program until I had a design I liked. I used 1/4 page postcard size for each design and printed 4 to a page on white cardstock.

Once the Valentines were printed, it was time to make them scratch games. This is mega simple.  You simply color over the area you want to be 'scratched off' with a WHITE crayon. Cover the area well, the wax protects the printing, and you can still read through the white. I put a line box around the riddle answer so I would have a defined outline to work in. 

Next you paint over crayon colored area with acrylic paint mixed with dish soap. I used a silver paint, but any color would work.  Mix 2 parts paint to 1 part dish washing liquid.  I used 1/4 teaspoon of paint and 1/8 teaspoon dish soap. It didn't take much to do the dozen valentines I made. Let the paint dry and you have a scratch off games.

That's it. Simple, fun and made with love. I hope the Grand-kiddlets enjoy them.