DIY Scratch Off Valentine

I saw Martha Stewart create a Save the Date scratch off on her website and thought it would be more timely to make a Valentine's Day one! After some poking around on the ol' Pinterest, I found this post by OopseyDaily and thought it was perfect. And just in case you're wondering, "Would my boyfriend/husband even want this?"...I can tell you, my own husband said, "This is really sweet. Any man who wouldn't want this wouldn't deserve your love." So there you go!

Here's what you'll need:

1. Dish soap (just two dollups worth)
2. Metallic paint
3. A design (I printed the original post's template on white cardstock)
4. Either clear shipping labels OR clear contact paper OR packaging tape and freezer paper
5. A paint brush
6. Scissors
7. Something to mix the paint/soap mixture on (I used a paper plate)

First, I took the original post's designs, added my own text to each heart, and printed it out.

Next, combine 1 part dish soap with 2 parts paint (you can eyeball it!)

Paint a thin layer on top of your clear shipping labels / clear contact paper / packaging tape and freezer paper. The point of this is so that you don't paint on top of the actual template because otherwise the paint would just soak into the paper. You want a clear barrier to go between the paint and the template.

Wait an hour for the paint to dry, then add another layer. I recommend using a thick brush so as to leave as few paint brush strokes as possible. Be sure to wait another hour for the paint to dry before doing anything else.

You can see the difference between the first and second coat in the photo below.

Top - 2 coats of paint
Bottom - 1 coat of paint

Next, using a heart as a template, trace 10 hearts on top of the paint, cut out the hearts, peel off the paper backing, and stick them on top of your design.

Add a coin for scratching and voila! Your Valentine is complete!

TOTAL COSTS: $1.75
$1.75 for Martha Stewart 2 oz. metallic paint on Amazon
Shipping labels on hand but they're $12 for 60/box at Staples. Otherwise, packaging paper and freezer paper works works the same!
Template, paint brush, scissors, and dish soap on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 2 1/2 hours
10 minutes to make template
2 hours to paint and let dry
15 minutes to cut out hearts and place on template

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
This isn't very difficult to make at all, you're simply painting, cutting, and sticking the hearts to paper and letting the recipient have all the fun!

5 Minutes or Less Halloween Ideas

If you just found out you're hosting a Halloween party and you only have 20 minutes to get ready (I don't think that would actually happen but lets pretend, shall we?), here are four 5-minute ideas to get your place ready! And all of this didn't cost me a thing because I already had all the supplies so hopefully you do too!

Mmmm...bloody bandaids....

#1 - The food

Cookies take too long to make and you don't have time to run to the store. What do you do? Grab some ingredients out of your cupboards and fridge and make these Band-Aid Appetizers from Likes.com.

INGREDIENTS: Graham crackers, cream cheese, and jelly
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 4 minutes, 45 seconds to make 9.
Notice that I didn't flatten out the cream cheese and make it square but if you get your kids to make these, they probably won't either!
EASY-PEASY SCALE: 1 out of 5. They're so easy to make and they'd be a fun project for the kiddos! Now whether they taste any good... well... that's up to your taste buds.

#2 - The mood

Pumpkin silhouette

So you don't have any fake cobwebs laying around? No zombies? That's ok, you can still make your space spooky! Cut out black paper, or print on black ink and cut out, different designs like jack o'lantern faces or bats! If you want to be really fancy, you could cut out one of these templates from Martha Stewart but it would take more than 5 minutes. Anyone else wish there was a face of Martha Stewart template to cut out? Maybe I'd only be spooked by that...

Bat silhouette

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Paper, scissors, tape (I recommend double-sided but if you don't have any, just make loops) and tape to the front of the design and the inside of the lampshade. Remember not to show the tape outside of the design or it will show through!
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 4 minutes, 25 seconds
2 minutes, 25 seconds for the bat, 1 minute 30 seconds for the jack o'lantern, and 1 minute to tape them inside of lampshades
EASY-PEASY SCALE: 2 out of 5. It depends on how difficult of a design you're cutting out but again, something the kids could do and looks great! Just remember not to have paper too close to the hot lightbulb or you might have another kind of scary night!

#3 - The oooed (just go with it)

Mummy

What if the electricity has gone out? Well, put those candles to good use! This post from Thrifty Decor brings to "light" two different ideas and they're super quick and easy!

Creepy eyes

SUPPLIES NEEDED: For the mummy: Gauze or cheesecloth, googly eyes (I used Wilton Candy Eyeballs but you could easily cut eyes out of paper), candle, mason jar, glue. For creepy eyes: dark paper, scissors, tape, marker, hole puncher, candle, and candle holder
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 2 minutes, 25 seconds for the mummy and 2 minutes, 30 seconds for the creepy eyes
EASY-PEASY SCALE: 2 out of 5. Again, very easy and very quick to put together. I didn't even tape the gauze for the mummy, I just tucked it in in the back and I didn't glue the eyes on but you certainly can. And while the original creepy eyes calls for strips of paper with eyes cut out, I opted for one sheet of paper wrapped around the candle holder to save on time, taped the paper to the holder, then punched out eye holes. I probably should have drawn the pupils bigger, though.

Tissue ghosts

#4 - The booed

I used to make these as a kid and when I saw this post, I was so happy to see Jen Banks at A Busy Mommy does it for her kids as well! This is probably my favorite but for sentimental reasons.

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Tissues, string or yarn (I used black thread which is harder to see from far away), and a marker
TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 minute per ghost (I made three), and 30 seconds to hang per ghost...unless you have a really difficult chandelier
EASY-PEASY SCALE: 1 out of 5. As I said, I used to make these as a kid so they're really easy to make. The most tissue ghosts, the better!

Happy Halloween!