Birthday Scratch Card

This is the perfect gift idea to show a loved one how much you care about them on their birthday.  

It’s also really easy to make, so long as you avoid the pitfalls!

So I've done the hard work for you, tried and tested the best way to make a home-made scratch card and given you simple instructions to follow to make your own!

I came across this idea on Youtube (here), and have found loads of similar creations on Pinterest.  All of the home-made scratch cards I've seen online were for Valentine’s Day, but I think it works just as well as a special birthday extra!

I’m going to first share with you my failed attempt to help you not make the same mistakes that I did:

  Attempt 1: UGLY CARD!

Here’s where I went wrong:

I followed the instructions on the video (See Youtube link above), and decided to make a stencil around the "scratch area" to create neat lines with my paint.  This was my first mistake.  

The paint dried quickly onto my stencil before I lifted it off and so some of it came away with the stencil, uncovering the surprise beneath.

So, I was back to square one and had to paint free-hand: my second disaster, as you can see from the photo of the finished product. 

In the video and in other instructions I’ve seen for this craft they make it look easy to paint neatly; but this isn’t something I’m good at!  

Another thing I decided was a bad idea with hindsight was gluing everything down first and decorating the card afterwards.  

I made a silly spelling error on one of the prizes and had to peel off that piece of paper and stick on a fresh one (sans spelling mistake) over the top of now damaged paper.  It didn’t look bad afterwards, but I knew it was there, and as a perfectionist it annoyed me.

Attempt 2: The success!

This was my second attempt, which through trial and error, came out perfectly.

Here’s how to do it right:

You will need

Colour paper (at least two different colours), a ruler and pencil, scissors, glue, acrylic paint (grey) and a paint brush, washing-up liquid some nice colour pens and see-through sticky tape. 

First make the card itself by gluing two

different colour pieces of paper together;

making sure one is a bit bigger than the

other.  It’s a good idea to check it will fit in

the envelope you’re using before proceeding*.

*See how to make an envelope in my next post.

Cut out a third piece of paper to use as the

“scratch area” and glue the prizes you want to give the recipient on to it.

On my second attempt at this craft I changed my card from having 3 guaranteed prizes to a “match three prizes to win” game.  So I made 9 small squares, with 3 prizes written out 3 times each.  I thought it was more realistic as a scratch card, and more fun as the recipient scratches off each square to try and match up the prizes, only to find out they've won them all!

Next, cover the “scratch area” with sticky tape.

Then trim off the excess tape and any unwanted boarders of paper.

It’s very easy to get finger prints or smudges on the sticky side of the tape, so I made longer pieces than I needed to ensure the parts of the tape I’d been handling weren't stuck down onto the card.  I ever-so-slightly over-lapped each piece of tape so there were no gaps.

After that use 3 parts acrylic paint to

2 parts washing up liquid and mix it well

before painting the first layer over the

entire “scratch area”.

Paint a second (and third) coat if needed,

once the first coat is completely dry.

Finally, glue the “scratch area” onto the base of the card and decorate the card however you like!

If you’re not very artistic or don’t like your hand-writing you could print out the words you would like on your card and glue them on separately. You could even use birthday or Valentine's Day themed stickers to add a bit of colour.

The final result should allow the recipient to easily scratch off the paint with a penny to reveal some fun birthday treats!

See how to make an envelope and a "Lucky Penny Box" in my next posts!