Gender Reveal Scratchers

"What are you having?" is always the question that is asked when you tell people you are pregnant. A friend of mine once joked about the question that follows.  The clarification of a boy or a girl.  What else could it be? "A boy, a girl or a tiger?"

Well this little one is a girl.  If you don't believe the sonogram, then believe my love of chocolate this time around.

Gender reveals can be a big deal.  Last time around, we announced it at Christmas by opening a blue baby gift.  This year, since we are so far from our family, we decided to mail them these cute little scratcher cards.

I found the idea while browsing pintrest.  The tutorial I used can be found here at Burlap and Babies.  She even has a free printable at the end. (for both girl and boy scratchers.)

this apple punch was the only punch I had that was big enough to cover the bow, so I worked with what I had.

My little helper

 The printable only turned out to be one card, so I threw it in my go to editing program and worked it around to this.

My tips for this cute little project.

• Baby soap worked in place of dish soap.(my dish soap is too runny)  That being said:
• TEST TEST TEST. preferably before you paint/cut/and assemble all of your scratchers.
• The tutorial says 2-3 coats of paint for a reason.
• 5-6 coats of paint is too many.
• If you are anxious about it being too transparent, maybe put a piece of colored paper in the corner of your contact paper to check while you add your layers.
• If you pay close attention to those tips, using clear contact paper is a great way to have your scratchers ready to just print and assemble.
• If you don't pay attention to them, don't worry, it also can be peeled right off.

In case you didn't get it from my tips, I used way too many coats of paint on the cards I sent out.  When I tested it with 3 coats, it worked perfectly with just a coin.  My final product? Not so much.  A coin didn't even dent it. Using a key just ripped it up.  Only way to get a good result was to use scissors.  But like I said, most of my loved ones said it peeled right off.

What are some of the ways you have seen, or have done yourself to for a gender reveal?  Any ideas you would love to do in the future?