no peeking

Have you ever snooped for presents only to find out they weren't yours? That happened to me one year. I snooped in my parents closet and found all these fun toys and dropped hints to my parents with little sayings like, "Gee I sure would like a guitar for Christmas." and "Oh wouldn't a Popple be fun to play with right about now?" Well Christmas morning came and guess who DIDN'T get a guitar or a Popple? That's right, me. Guess who DID get a guitar and a Popple? Yeh, my sister. That was the first, and last time I snooped for presents. Plus it takes away the surprise come Christmas morning.

Well, in my family we have a Snooper McSnoopersten and this year I discovered a way to keep her/him (but we all know who it is...) guessing. With scratch off tags. I used this technique at Skrap n' Chat but thought it too good to not share here as well.

For this project you will need dish soap, dixie cups or disposable cups of any sort, a craft measuring spoon, silver acrylic paint, paint brush, scissors, tape (to keep the laminate from curling) and stamps which are totally optional.
You won't need that much dish soap but it's the only bottle I had to photograph. I also forgot to add the scissors in the picture too. Ooo and you can pick up the Peel and Stick Clear Laminate at your local Wal-Mart for a couple dollars.

You will want to mix two parts paint with one part dishsoap and stir but be careful not to make any bubbles. It likes to do that if you go a little stir crazy. yuk yuk. *wiping tear from eye* Anywho, cut out a piece of the Laminate and tape down the corners so it doesn't curl on you, then paint several nice thick strokes of the soapy paint coctail and set aside. You can repeat with other paint colours if you would like.

As you can see above how much the paint mixture covers a 12x12 sheet of laminate contact paper. You will want to let it dry completely before doing anything else with it. I advise at least 4 hours to ensure it is dry all the way through. You could set it in front of a fan to speed up the drying time.
This would be a great time to make and write out your tags. Just make sure you know who's tags are for whom when you attach it to the gift or Betty Lou might get Anna's gift while Joe got Maribel's if you know what I mean. ;o)

Once it's completely dry you can stamp and write on the painted surface as you wish and cut it out. Then when you have your tags all ready just peel off the backing and stick away. I couldn't help but make a few extras just to scratch off the paint. Hee hee.

Have a wonderful day and remember, no peeking now!

>^..^<