"Dreams do happen, and it only takes one ticket."

By Kate Northrop

NEW HAMPTON, Iowa — One Iowa woman's dream of winning the lottery came true on Christmas Day after she received a gift from her husband in the form of a winning $250,000 ticket.

An Iowa couple were as giddy as children waking up to presents on Christmas morning when they discovered that a gifted lottery ticket was worth $250,000.

Lottery tickets are common gifts and stocking stuffers around the holidays, and one Iowa couple was no exception to the trend. Darla Carpenter of New Hampton found herself looking at a "Winter Winnings" scratch-off ticket on Christmas, gifted to her by her husband.

She scratched off the festive $20 ticket and instantly knew this was the most pricey gift she had ever received — the ticket had won the game's $250,000 top prize.

"Dreams do happen, and it only takes one ticket," Carpenter told the Iowa Lottery. "I just kept believing maybe one day that would be me."

The winner claimed her prize on Dec. 27 at the Lottery's regional office in Mason City, but the couple was too excited to sleep the night before.

"Neither of us slept last night," Carpenter recalled. "I still don't think it hit, but now I've got my picture and the check and it's amazing."

The 61-year-old, who works at a manufacturing facility, plans on retiring in a couple of years, and the prize money will sweeten retirement even more.

"It just gives me more of a sense of security right now, knowing I have something to fall back on if something happens," Carpenter continued.

Carpenter's husband purchased the winning ticket at Kwik Star on East Main Street in New Hampton. The ticket won the second of three available top prizes of $250,000 in the game, which launched in October 2024.

The odds of winning the top prize in the $20 "Winter Winnings" scratch-off game are 1 in 126,000, while the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 2.64.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Darla Carpenter of New Hampton, Iowa, had a very merry Christmas, being gifted a scratch-off lottery ticket worth $250,000 by her husband.