A Creative Way To Gift Cash

I love finding, making, and giving the perfect gift. Especially when it comes to our nieces and nephews. Making handmade gifts is so special, and when it comes to gifts for kids you can get even more creative with handmade dress up costumes, giant stuffed animals, or custom art kits. 

Recently we learned our nephew was saving up for a scooter and just wanted cash for his birthday. I was bummed, cash felt so boring! I figured we could just buy him the scooter. Then I started thinking about how he’s probably been saving up for this, and it would feel pretty rewarding for him to eventually buy the scooter himself. So, we set out to find a creative way to give a cash gift that would be fun for kids. Enter: an empty tissue box.

I originally saw this idea on the Redefined Mom blog and decided to put our own spin on it for this tutorial. We gave mostly singles so it would feel like more cash, but mixed in a few fives, mostly to force our nephew to flex his math skills while counting. And of course added some candy on top, because why not?

What you need

empty tissue box
cash
painters tape
double sided tape
scissors
x-acto knife
scrap colorful paper, wrapping paper, or photos
pencil
markers
optional: candy

Gather supplies

1

Use painters tape to tape bills together. Fold back and forth in an accordion fold as you go

Keep going! Press the folded tape edges as you go to make sure they’re secure

2

Tape a cardstock pull tab to the top bill

3

Trace 4 sides, 1 top, & 1 bottom of the tissue box. You could use wrapping paper, photos, cardstock

4

Cut out the pieces

5

Tape or glue 4 sides and the bottom papers to the box

6

Cut a slit in the middle of the top paper, make sure it’s wide enough for the bills

7

Insert the money into the tissue box with the pull tab sticking out

8

Tape the top paper to the box, pulling the pull tab through

9

Personalize it!

Optional: add extra treats on top & add a small piece of tape to make sure the pull tab doesn’t fall

Ready to gift!

Check out my other content @jessiekatzgreenberg on Jumprope.

Just as expected our nephew loved pulling out the long strip of cash! Even his little sister had fun watching the spectacle. This was definitely a fun gift, not to mention a great way to recycle an empty cardboard tissue box as well as some scrap paper and cardstock. No more boring cash gifts!

What do you think? Will you be trying this as a creative solution to gifting cash?