Every year I give my neice 50 dollars for CHRISTmas in a creative way. I have already put money in a fake cake(a bowl covered with icing :)), made a money CHRISTmas tree, made a sock snowman with the money inside,a gift box with dollar bills taped end to end that slide out a slot on top when the bow is pulled off, gave a gift card, gave a gift box that was full of 50 $1 bills taped to make a ring so the box would be full. Does anybody have any unique ideas on how I can give my neice $50 cash this CHRISTmas? She is 17 years old. Thank you, A.
Hi everyone. Well, first of all I took forever writing this message and when I slipped away to change my baby's diaper my three year old deleted it. So here I go again. I think I will try to make a huge gift basket filled with all of these awesome ideas you all have sent me. I'm going to make it look really store bought with clear wrap around it and a big bow. I'm going to put some money in a bar of soap(love that one). That set me off on trying to make it a "relaxation" theme. I'll have the hollowed nuts with money inside, the pic over pic magazine idea(great idea), some oragami, a money maze, a Hershey bar with money inside(or some of my trademark Buckeyes chocolate covered peanut butter balls with one of them having a little gumball machine plastic ball with money in it) and just a bunch of bath accessories to add to the theme. I'll probably squunch up a bill in between the lid and seal of a lotion etc. bottle, put a bill in bath salt, I don't know, I'll probably even include a clue that leads to the rest of the treasure. Since my niece is driving now, I might lead her clear across town. HaHa :0) What I love about this whole thing is she will probably find all of it fairly easily and then realize there is still money to be found because she hasn't reached the $50 and then she'll be looking at the soap like, "Surely not" and the magazine like, "where in the world". Thank you all so much for your ideas. This was my first request. I'm lovin' this site. I'm hooked now. Merry CHRISTmas, A. P.
A.,
One year when I was little, my older brother got about 20 boxes sized from very large to very small. He put the money in the smallest box, and then nested each box inside the other and wrapped the largest box. I had to go through all of the boxes (peanuts and all) to get to the money. The more boxes you use, the better. It was a lot of fun and the entire family got a good laugh!
One year for Christmas my cousin gave my Dad a shoe box scene made out of money. She used rolled coins and pipe cleaners to make people and had them working in a garden where the lettuce was made from dollar bills. She even made a tree out of a penny roll and some wire and had pennies growing off of it. I think my Dad still has it somewhere he said it was too cute to take apart and spend.
I saw this: http://www.freekidscrafts.com/index.php?option=com_events...
and thought it sounded like something you could do.
I also had a friend once make a cute scene with a money umbrella & quarters for raindrops.
This link: http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1...
looks like it offers various Origami designs using dollar bills.
Sounds like a sweet tradition & most of the fun is in how it's delivered. Have a blessed Christmas.
Put it in a bar of soap!
When my grandparents were alive, they would always give cash in creative ways. Here are a couple of my favorites that I will always remember... One time they went to their Kroger Pharmacy and had them make up prescription bottles and the labels said our names and it had "take when needed" and "prescribed by gramma and grampa", etc. It was so darn cute! One time she took the big 1 pound Hershey bars and somehow unwrapped them and placed the $50 bill on the chocolate and resealed the silver wrapper perfectly. I will always remember those things! Thank you for the opportunity to sit and remember my awesome grandparents at Christmas time! =0)
A.,
The only other things I can think of are possibly making some origami from bills. This is a site you could us and perhaps box them http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/.
I have also seen the trick boes that the money gets locked in and you have to figure out the trick before removing the money. We actually recieved one and the kids loved it.
Hope this helps!
S. J
_______FIGHT LYME DISEASE
www.ShazzArtisticVisions.com
one year my husbands aunt filled walnut shells with $10.00 bills,then put them in a pretty gift basket.It was totally unexpected!We plan on doing this to our son now,lol.
Last year I gave my brothers each money in one of those puzzle boxes. They are clear with a ball that you have to move around to "unlatch" the compartment holding the money. It took one of my brothers just a few days but it took the other one a few weeks. I found my in ABC or LTD but have seen them in stores recently.
How old is your niece? Dave Ramsey has some great books for all ages on money. You could get a book like that and stick the money between the pages of the book. It is great to give money, and an even greater gift to teach your niece how to be wise with her money!
how about 50 gold dollar coins! My daughter loves getting these from the tooth fairy!
this is what my boyfriend did to his son several years back hetook a piece of wood cut it in half chizzled the center out put money in it glued it then screwed it shut the to make it even worse he burnt the wood with a torch to make it look like a piece of coal wrap it and gave it to him it was funny
All of the grands are coming next weekend. This is what I will do for my 9 yr old grson. A 50 dollar bill in a little stocking hidden on the tree. He will get an envelope with his first clue, and go from there. It will lead him on a hunt all over the house and yard, and end him at the tree, if he figures out the clues. I have done this for years and it is sooo much fun, the kids beg for a hunt. The more hunts you can have, the more fun it is, and the hiding spots are fun too. It gives them something to remember all of their lives, other than the material gift.
OH! my mom used to do this and it drove us nuts! two things- You can get those little ball games where you have to get the ball through a maze by tilting the game and letting the ball roll through the maze. They sell them where you put money inside it and then when you close it, it locks. So in order to get the money out, you have to work the maze. It's hilarious!
Also, my mom used to hide our gifts and write clues to find them. One clue would lead to another and another until we got to the gift :)
I am only 19 years old so I thought I could maybe help!
I know that I love anything that has to do with animals! Puppies especially! Maybe something cute and furry...They make stuffed animals that are like built in purses. Maybe you could hide the money in there?
Let me know what you do!
You have already done so many creative things!!
Dang, I think that you have the creativity covered. Where on earth did you ever get all of those ideas.
Oh, I see you are from Ky.... well that explains it.
You have got to be the best.
GO BIG BLUE!!!!!
Good luck, I would never come up with all of those ideas.
You are doing a great job!
My aunt and uncle gave me $100 once in a creative way for my high school grad. I was going to college for archaeology though so that made it cuter. They got a plastic container and filled it with sand. Buried in the sand was 50 silver dollars and 50 individually rolled up dollar bills. They also gave me an antique silver spoon that I had to use to dig. It took forever but it was fun and memorable.
How about a piggy bank with 50 Sakegewea dollars (coins) in it? We got this as a wedding gift, and thought it was quite thoughtful and creative.
If you're giving it to her in person, you could do something like a "scavenger hunt", but instead of having her look for paper clips or whatever, you can write out clues to the location(s) of the cash. You can have a single $50 bill, or use ones, fives, tens, twenties, or a combination and have lots of different hiding places for her to find them. Or if you're sending it to her, you could enlist her mother's help to hide the money in their house somewhere and you could still do the scavenger hunt to make her find it.
Or, as a variation of that theme, you could send her a puzzle or something she had to figure out (a word scramble, find-a-word, or crossword or something like that) that would direct her to the location of her present (it could be something generic like "kitchen" or "bathroom" -- something that every home has).
You could send her a book, with bills put between random pages. Or put the cash in a napkin ring.
How about a gift card in one of the pretty metal boxes?
This "credit card" is going to make her feel grown up.
I am sure doing all these extras made you feel good, but she would probably be just as pleased with a credit card.
I heard that the dvd ELM (Everybody Loves Money) has a TON of good ideas.
http://housefairy.org/housefairyland.php
it is the last thing on the page
http://housefairy.org/ main site
One year, my mom made big circles (I think 6 per ornament) out of old Christmas cards. Ten glued them together to make a ball-shape (you have to bend the edges of the cards a little to glue them together). She put shopping cards in them. We are giving my husband's niece a gift card this year. I bought one of the pretty Christmas boxes of Kleenex. I'm going to either put the gift card in the box (if I can get it in without making it look like the box is open) or tape it to the bottom. Then, it will look like she is just getting Kleenex. I'll clue her mom in if she doesn't find it.
There are a lot of easy origami sites online with patterns to fold ornaments and many of them work for money sizes. How about an origami ornament on the tree? Or the money could be folded inside a paper ornament too.
Good luck. Sounds fun.
My mother in law gave my husband money for Christmas every year and she also found inventive ways to wrap it up. The one he still talks about most is when she used an empty wrapping paper tube. The money curled up inside the tube so that it wasn't immediately apparent and he thought she was trying to fake him out. It is one of his most fond Christmas memories.
This year, I'm giving money gifts to charities and sending the sponsors gift cards to my long-distance relatives (even the nieces and nephews).
My grandmother used to do that and would get a pretty jar and fill it with my favorite candy and wad up 100 $1 bills mixed in it. It was really fun!
How about putting the money in a very small box, wrapping it & then putting it in a bigger box, wrapping that & so on. Give her a huge box & she has to keep unwrapping the boxes to find the money.
What about a "treasure hunt"? The first present has a clue to the second present, which has a clue to the 3rd present, etc. You can either put a little money with each present or put it all in the last present found. Plant each little present around the house and leave clues to find each one!
By the way, that's a great idea and I'l be using it myself!
A., What a GREAT idea!
Here is a host of sites you can find what you are looking for.
http://www.google.com/search?q=funny+and+fun+ways+to+give...
another is:
RE: Creative Ways to Give Money as a Gift-at least 42 different ways:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55971144.tip.html
Fun Ways to Give Money as a Gift
http://www.quazen.com/Recreation/Crafts/Fun-Ways-to-Give-...
Let us know what you decide... ;)
Wow! You're a cool aunt! I love that you're so creative, generous and thoughtful. Have you tried folding them up accordion style and connecting them with paper clips to form fans or snowflakes?
I've given dollar bills rolled up and tied with a ribbon before.
You can also try origami, the Japanese art of folding paper. Good luck to you!
One year, my parents gave my brother a pair of gloves and had him try them on. There, of course, was money inside when he tried on the gloves. I don't know...I thought it was cute.
Why are you trying so hard? Put it in an envelope and be done with it. The simplicity will startle her.
