I love to give gifts! I always try to gift something that the recipient will truly love and use. I hope some of my ideas listed below can help you if you are trying to find the perfect gift to give!

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My grandmother turned 96 this year and she is someone that truly has everything. Knowing I was about to move to a new state, I wanted to gift her with something that would remind her that I still loved her, no matter where I was in the world. After lots of creative thinking, I came up with the concept of 30 Days of Notes.

First, I ordered a set of 30 “thinking of you” style cards from Amazon. Then I made up a list of about 30 good memories I had from all my time with my grandmother over the course of my life.

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I wrote a synopsis of one memory onto each card. As a bonus, I added small motivational cards (purchased via Amazon) to each memory card. I sealed and numbered each card, then placed them in a beautiful pink (her favorite color) keepsake Hallmark gift box (purchased via Amazon) surrounded with pink tissue paper.

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The “Day One” card was an introduction card in which I wrote instructions about how she could open one card a day OR open them all at once. On the “Day 30” card, I wrote a special final message concluding the gift. The “Day One” and “Day 30” cards were different style cards than the thinking of you cards. I found some cute flower pop-up cards to make these stand out a little more than the other cards.

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My grandmother called me throughout the 30 days (she opted to open one a day) when she loved a particular memory and to tell me over and over again about how much she loved her gift. She loved the creative concept so much that I decided to share it with anyone else who wanted to try to duplicate it for someone they love. People love good memories and also love to know when someone else remembers so many good things about their relationship.

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Overall, the entire gift cost around $30 and took several hours to hand write each card, but it was truly worth it. Taking the time to put together something special for someone you love is ALWAYS WORTH IT.

SEE IMAGES OF THE GIFT IN DETAILS BELOW!

ALSO, SEE MY 5 CREATIVE IDEAS FOR GIFTING MONEY BELOW!

Want another cool gift idea? Check out my Mimosa recipe post to see how I gifted “Mimosas in a Bag” to our realty team. CLICK THIS LINK.

For my niece and nephew’s birthday every year, I give them money. I must have gotten the idea from my grandmother.

My grandmother used to give money to my cousin every year, but hid it in unique ways along with a Raggedy Andy doll. It became quite a family joke over the years. As much as he acted like he hated it, he laughed and laughed when her method of gifting the doll and money was revealed. She even dressed like the doll one year to hand him the money. He was a grown adult, but he still loved it.

Being the creative person that I am, I adapted her ideas into my own style of gifting. I can’t just give money to my niece and nephew in a card. It’s simply not fun. Every year, I scour the internet in search of unique ways to give cash. Sometimes I find great ideas and use them, sometimes I come up with some of my own.

I used to only do the unique gifting for my nephew, but when I asked my niece if she wanted me to do it for her too, she smiled and quietly said “yes”. Now that I’ve been doing it for several years, I figured it would be a good time to compile a list for others to use.

Here are 5 creative ways I’ve given money:

Green Money Machine: This is the method that started all my creative money gifting. I ordered a “Money Machine” from Amazon, which is produced by Miles Kimball. It comes with removable tape in which you use to tape together as many dollar bills as you wish. I taped together 50 one dollar bills and then rolled them up (per the box instructions) and placed them into the “money machine”. When my nephew got it, he loved pulling and pulling and pulling out all the dollar bills!
Eggs in a Box: I came up with this concept on my own. I filled close to 100 plastic eggs with one dollar bills and small pieces of paper in which I wrote positive sayings about my niece. I wrote things like “Aubrey is self-confident”, “Aubrey is smart”, “Aubrey is inspirational”, “Aubrey makes her dreams come true” and more. I then placed all the eggs in a large box lined with tissue paper. I topped the eggs with Easter grass (since her birthday is always close to Easter) and some small blown up balloons so they wouldn’t move around in the box too much. I wrapped the box like a big gift. On her birthday, my niece opened the box and each egg. She took the time to read through each piece of paper as she opened them and it made my heart sing! I told her to keep the papers and re-read them if she was ever feeling sad or in need of knowing that someone loved her and she agreed. I gifted this to my niece when she turned 12.
Balloon Pop: I rolled up 50 one dollar bills and slid them into balloons. Then I blew up each balloon (with the help of my husband) and knotted them. I placed them into several garbage bags and transported them to my nephew’s birthday party. When it was gift time, we all went outside and took turns placing a balloon onto a chair for him to pop. The whole family pitched in sitting on the balloons to pop them so they all could participate in the fun.
Packing Peanuts Fun Box: I ordered a bunch of packing peanuts (earth friendly, of course) and placed them in a large box. I then placed 50 one dollar bills throughout the box. My niece had to surf through all the peanuts to find all the bills.
Yarn Ball: I looped together a bunch of one dollar bills, art supplies and gold chocolate coins with some thinner yarn, then covered it with a furry, thicker yarn. I then put a note on it so my nephew knew where to cut the yarn. When the yarn is cut, the object is continue to pull the yarn until items are revealed. I made a video to show how I created this money holder and how it can be unraveled by the gift receiver (see below). I did this for my nephew when he turned 8 and he loved it!

Bonus Idea:

Lots of Cards: One dollar per card with lovely sayings. Use the same process of my 30 Days of Notes concept and include a dollar in each card.

Sharing is Caring

Have you given money in a unique way? Post your idea in the comments section below this post to share with me and all my readers!

Try wrapping small gifts like money, candy, art supplies and more in unique ways to give to your loved ones. I bet you the recipient will remember the fun ex...