Surprise Chocolate Box of Money Gift Box (Easy DIY Gift)
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You want to give a thoughtful gift, but you know they could really use some extra cash? How do you gift money in a fun and creative way? This Money Gift Box Idea is a winner! With an empty candy box, some dollar bills and coins, and a few candy or baking papers, you’re set for giving monetary gifts that are a fun way to give a gift of cash.
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Want to give a money gift but don’t want to be boring with gift cards? This easy DIY Money Gift Box is perfect! It’s a little bit of a gag gift, but a whole lot of usefulness. Who couldn’t use a few more bucks in their wallet.
This chocolate box of money is all thanks to my Aunt Cass. She was always super creative and liked to make much of special events. But she was also very practical. She didn’t give gifts that we couldn’t use.
Back when we were paying off debt, she sent me a box of chocolate from her local sweets shop. Or at least, that’s what I thought it was. When I opened it, I found that she had transformed a simple chocolate box into a money gift box.
This is the perfect way for you to gift money this year instead of gift cards that inevitably are forgotten or wasted on junk just to spend them and be done. Just saying.
Why Make a Chocolate Money Box?
It’s fun! Your gift recipient will probably smile at the thought of chocolate, but once they open this gag gift, they’ll smile even wider seeing coins and bills in different currency. It’s so much better than writing a check or buying a gift card.
It’s a simple DIY. You only need a few supplies to pull this off. No crafty skills required.
The cost will always fit your budget. Since you can vary the denominations that you include in your chocolate money box gift, it can fit whatever budget you have for giving a gift. It makes one of the best frugal gifts.
It’s great a great bon voyage gift. Someone heading off on a trip overseas will love to receive some foreign currency, making this a great gift for missionaries, exchange students, parents going to adopt their international children, and other world travelers.
It’s great for kids. Kids can learn about denominations they’ve never seen before. My mom and Aunt Cass have given me two dollar bills every year for my entire life. And, yes, $2 bills are real US currency.
Supplies
Here’s what you’ll need to make a chocolate money box gift:
a candy box or cookie tin – You can use whatever empty candy box or cookie tin you have around. It’s best to choose a brand that your gift recipient really likes. Remember that the bigger the box, the more money it will take to fill, so choose wisely… ie small.
Also keep in mind if your gift recipient has any food allergies. You’ll want to make sure that the money doesn’t carry cross contamination of allergens. — I’m a mom of a kid with food allergies, so I appreciate the care others take in this way.
paper baking liners – The mini muffin or candy size papers are ideal. They are most similar to what candy stores use. You can use brown traditional chocolate paper cups or fun colored ones to make the package more colorful.
money – Vary the denominations and include some unique coins and bills if you can. Aunt Cass cornered the market on $2 bills (yes, they are real!) so she often gave them as gifts. Dollar coins are another fun touch.
But you can use anything: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, dollar coins and dollar bills, two dollar bills and as high up as you can afford. Inquire at the bank to see what fun selection you can come up with.
Obviously, you’ll want to use currency that the person can spend or likes to collect casually. For college students going abroad, including currency from their host country is super fun!
adhesive – You’ll also need glue, double-sided tape, or foam stickies to adhere the paper cups into the box and the money into the paper liners.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make your Chocolate Money Gift Box:
- Glue or tape the liner papers to the bottom box.
- Roll, fold, or stack the currency to vary its appearance. money in coins or paper denominations
- Use stickies or tape to adhere the currency to the candy liner.
- Close the box and wrap as a gift.
I see so much potential for a Chocolate Money Box gift like this. It’s creative and practical all at the same time!
More Great Gifts to Make
What do you think?
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Chocolate Money Gift Box Tutorial
Equipment
- scissors only to trim tape or stickies
Supplies
- 1 empty chocolate box
- adhesive such as glue, double-sided tape, or foam stickies
- small paper candy liners
- money in coins or paper denominations
Instructions
- Glue or tape the liner papers to the bottom box.1 empty chocolate box, small paper candy liners, adhesive such as glue, double-sided tape, or foam stickies
- Roll, fold, or stack the currency to vary its appearance.money in coins or paper denominations
- Adhere the currency to the candy liner.
- Close the box and wrap as a gift.
Notes
This post was originally published February 2, 2011. It has been updated for content and clarity. Read: this is the original that others on the internet have copied. 😉
I just came across this again and was reminded of a wedding gift we received from some friends. They got a small wooden chest from a craft store and converted their bills to coin so it was partially full of treasure! It was a hoot, and we still keep the chest for our spare change.
THAT sounds like a great present! Especially for a teenager or college student. Love it.
That is a really fun idea. A couple of years ago, some of our friends decided to go to Costa Rica for their honeymoon.
For their wedding gift, we exchanged some money and have them some Costa Rican cash to have at the ready when they arrived. They loved the gesture, but this packaging would have made it even better! Thanks for the idea.
I absolutely love this idea. I have a list of recipients in my mind already.
This is a great idea! My hubby loves Esther Price Candies (we live near Dayton, OH). But we are both trying to lose some lbs this year so candy is def out for us. Well, when I saw this I thought of a great way to modify it. Instead of money, I think I may get an EP box and fill the candy spots with small love notes and verses. His birthday is the day before VDay. He is having a rough time at work these days and a few encouraging notes in a sweets box might just make his day! (: Thanks for the idea!
great idea! love that it lends support, lots of love and cheap! Just my kind of gift lol
What a cute idea!!
That is so cute! My Sunday School teacher from when I was 2 years old (so I guess that was probably actually the nursery) sent me a $2 bill in my birthday card every year too!
Super Cute idea!!! Must do for my kids! I’m originally from LaCrosse, WI – now live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN – and SO miss the Sweet Shop! Yummy Yummy Yummy! My husband is from Winona and has lots of Pellowski relatives there. What a small world!
@Karie, well, if they’re Pellowskis with 2 L’s, we must be related!
What a creative idea…I just thought it would be cute and also help to keep the coins from going everywhere if you could use a little cellofane and wrap them in long rounded “pieces” ( think about a section of a roll of coins… perhaps 5 coins at a time) and twist tie the ends like starlight mints. I always wrap gifts to look like candy. Here is what I Love to use ~red pipe cleaners to secure the ends and then I twist the excess around my pinky finger to curl them for a whimsical look! I love the look of red and white so I use white tissue paper and cut a pipe cleaner in half and use one on each end. I have also used the really thin red with white polka dots ribbon!! I think the bills rolled from side to side would work well like this! The $10 dollar bill in the red liners reminded me of this idea because it looked like a long piece of tootsy roll candy shape. So if you do not have the candy papers this idea will work in the heart shaped boxes.
Thanks for sharing your fun and wonderful ideas.
LOL! This is great, though I can’t help but think that my kids actually might be disappointed that it’s not actually chocolate or candy! This is also great for giving my Mom her gift this year! She is the worst person to shop for, has been horribly hard to do so for quite a while. She’s so bad, that she just goes out and buy’s herself what she wants, brings it home, wraps it and then write “from Dad” on the tag! I don’t think she kept a single item he has ever given her (well, maybe 1 – in 30 yrs of marriage!) So a couple of years ago she started asking for gift cards! Sucks to just buy her “gift cards” for her birthday/holiday season! 1 yr, because it drives me nuts that she knows what she is getting – I wrapped up 8 boxes in descending order (littlest to bigges) nesting inside of each other (so the littlest was the very last box to open!) She opened up all 8 boxes (I also made her open them up with oven mitts tomake it that much harder!) So she opened up the last gift – and there was nothing inside! I had tapped the gift card to the bottom of the largest box she had opened! I told her, if she knew what she was getting – she had to work for it!
This year, she wants “cash, or a check” to put into her vacation fund (harder to do with a gift card to a specific location!) So this is what I will do! Makes it much more fun and interesting to give her that gift! Thanks for the info!
@Lynette, Gotta admit, my kids would also be disappointed that there’s no candy. Not me, though!
That is a great idea for gifts. I just might do that for the kids this year, using smaller boxes though.
I’m from a small (pop.750 on a good day) town just south of La Crosse. We always got our Christmas candy from The Sweet Shop. In my opinion, they are just as good as See’s for their own reasons. Thanks for the memory cue. – Dawn