Upcycled Graduation Money Box

Graduations are in full swing right now! I made this gift for my nieces high school graduation this year. I went with a typical money gift but I wanted to gift the money in a fun, creative, upcycled way of course! 

What you’ll need: 

•Small Box 

•Wrapping Paper (I used the toilet paper wrapping cover from Who Gives A Crap)

•Rubber-bands (mine are being repurposed from produce ties) 

•Money in the amount of your choice (I went with 5 twenty dollar bills to equal $100) 

#1 Starting with a reused small box, measure the top portion. So the wrapping paper can fully wrap around the front and inside. You don’t have to do this step but I wanted to cover up this sticker that was on the box. 

#2 Now glue your paper to the box. If you’re using Who Gives A Crap wrappings it is very thin. Because of the thinness, I couldn’t get the paper to smooth out completely, but it wasn’t to big of a deal. 

#3 Next get your rubber bands and add to the top flap. The more rubber-bands you add the more the money will stay in place from the inside. I used about 8 rubberbands.  

#4 On the inside of the flap is where you can add your folded money to display the year of the graduate. All I did was fan the money in folds in order to see the numbers I wanted. This worked well for this year, 2022. But other years may be harder to complete this for. I did three 20 dollar bills here. One folded to show the 20 and another two folded to see just the 2. 

#5 As for the graduation cap and diploma made from money. I found a very useful you tube video on that here. There is no tape holding this together. Even the yellow string tassel has no tape. I didn’t want to risk defacing the money by adding any type of tape. 

#6 The last thing I did was make a little congrats grad on the front. This is the same wrapping that was on the box. It’s just cut to size and flipped over. No glue was necessary here as the paper is held on by the rubber-bands. I hand wrote the ‘congrats grad’. I like how the white makes it pop out from the black wrapping. You can also add a little bow like I did to the front. It’s just another rubber band tied in a knot and I think it brings a fun look to the front.  I’ll probably add a ‘to and from’ on the flap of the box as well. 

What do you think? It was fun to make and I think more personal than just a store bought card. Would my niece know her gift is made from Toilet Paper wrappings? Probably not…unless she sees this post 😂 Congratulations to the class is 2022!

Also if you are interested in who gives a crap toliet paper here is my refer a friend link for $10 off.  Please be aware this is only valid for first time customers and you must spend a minimum of $54.

Also be sure to check out my other gift guides for the road tripper, the sustainable lover, and for the Star Wars lover.

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