How to Make a Real Money Notepad – Money Gift Ideas

While gifting money in a Hallmark card is always an option, I try to make money gifts for my grandkids a little more interesting.  After checking out Pinterest for ideas for how to gift money, the real money notepad caught my attention.  How clever is this?  It’s so simple, too!

There is a special kind of glue for making your own notepads!  While you can make your own little notepads with all kinds of papers, it actually works on dollar bills.  The good news is that it doesn’t damage the dollar bills either!  They tear away easily.

You can ask for a pack of new dollar bills at the bank.  The tellers should have them, except this time, our local banks did not!  The teller at one branch went through his bills and pulled out the best ones.  I straightened out all of the corners and faced all the bills in the same direction.  Since I had the iron out, it seemed like a good idea to iron the money!  And so I did.  You can see the ironed pile looks much better.

When you order the notepad padding compound, check the glue color.  The link in this post is for white glue.  It dries clear and flexible.  There is also a red one.  If you like, you can actually tint the white compound with small amounts of acrylic craft paint!

The padding compound remains slightly flexible, allowing the paper layers to stay together.  On the contrary, regular white glue hardens and will pull apart with movement.  

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While there is a special brush you can buy to apply the compound, it is not necessary.  The padding compound is water-based and a regular flat paintbrush works nicely.  You can use soap and water to clean the brush.  Apply 3 or 4 coats, waiting a few minutes between applications.  Then, you’ll want to clean the brush with soapy water.

Real Money Notepad

(We are an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small percentage of any sales through the links in this post at no cost to you.  Thanks for supporting this website!)

Supplies Needed:

• Notepad Padding Compound
• Flat Paintbrush
• Stack of Real Dollar Bills
• Printer
• Paper cutter
• Binder Clips

The Cover:

• Cardboard or Cardstock
• Money Napkins
• Wonder Under Transfer Web
• Felt Ironing mat or Ironing Board
• X-Acto or Mat Knife
• Washi tape
• Tacky Glue
• Ribbon

You will probably want to add cardboard or a heavier cardstock cover to the bottom of the stack of money.  Use a dollar bill as a template or just cut a rectangle 6-1/8 x 2-5/8 – inches, the actual measurement of dollar bills.

For this project, I added a cardboard cover to the back so that I could glue it to the inside of the back cover.  You can see that this cardboard is just cut from a spiral notebook.  Note that I also made a Happy Birthday cover on Canva to top the stack of bills.

Line up the covers and the bills and tap them on the table so you have a smooth edge for gluing.  You will want the glued edge to be on the left side of the bills. 

Place scrap cardboard on the top of the front for stability, to protect the card, and to hold the papers in place.  Secure with binder clips leaving the edge open for applying the glue.

Brush a liberal coat of padding compound on the edge and let it dry.   I think it is a good idea to add a second and third coat, which is what I did.

It will dry to the touch in about 20 – 30 minutes.   It can be used then, but I’ve allowed the notepad to dry overnight.  Now the notepad is ready to use.  The pages will peel off smoothly and easily.

Check out these money gift ideas.

As I was contemplating this money gift idea, some $100 bill napkins we have come to mind.  Remember the Paper Napkin Transfer technique we used for gift boxes?   Wouldn’t this be a great cover for the money gift pad?

The 100-dollar bills on the napkins are larger than a regular dollar bill.  Our gift is actually 50 bills, so I guess you could say we are false advertising…  

Cover Directions

I used the cardboard back of an all-purpose sketch pad.  I wanted heavier cardboard for the outside.

From this, cut a cardboard rectangle 13 x 3-1/4 – inches.

Then, measure 6 – 1/4 – inches from each end and draw a pencil line across the short side of the rectangle.  You should have a line at 6 – 1/4 – inches, then, another at 6 – 3/4 – inches.  The half-inch between the two lines will be the spine of the book.  If you are gifting $100, you’ll want to use 3/4 to an inch between instead of the 1/2 – inch.

Next, lay a metal straight edge across one of the lines and use an X-Acto knife to cut through just the top layer, just barely.  This will help the cardboard crease in a straight line.  Repeat on the other line.

Then, lay the cardboard across a sharp counter edge along one of the scored lines and press downward to bend the spine.  Repeat on the other side.

Apply the Napkin

First, peel off the tissue backing from the money napkin.

Lay the cardboard piece on the transfer web and trace around it with a pencil.  Cut the piece allowing about 5/8 of an inch above and below.  Cut one side right on the line and line it up on the edge of the napkin.  Use the iron to adhere the transfer web to the back of the napkin.  (Follow the directions with the transfer web.)  Turn over and iron on the front side of the napkin.

Then, fold the excess to the inside and iron it to adhere to the cardboard.

When I folded the cover in place, the napkin pulled and stretched on the spine and caused wrinkles.   They won’t iron out because it is stretched tight there, so, we’ll cover the spine with washi tape.

Cut two pieces of coordinating paper 6 – 7-16 x 2-7/8 – inches.  With Tacky Glue, adhere the paper to the inside cover, making sure to place the short edges on the outside edges of the cover.  The two pieces don’t overlap in the center.

Lay the washi tape over the inside, wrap around the spine, and back to the inside to cover the spine.  Then, cut and press in place.

Apply Tacky glue to the cardboard back on the money pad.  Place the pad in place on the cover.  It should hug the right side and lay right along the fold on the left.

Add a pretty ribbon.  I glued the ribbon to the spine of the cover, wrapped it around, and tied a pretty bow.  Hopefully, Leighton likes it!

Be sure to check back to see how it is wrapped and a handy gift box hack!  You may need it for Christmas gift wrapping…

How to Wrap a Small Gift - Gift Box Hack

Do you need a small gift box and don't have one? If you have an extra larger gift box or lid, you can easily make a small gift box from it! Isn't this brilliant?

How to Wrap a Small Gift – Gift Box Hack

Photo Credit: myhumblehomeandgarden.com

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