You can give someone cash, provide a store-bought card with money inside, or offer a gift card to your family or friends. While they should appreciate any of these gestures, here’s how to make gift money more memorable.
This is a great way to gift money and celebrate a birthday for kids!
Birthday Balloon Pop with Money
Supplies Needed:
- 18 x 18 x 17-inch cardboard box
- Wrapping paper
- Scissors
- Tacky Glue
- Double-Sided Adhesive Tape
- (1) 17-inch round helium-filled balloon
- Balloons
- dollar bills
- Large safety pin
Directions:
For this project, I used double adhesive tape. I could have used Tacky Glue, but the adhesive tape is quick and easy.
The box I used is a sturdy moving box measuring 18 x 18 x 17 inches. To cover the box, I laid it on its side on top of the roll of gift wrap. Then, I covered one flap with the wrap, leaving excess on the end to fold back over the inside of the flap. I added excess to cover a couple of inches inside the box.
Next, I covered the bottom. Then I flipped the box to the other side and wrapped it the same way. Lastly, I covered the remaining sides by covering the flaps in the same way. Then cut and fold the bottom and sides inward to make a nice edge.
If I had been truly diligent, I would have covered the interior as well.
Use a Cricut to Make Flap Decorations
The decorations on the box flaps are cut from cardstock using a Cricut. I added the 10th and Leighton to the original design.
The birthday candles on the side flaps were cut with the Cricut, too. If you search for birthday candles under ‘Images” on the Cricut, you can find these and many more.
After cutting these out, I glued them to the gift wrap-covered flaps.
Determine the direction in which the birthday recipient should open the box so that the greeting and their name is facing them.
Fill the Balloons with Money and Air
The easiest way to insert dollar bills into the balloons is to blow the balloon up a little. Then release the air.
(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!)
Next, roll 1, 2, or 3 bills into a tight roll. Insert the roll into the mouth of a balloon. Then blow up the balloon. If you have a lot of wind, blow up with your mouth. If not, you can use an electric balloon pump or a hand pump. (I bought an electric balloon pump for a balloon column. It has come in handy a few times!)
When the balloon is inflated with the money inside, make a knot in the neck. Make sure your knot is tight so air doesn’t escape. You can inflate the balloons a little more or a little less to fill your space.
Take into consideration how much room you have in your box when the helium balloon is added.
Adding the Helium Balloon
It is probably best to fill the balloon with helium the day before or the day you plan to give it to your recipient. That way, you should have the best lift from the helium.
I intended to add the balloon with the top of the balloon facing upward. After testing this, I found that the other balloons kept the balloon from rising. So, I covered the bottom of the box with the money-filled balloons. Then, put the clip at the end of the string inside the box and lay the balloon on its side. This worked best. It rises unimpeded.
Attach Balloon Pop Directions
Before closing the box flaps, create a note with balloon pop directions using your favorite graphic design tool. Our note reads,
“Happy Birthday, Leighton! Use this safety pin to pop each colorful balloon one by one and unveil your birthday surprise!”
Attach a large safety pin to the bottom of the note.
Then punch a hole in the card corner. Use a colorful ribbon to tie the card to the balloon string. After attaching it to the string, make a pretty bow.
Now, lay the helium balloon on its side on top of the money-filled balloons and close the flaps.
Use a wide ribbon to wrap around the package and tie a pretty bow. Be sure the bow is facing the correct way so the greeting and name are on the top and bottom flaps. Click here ► for a simple, but so elegant way to tie a ribbon on a package. When one of the ties is pulled, the entire ribbon loosens and comes undone.
Here’s the video of Leighton and her friends as she opens her present. I think her little friends enjoyed it as much as she did!
You can hear her little brother, too. He had just celebrated his birthday and was crying because he had such a great time and wished it could be his birthday all over again!
Wouldn’t this be a great idea for a Christmas present, too? That gives me an idea…
If you love this idea, please leave a comment below!
How to Gift Money - Fun Ways to Give Money Gifts
Be Social!
