A Creative Way To Give Christmas Cash

Here is a creative way to give Christmas cash that also doubles 

as a mini decoration. 

I was trying to think of a way to gift cash to my grown 
children that did not involve a lot of folding of the cash 

and would be easy to send through the mail. 

A cute wreath made by the Martha Stewart

 team and featured on the cover of her

 magazine for December 2014 came to mind.

It featured little houses called "Putz Houses". I decided to try

making simple paper houses and use the roofs as carriers of

the paper money. 

I searched the Internet for a template for a paper house. 

The easiest one I found was on the "Mac and 

Moof" blog.  It provides instructions on how to make little

paper houses the size you need.

After some trial and error, this is the little template that seemed

to work size-wise to have a folded U.S. bill on the roof. Having 

a tab on one side of the house makes it easier to to securely

attach the two ends of the house together.

Each side of this house is 2" wide  (blue lines) with 0.5" tab 

so the total length of the template is 8.5" 

The very top of the gable is 3.25"( taller vertical green line).

The roof line is 2.5" (shorter vertical green line).

To get the angle of the gable mark the middle of the peaked

 sections and draw an angled line down to the corner of the 

 roof line of the shorter (side) of the house (red arrows).

The fold lines are marked by dotted lines on the template. 

You can play with the dimensions that look best to you.

If you are only making one or two houses you might not

need to make a template but if you are making multiple

houses, it think it is easier to trace the outline on to the

back of the paper you are using as the house. 

Here is how to proceed:

If you are using a template make it with heavier paper

 like poster board or card stock. This will make it easier 

to trace the template on the actual paper you are using.

You do not need to have cut out windows and door on 

your house. You could leave the house blank or cut out

squares and rectangles of another color of paper to glue

on to be the windows and door. 

This picture is not the dollar bill paper house but just to give

 you an example of gluing on windows and doors.

This picture is also not the dollar bill paper house but to show

you can draw on panes on the windows if you want. 

I did find out that it is easier to glue or cut the house 

embellishments while the house is still flat. If you are going

to cut the windows and door, using a craft knife is easier 

than using scissors.

 To keep a flap on the door, only cut the

top and one side of the door. 

Fold the cut out paper house to make the corners.

After a few not-so-straight folds I found it better for me to

go back and use a pencil and ruler to mark the fold line.

If you decide to cut out the windows and doors, here is

another not-necessary-but-cute idea...tape or glue vellum

(kinda see through) paper over the openings.

I made the mistake of using regular glue on some of the

houses. When that glue dried, it had warped the paper and 

those houses were wonky (but I used them anyway at this

point). If you use glue, use a glue that will not warp

the paper ( one is Zip-Dry).

When you have all your windows and door finished, use 

the tab (put tab to the inside so it won't show) 

to join the two ends of the house. 

Cut a rectangle of paper to make the roof. The roof 
for my house was 3" x 2.5".  Fold it in half. 

Use a thin line of glue along the top edges of the
 house to attach the roof. 

Fold the paper money you are gifting in half.
Then fold it in half again. To get really sharp fold
to apply to the roof of you house you can iron it on low.

You want the money to be fairly easy to take off of the
roof so don't glue the money on the roof. You can use 
doubled-sided tape or removable glue dots attach the 
money to the roof.

Tape or glue dot the open ends of the bill together. 
I thought one glue dot worked fine. You want it to 
stay on but not be too hard to get off,

Put tape or glue dots on the center edge of the sides 
of the roof. Center the bill on the roof with the folds 
of the roof and bill together. When you are happy 
with the placement, press the bill down firmly .

On the first set of little houses I made I hot glued
tiny trees to the side but that was time-consuming.

For the other two sets I made for money gifting I just
sent the little trees in the package and hope the 
recipient will place the trees around the houses. 

Here are examples of other paper houses before I 
had attached the money on the roof,  You can adapt this
idea for whatever amount you are gifting and how many
houses you feel like making. 

If you did cut out windows and a door on your house
you can add a battery-powered votive candle on the 
inside of the house to make it glow.


P.S. My children loved their presents and did actually use
the little houses and trees as holiday decor. 

Give tiny houses a try the next time you are gifting money.

If you want to save this project to Pinterest,
 here is a good image to use...