DIY Graduation Gifts with Money | Pizza Box & Picture Fame Ideas!

Make your own DIY Graduation gifts with money for an extremely practical and appreciated way to congratulated your high school senior!

3 DIY Graduation Gifts with Money!

Looking for a quick and easy way to gift money to a graduate without it seeming boring and impersonal?  Here are two fun and easy ideas we've made for our OWN high school graduates the last couple years!  The first one is a SUPER cute way to display some spending money and gift cards in a pizza box of all things 🙂

Good gravy.

I impressed myself on this one. 🙂 

And if I can tackle this little cute project?

I know you can too.

My friend shared this UBER CUTE idea for a DIY Graduation gift with money that she found over on Pinterest, and I had to give it a try!

It took less than 30 minutes to make, is a great fun way to give cash (which is what most folks love anyways!), and you'll feel like you totally rocked one gift this year. 🙂 

Success! 

Here's all you need:

• Shrink wrap (Optional)
• Repositionable tape
• Gift cards
• Scissors
• Blow dryer (to mold the shrink wrap together)
• Pizza box ~ Free at our local pizza place
• Cash 🙂

Directions:

• Empty Pizza Box (I stopped by Pizza Hut and they gave me a fresh empty box for free!)
• Cut a 12″ circle out of cardboard that will fit inside your pizza box (A bit smaller than the size of a pizza)
• Fan dollar bills out around the circle and put a small piece of repositionable tape on the back of each bill to secure
• Add in some Gift Cards on top the cash if you wish
• Optional: Wrap in shrink wrap and blow dry to shrink it down (You can watch me in the video below for visual learners!)
• Add a note inside the pizza box lid that says “You can't live on pizza, so here's some dough!”

If you missed my Facebook live video this morning you can watch here for a fun DIY Graduation gift with money!”

(I thought it would be super fun as a teacher gift too.  Note – if you do give it to a teacher you'll want to make sure their school allows you to give teachers cash ~ many only allow gift cards, so find out ahead of time before preparing.)

More DIY Graduation Gift Ideas…

Picture Frame Money Graduation Gift

My friend Jamie JUST made this “U Did It!” picture frame money gift for her son who graduated last year – she said it only took a few minutes to fold up the bills and tape them to the background.

Here's what you need!

• 10 – 12 Bills (ideally – Jamie was short a couple and filled in with coins for the D's)
• inexpensive 8×10 picture frame
• Gift bag or wrap in their school colors
• Tape

Instructions:

1. Unbend the metal tabs to take the back off the frame
2. Use the paper photo insert as a template to cut a square out of wrapping paper or a gift bag
3. Fold the bills into letters as best you can to spell out “U DID IT!”
4. Some letters require two bills, so the more you have the better
5. If you have an extra you can add an exclamation point with a quarter under it
6. If you have extra, another nice touch is a tiny rolled up diploma or grad cap in the corner
7. Roll up tape behind the bills to attach them to the paper background – you don't need lots of tape, remember the bills will be pressed inside a frame so they won't fall!
8. Replace the background in the picture frame

DIY “Grad Badge” Money Gift for Her

If the Pizza box of cash and the dollar bill sign just don't say girly to you – this one should!

Here are the supplies you'll need:

• 4 cash bills
• clear tape
• card stock
• hot glue gun
• 2-inch wide ribbon of your choice
• jeweled embellishments (optional)

Directions:

(See the FULL directions with pictures of every single step in this Graduate Money Gift Idea post here!)

• Begin by taping the bills together in a row with tape near the top and bottom of each bill.
• Fold section of bills into a fan. Fold about 4 times on each bill, keeping the folds even.
• Pinch them in the middle to create the fan.
• Next, pull the side edges together and tape together. Repeat on the other side.

• Cut a circle from card stock to create a center and affix to the center with a small dot of hot glue.
• Next, cut a label from some more card stock to write your message on and hot glue it to the circle.

• For the backing, cut another circle from card stock and glue it to the back with a dot of hot glue.
• Next, cut a length of ribbon approximately 16 inches in length, fold it in half, and glue it to the paper circle on the back. Lastly, add a small pin!

And that's it! Your Grad Badge is done and ready to be presented to the happy graduate!

Looking for more great graduation gift ideas? Head on over HERE ~ the Contigo water bottle is my favorite and would be perfect to fill with a little cash too!