Chica and Jo Chica and Jo

DIY tutorials, party ideas, recipes, crafts, and tips for everyday life

Chica and Jo Chica and Jo

DIY tutorials, party ideas, recipes, crafts, and tips for everyday life

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Make a Dollar Bill Money Notepad for Gift Giving

by: Chica
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Make a Dollar Bill Money Notepad for Gift Giving
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When it comes to occasions like graduations or weddings, I'm often inclined to give cash as a gift, but it's always a struggle to find a unique way to give cash that makes it fun. This year, as I was signing cards for a high school graduate and college graduate I know, the perfect idea popped into my head. I could use our notepad padding compound to create notepads made out of money!

My first stop was at the bank, where I asked for some crisp, new $1 bills, so that I could make a money pad that looked like it just came off the presses. I got a stack of 50 ones, but you could easily update this to whatever quantity and bill you wish, depending on how much you want to give.

Then I used the same steps from my make your own custom notepad tutorial to turn the bills into a notepad.

I grabbed a bottle of padding compound and an ordinary craft brush. To clamp the bills together, I used two rulers and two binder clips that I found in my desk. Instead of rulers, you could use any strips of wood you've got handy, such as paint stir sticks.

Make a dollar bill money notepad

I tapped the bills on the table so that one side was super flat, then put a ruler on either side to give it structure. Then I added the binder clips to hold it all firmly in place.

Make a dollar bill money notepad

Then I just brushed a liberal coat of the padding compound on the edge, and left it to dry for a couple hours.

Make a dollar bill money notepad

When I removed the clamps, I had a perfectly delightful spiral of dollar bills!

Make a dollar bill money notepad

I tucked the pads into the graduation cards, and gave them as a gift. The graduates were so excited to receive a fun gift of cash, and enjoyed tearing the bills off one by one to spend.

Make a Dollar Bill Money Notepad for Gift Giving
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5 comments so far:

  • 1
    Barbara 11/16/2020 at 9:08 am

    where to order padding compound

  • 2
    Chica 11/16/2020 at 1:53 pm

    Barbara, you can order our padding compound here on Amazon.

  • 3
    Jean Rich 11/03/2021 at 9:43 pm

    That will be perfect for all my grandkids at Christmas . Now to get the padding compound

  • 4
    Nancy 09/05/2024 at 2:49 pm

    Will Rubber Cement work in place of padding compound? TY

  • 5
    Chica 09/05/2024 at 6:40 pm

    Nancy, you can certainly glue those pages together with rubber cement, but for a true tear-off sheet notepad, you really do need padding compound :)

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