A Fun, Cheap and Easy Way to Make a Monetary Gift a Little More Personal

Sometimes people ask for money towards a big purchase or something else on their birthday, but giving an envelope is just so boring. So I wanted to find a way to make giving money a little more tangible. This is what I came up with...

Step 1: Materials

you're gonna need:

a little (wooden) box, I bought this one for 1 euro
some paint, I just used whatever I had lying around
paintbrush
some giftwrap
a design and a pencil to draw it on the box with

Since the person I made this for wants to buy a Mac with his birthday money I printed out the apple logo on a size that would fit the box.

Step 2: Drawing

Either draw freehand or trace your design on the box. For me it was easiest just to cut the apple out and then trace around it.

Step 3: Painting

Just fill in the design with paint and let it dry a bit (or use a hair dryer).

Make sure the layer of paint is fully opaque, because if you have to paint over it again there's a lot more chance you'll make a mistake and end up painting over it 15 more times, all the while distorting the original design (yes, I speak from experience :), luckily that didn't happen on this one though).