Fun ways to gift cash?

I think the money puzzle is a cute idea. You put the money in the last compartment and the only way to access the money is for them to go through the "brain teasing" maze. When they solve the puzzle, they can open up the compartment full of cash.

I also just saw this in my FB feed.  You could rubber band cash around the candy.

My mom buys us little things that we would use anyway (along with a few things that are so ugly that we give them back to her to use the next year- hallmark bell, I mean you). She then slits open the packages and hides money in there somewhere. We have received toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, dish towels, bird seed, nuts for the squirrels, (although If they don't stop stealing our Christmas lights, they aren't getting any more nuts!), decks of cards, desk calendars (with the money on significant dates in our lives), kitchen utensils, etc. She is very good at hiding the money as well as the avenue into the item! We know to check every gift and we know how much we are looking for. Last Christmas was ds' first time, and we did have to go through all the wrappings to locate a missing twenty!

Some of the things I've done...

Tape dollar bills end to end and then "roll them."  Open the flap on a tissue box, place the money inside with a tissue taped to the outside bill and then feed the tissue through the tissue dispensing opening. Glue the flap closed and wrap the tissue box. As they pull out the first tissue, the money comes rolling out in a long strip. The more the merrier!

Wrap a hammer in tissue paper and place it on top of a tissue paper wrapped ceramic or glass bank filled with coins and/or bills.  Print on the bank, "In case of emergency, break glass."

Empty a 2 liter pop bottle and carefully remove the label. Cut an opening (smaller than the label) and fill the clean pop bottle with small gifts, candy, and bills. Tape the opening shut and then carefully replace the label. It usually takes them a bit to figure out how to get the gifts out.

Unroll a roll of toilet tissue and roll it back up with dollar bills. They have to unroll the toilet tissue to get the money.

Pry open English walnuts and take out the nuts. Fill the walnut shells with folded bills and glue them back together. Gift them with a nutcracker.

Place a section of paper towel roll (cut to fit) in the center of a plastic pint or quart jar. Put bills in the tube and then fill the rest of the jar with M & M's. Screw on the lid. For added fun glue the lid on so it's harder for them to get to the goodies.

I used a thick book I already owned. I taped clues leading my ds to a page on which a $5 was taped and the clue to the next $$ gift page. The first clue was on the cover. For example, "the year you were born minus 150 dozen." Of course the answer to each clue was a number. Another example was "the number of bones in the human body minus one gross." It made "finding" the gift a longer process and also ended up being a learning experience, as he had to work a math problem or look up information. Clues would need to be adapted to the age of the child. It wouldn't work for all kids, but my son loved it, and asked for it the next year.

I have done the Kleenex box & made up a little poem about not "blowing it all at once." Also did the pizza box. Said on the front , " no mushrooms , no pepperoni, no olives BUT... (Inside cover) a whole lot of dough.
My teens loved it. Or at least smiled. That's a win, right?

One of my nieces turned 16 this year. I made a 3D purse with my cutting machine and put a $100 bill in there. I saw she got 2 cards from friends in the shape of purses, but my 3D one kicked their butts! LOL