So, here you are on Christmas Eve and you have that last gift to snag for a young person on your list ... hmmm ... what to do?
Money, my friends.
Cash = freedom, especially for young people. Freedom to save, spend or just blow it. From the pre-teen years on up through their 20s (and beyond, if we're being honest), kids want cash. They just do.
As a gift giver, though, cash is ... eh, boring. It's no fun to give.
... hands a 20 to nephew ... "Here, go buy yourself something real nice."
Blah.
Recently, I was faced with this conundrum myself. My son was participating in a gift exchange among his cousins. He drew his awesome, wonderful 15-year-old male cousin's name. There was a $20 limit on the gift.
"What do you want to get him?" I asked my son.
"Cash. He's going to want cash, Mom."
Boring.
Not liking that answer, we consulted with the parents to really gauge his heart's desire (at the $20 level) and they said the same thing: he wants cash. He will be 16 soon and he is saving for a car and all the things to go with it - like gasoline and fountain drinks from fast food drive-thrus that you actually do the driving through.
Not satisfied with just having one 15-year-old boy hand another 15-year-old boy a crisp 20 (though both 15-year-olds would have been cool with that), I sought help from the highest authority on how to package said 20 with flair: Pinterest.
Pinterest was too hard.
For example, a simple money tree, you know, where you hang singles from the branches? I'd have to hand craft a tree - a freaking tree of sorts - and then you know, hang the money.
Um, no.
There are a lot of people who are far more creative than I with much more time than I. I love, admire and respect you people. But I am not one of you people.
But there was inspiration.
Here's what I came up with. It can be used for any gift-giving occasion: birthdays, holidays, graduation, new home, new job, etc.
It involved the following: A wooden rolling pin ($3 at Walmart), a small cookie sheet ($1 at Dollar Tree), clear packing tape and a 20 dollar bill. And the thought: rolling the dough.
I taped the rolling pin to the cookie sheet with the packing tape so it would not shift or move, typed up a little note and then lightly taped the money using regular Scotch tape.
Here it is:
It fit in a shirt box so I could even wrap it up and he would have something to open.
 |
| Detail showing where I used the clear tape to adhere the rolling pin and note. Don't use packing tape to adhere the money; it is lightly taped with regular tape rolled on the back. |
 | ||
| "I hope you're rolling in the dough so you can save up for a sweet ride." Get it? ;) |
What will a 15-year-old boy do with a wooden rolling pin? No idea. But it made him smile and got him $20 closer to whatever his heart desires this Christmas.
And that is what it's all about, my friends.
Merry Christmas!
PS - The photo at the top of this post is of my son's stocking, so, spoiler alert if you read this, Son: there's $20 in your stocking. You're welcome.
