This past weekend, my Sister-in-Law (who is not only one of the best moms I know, but one of the hardest workers), channeled her inner-Pinterest side and came up with a super creative Easter Egg Hunt for my niece and nephew. The best part about the hunt was that with each clue came a letter…which, when put together in the end, revealed that they’re headed to Disney World for their birthdays! ((Talk about the best moment ever for a 5 & 7 year old…OMG, wait – how are they that old?! And how am I that old!?)) Anyway, while I take a second to collect myself, enjoy this adorable collage Abby posted on Instagram of the event:
Fun, right!?
Since they live in Michigan and we live in NC, we usually just send online gift cards for their gifts because it’s easy and what’s more fun than getting to pick out your own gift? But because this birthday was a little bit more special with their trip, I wanted to make their gift a bit more special. I first thought of the gift cards they have at the register in Target for Disney World or the Disney Store. But that also seemed a bit less special, so I figured why not decorate my own $20 bills and send that? Actual money is more fun than a gift card anyway (and $20 to a kid seems like $1M)!
Thankfully, it crossed my mind that I wouldn’t want to hand over a really cool $20 bill with Mickey and Minnie all over it to a clerk at Disney World who would just throw it in with the other plain Jane bills. So I Googled images of $20 bills and thank God I did because it turns out that coloring a set of Mickey ears on Andrew Jackson and putting stickers all over an actual bill is considered ‘defacing US Government’ and is punishable by law. {{with my luck, this is totally something I would be unintentionally arrested}}. So I downloaded a copy of this $20 bill (download yours HERE) and go to decorating! You can download an image of any bill, in case you’d like a lesser value or if you’re a baller and want a Benjamin or something.
I wanted the stickers to look like they were actually printed on the bill, so I made sure to find some with a transparent background and settled on THESE from Hobby Lobby. They have the best sticker selection around, so even if you didn’t have a Disney theme, you could probably find whatever stickers themed for you and your gift!
I colored a Mickey ears hat (the pinnacle of ALL Disney World souvenirs!) on President Jackson and decorated Will’s bill with Mickey and Goofy and Aubrey’s with Minnie and Daisy. I used the rest of the stickers on the card that I hand lettered and on the outside of the envelope to really tie the theme together.
In the envelope I also included a check for the amount of actual cash that we were gifting (don’t forget this step because in the same way that defacing a dollar bill is a Federal offense, you can’t actually ‘spend’ the printed copy).
So now Aubs and Will have money to spend and a fun keepsake to remind them of their birthday Disney trip!!
L J D E S I G N C o . 