Money Booklet Tutorial

For my upline’s weekend demonstrator retreat last month, I was asked to demonstrate a WOW project.  So, I came up with this cute money booklet after seeing something similar on a craft website.  This little booklet is a fun way to give plain cash.  With the holidays coming up, I thought it was perfect timing.

1) Start with a piece of cardstock & a piece of designer paper, each measuring 6-5/8 x 2-7/8 inches.

2) Apply Tombow multipurpose glue to the entire surface of the cardstock (if using textured cardstock, apply the glue to the un-textured side).

3) Carefully stick the cardstock & designer paper together so you have a single piece.

***If you plan to make several booklets, there is a time-saving option.  Glue a piece of 12x12 cardstock to a piece of 12x12 designer paper, then cut the entire piece into 6-5/8 x 2-7/8 inch pieces as your individual booklets. 

4) Score the piece along the longest side at 3-1/4 & 3-3/8” to create the booklet “spine”.  Now fold the piece at these score lines.  

5) Flatten the piece out again and apply linen bookbinding tape to the designer paper side of the piece, centered along the spine (designer paper side).  This results in a mini booklet cover.  Note: you can purchase bookbinding tape in several colors.  In my case, I wish I had used a darker color so that the pattern of the designer paper wouldn’t show through, but I had borrowed this tape from a friend.

6) Take your dollar bills and fold each one in half lengthwise individually.  Of course you can use any denomination you want, but the crisp new $1 bills I got from the bank for my demonstrator were long spent when I shot this tutorial, so I had to use what was in my wallet. 

7) Now stack all of the bills together.

8) Place the bills inside the booklet cover and then tie a piece of ribbon or cording near the back spine to hold the bills in place.  Since the bills are not adhered to the cardstock, the recipient can easily slide them out without ruining the booklet.

9) The money now takes on the effect of pages in a book.

10) Decorate your booklet as desired.

Optional: If you would prefer to keep the book pages “closed, then fasten a tie along the outer cover edges.  In these next steps, I used a money booklet made from a different designer paper.  

11) Remove money from the booklet.  With the booklet folded, use a punch to make a small hole through both “covers” along the outer cover edges.

12) Now re-insert the money into the booklet, insert cording through the holes you just punched, and tie the booklet closed with a bow so that it can be easily unfastened.

Stamp sets: christmas classics; Inks: soft suede, real red; Cardstock: real red, christmas cocoa specialty DSP; Embellishments: real red 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, gold elastic cord;  Tools: scallop circle punch, 1-1/4” circle punch, 1/16” handheld punch; Other: tombow multipurpose adhesive, linen bookbinding tape (non-Stampin’ Up!)