All of our kids are in their 20's and love gift cards.

Sippimom, our kids are 22 and almost 18 and we did an all cash Christmas (much to their delight) plus stocking stuffers of course, last year. My husband joked that I was mixing up my holidays when I told him we were going to do all cash and hide it around the house...like Easter eggs and the kids would have to find it on Christmas morning! On Christmas Eve, we went around the house and made a list in case we forgot where we had hidden the envelopes. The kids loved it and then they were able to go purchase what they wanted and get some great after Christmas sales, so they got even more for their money.

My father once wrapped about 100 smaller boxes and put them in one large box the year he gave my mother an expensive watch. She had to open a LOT of boxes until she finally found the one that held the watch.

Good luck, we are trying to figure out another fun way to give our kids cash, can you explain the money puzzle idea a little more please?

Kat :)

Last year for my teenage niece & Nephew I got a clear glass Christmas ball ornament, took off the metal thingy, rolled a $20 bill & slipped in inside. I put a bow on the ornament, wrapped in a box. They think they are getting a christmas ornament, until they see the cash!

well, you could HIDE it around the house for them to find. when my kids were little we hid the speckled malt 'eggs' at Easter. That kept them busy most of the day - not that they got very many. I used to sneak around and take one out of their basket (that they'd 'found') and rehide it... they never caught on. you could put a different colored paper clip on bills for each kid.
like under a lamp (with a smidgen sticking out), behind of photo frame, under a place mat, in a coffee mug (better use a different one then - money is dirty!), under their kitchen chair (better use that blue tape so it doesn't rip the bills).

I'm sure there are lots of these sites, but here is one for money origami:

money origami

You could fold each of the bills into a different shape, and box them up with cute little rhymes or poems on them. Perhaps one folded like a shirt, in a shirt box, with a tag that says '"At the holidays it seems so keen to have something to wear in the color green". One folded into a rabbit in a lidded box with 'air holes' punched out, a tag that says "A cute little pet that requires no care, we fell in love with this wee hare", etc.

What about a box in a box? Get a set of 4 boxes of different sizes that all fit into the large box, and put a bit of cash in each box. You could put a $1 in the first box, $5 in the next, $10 in the next, and the bulk of the cash in the bigger box. But you'd have to find boxes which would be hard.

We give our older kids cash and presents, but I put the check in a Christmas envelope. They expect that envelope every year. lol

Pretty good recent thread on the subject linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: interesting cash gifts

My sister in law always does creative things with her daughters- in their 20's and 30's now. Last year she did a scavenger hunt. She had them wear Santa Hats and get in their car to go to the different places. She worked out the details with some of the establishments. I think they went to Starbucks and they gave them a card that told them where to go next. They ended up at a restaurant to eat and found their gift card or money.

Thanks for all of your ideas! That was very helpful...

I'm lovin' the idea of a scavenger hunt in town for the older ones that can drive! :) tee-hee-hee

Just heard this story from someone at work. She did this for her nieces and nephews. She bought three different sized boxes, and filled the largest one with pennies, the next one with nickels and the smallest with dimes. She jam packed them so you couldn't shake to see what was inside. She didn't mark their names, just said for each to pick one box.

To quote her, "the greediest one went for the largest box, of course!". She actually put in some paper money in the bottom underneath all the coins so that it all evened out and they all got a good amount of money. She said they loved it and thought it was fun and funny.

My bro gave our step nephew a cool gift of cash. He took fortune cookies, microwaved them, stuck bills inside then reshaped them. He put them all in a chinese food box. Really cute.

This year my dh and I got a funny idea for our 12yr old. He got her a card for Hot Topic which for those who don't know, sells whatever you need for your pierced body parts along with skinny jeans and tshirts. Anyhoo, dh likes to tease her and say Hot Pockets instead. He also says Carrie Underwear, Acorn, etc. So we stuck the card in a Hot Pockets package. She thought that was really funny.