With the holidays coming, I asked our family for ideas on what they want or need. The answer for most is gift cards or money. And although I want to give them what they really want I don’t like giving only cash or gift cards.

There are so many unique ways I have come up with over the years to give cash or cards, but this year I was having trouble thinking of something new. So, I thought I would post my dilemma on social media and see what others had for ideas.

This is a compilation of things I have done as well as ideas from others on unique ways for gifting money or gift cards. I hope this helps make the holiday a little more special for you and the people you are gifting to.

Umbrella: Tie a string to money bills and hang them inside an umbrella. Close up the umbrella, put it in a box and wrap as usual.

Cereal, crackers or cookies: Crumble up money bills and put them inside an empty cereal, Goldfish cracker package or cookie box. Close the box so it looks like it is new. Wrap as usual.

Soap: Make your own soap and put a rolled-up bill inside.

Candle: Make your own candle and put a bill sealed in the outside layer so it shows through.

Zip ties: Wrap the gift card or money as usual. Then wrap it with 20-50 zip ties. Hard to open but the prize is worth the work.

Mouse trap: Put the money in a real mouse trap before putting it in a box and wrapping it.

Box of crayons: Open a box of crayons and wrap each crayon with money. Then return them to the box and gift wrap the box as usual.

Plastic wrap: Put the money or gift card in the center of plastic wrap and wrap and wrap and wrap and keep wrapping it around until you have a huge ball. Then put the ball in a box before you gift wrap it.

Fortune cookie: Make paper fortune cookies (not real baked ones). Put a “fortune” or special note in each one with a money bill.

Salad bowl: Purchase a clear salad bowl and fill it with a serving fork and spoon and crumpled up money bills

Manicure jar: Purchase a clear jar with a cover. Fill it with the gift card, nail polish, nail file and everything needed for a manicure.

Candy jar: Hide the gift card inside a jar of their favorite candy.

Bookmark: Put a crisp bill inside a book, like a bookmark, or inside a plastic-wrapped bookmark.

Balloons: Put gifts cards or money bills in balloons, blow up the balloons and put them all in a huge box. I weighed down the box with a ream of paper as another gift and used helium in the balloons, so when he opened the box the balloons, all flew out. Be sure to do it indoors.

Money cake: I taped $10 bills together at the short side, rolled them up and put them in an open small plastic zip bag, cut a hole in the cake and put the money in the hole with one sticking out of the open end of the bag.

Puzzle box: There are several different sizes, prices and types on money puzzle boxes available on-line.

Multi-wrap: Wrap it in a box, then put that box in another box and wrap it. Keep going until you have a final large gift-wrapped box. I did it with eight boxes.

Wallet: Purchase a really nice wallet and put money inside it.

Scrapbook: I purchased a scrapbook album and decorated each page to match the theme of the gift card. When they use the gift card, they can take pictures of what they did and put the picture on the page where the card was. Their album is already scrapbooked for them.

Lots of paper money: Wrap each bill in its own small gift box. Put all the gift boxes in a Christmas stocking or other gift.

Credit card wallet: Purchase or sew your own credit card wallet. This also gives them a way to safely store all their gift cards.

Unrelated poster: Purchase a not very interesting poster and tape money to the back of it. Roll it up before wrapping it up so the recipient will see the poster before seeing the money. One person wrote that her grandmother did that for her. When she opened it, she smiled and said “wow thanks” and everyone laughed and said “turn it over.”

Origami: There are many unique ways to fold money and have it look like something else, such as a bird, heart, shirt, butterfly, flower, bow tie and more.

Walnut: Crack a whole walnut, empty the shells and fold the money up small and put inside the shell. Hot glue the two sides together!

Money tree: On a real potted tree or plant, fold up money and tie it to the branches. Two gifts in one.

2020: Tape together the ends of dollar bills on a toilet paper roll. Roll it up and tie it with 2020 ribbon.

Money socks or mittens: Fill mittens or socks with crumpled up money before gift wrapping them.

A big kiss: Buy a big candy kiss, open the box and put money in with the kiss and then close it back up. Kids especially love this.

Piñata: Fill a piñata with coins and/or crumpled $1 bills. Or make your own piñata with a papier mâché-covered balloon.

Scavenger hunt: Hide gift cards throughout the house. Prepare a list of locations and create a storyline with clues on where to locate the prize! Fun to do and fun to watch.

Have the dog do it: Put a gift card on your dog’s collar and tell him/her to go see the gift recipient.

Picture this: Put a gift card or money bill under the glass of a beautiful picture frame. You may also want to include an original poem related to the person or holiday.

Money neck tie: Purchase a button up the front shirt. Make a “tie” out of paper money and insert it in the front of the shirt before wrapping as usual.

Money bow: Wrap a box (empty or with a gift inside). Make a fancy bow out of folded paper money.

Money book: Make your own book. Make the pages out of dollar bill. Add a fun title of the book to the front cover.

Pizza box: Get a clean, empty pizza box. Lay out paper money in a circle with coins on top for “topping.” Tape it all down. Close the box. No need to gift wrap it!

Box of chocolates: Get a clean empty candy box. Fold up paper money to fit in the paper candy holders. You can also alternate with coins.

Money wreath: Fold paper money into the shape of a wreath. Decorate it with a beautiful ribbon and embellishments.

Snow globe: Using old pasta jars or mason jars, hot glue the card to the inside cover. Then fill the jar with fake snow and either holiday miniatures, items with specific meaning to the recipient or things related to the gift card itself (i.e. for a gas gift card, insert a miniature toy car, etc.)

Gift basket: Place the gift card in a gift basket with items that relate to the card (for a Starbuck’s card, add a mug, insulated coffee thermos, individually wrapped cookies, napkins, etc.)

Cold hard cash: Line a water filled bowl or dish with money. Freeze it until solid. Pop it out of the mold and serve it on a plate to the recipient. Or put it in ice pops.

Nancy Seeley-Butler lives in Waterford.

Your Turn is open to readers who want to share ideas and commentary. To contribute, email times@theday.com.