How to Make a Money Flower Bouquet as a Gift for Loved Ones

Crafting expert Anna Knight shares a DIY tutorial for folding cash into flowers

Co-authored by Anna Knight and Maryana Lucia Vestic, MFA, M.Phil.

Last Updated: December 11, 2025 Fact Checked

Making a money bouquet is a thoughtful, festive way to celebrate those you love and make a gift of cash much more memorable. If you think you’re not crafty enough to do it, you are—simply follow the steps in our guide ahead on how to make a money bouquet. We talked to crafting expert Anna Knight to help us cover the process from start to finish, along with all the supplies, details, and options you’ll need to create a stunning cash bouquet for any dollar amount.

How to Make a Bouquet of Money

Crafting expert Anna Knight suggests these steps to make a money bouquet:

Tape a banknote to a wooden skewer.
Fold the outer edges of each note toward the center to create a heart shape.
Use clear tape to secure the folds.
Repeat for as many flowers as you want in the bouquet.
Place floral foam inside a vase, pot, or other container.
Insert the money flowers into the foam, arranging them at varying heights.
Fill in the spaces between the flowers with dried flowers, greenery, tissue paper, or ribbon.

1

Gather your materials.

Gather cash bills, wooden skewers, and tape to get started. Knight says you’ll need banknotes, wooden skewers, dowels, or floral sticks, clear tape, floral foam (or a foam base), and a small vase, pot, or decorative container. Optionally, Knight says you can also add dried flowers, artificial greenery, ribbons, tissue paper, organza, or wrapping paper.^{[1]
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Anna Knight
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- Knight says that the size and style of your money bouquet will depend on how much you want to spend, but that you can “easily adjust it by mixing in other decorative elements.”^{[2]
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- Decide on how much your money bouquet will be worth—choose a minimum of 15 bills before gathering your materials, so you end up with at least 2 rows of blooms.
- Use crisp, new-looking cash bills for your money bouquet. Once you decide on the total amount you’re including, take out the bills from the bank to make sure they’re in the best condition possible.
- It’s better to use smaller-denomination bills so you have enough “blooms” in your money bouquet. For example, if you plan on giving $50, it’s better to use 50 $1 bills than 5 $10 bills. If your gift is worth more, like $500, it’s okay to use $10 bills to make a bouquet.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Anna Knight is a crafting expert, content creator, and the founder of the creative blog Earth and Sky Play, where she shares upcycled crafts, nature-inspired designs, and DIY projects.

2

Secure a skewer to each bill.

Attach the blunt end of a skewer to each bill using transparent tape. “Prepare the money “flowers” by taping them onto a skewer,” says Knight.^{[3]
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Expert Interview} Place the non-pointed end of the skewer onto the center of the bill, so it’s perpendicular—the bill and skewer should look like a “T” shape. Then, secure the skewer to the bill in place with single-sided tape. Repeat this process until all of your bills are attached to skewers.^{[4]
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- Choose a 6-inch or 8-inch skewer, unless you want a longer, bigger bouquet, which is when you might want to choose a 12-inch skewer.

3

Roll each bill around a skewer to form the blooms.

Fold the lower corners upwards until the bill looks like a heart. Knight says to "gently fold the outer edges toward the center to create a heart-shaped form."^{[5]
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Expert Interview} Join the 2 sections together until they meet in the middle. Turn the skewer over so the two “wing” shapes look similar to a paper airplane. Place your thumb and forefinger into either opening and press the insides together, so the bills have a plump, rounded shape.^{[6]
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- “Secure the folds in place with a small piece of clear tape,” Knight recommends.^{[7]
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- “Repeat this step for each note until you have as many ‘flowers’ as you want in your bouquet,” adds Knight.^{[8]
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- If you hold the skewer so you’re looking directly at the folded bill, it resembles an open heart shape.

4

Fold the bill into a lotus fold as an alternative.

Bend the bills into a cone-like shape, similar to a lotus flower. After securing the skewer to the bill with tape, flip the bill over and place a 2nd piece of tape where the bill meets the skewer; there should be a small area of tape that extends from the bottom center of the bill. Then, flip the bill over again and fold both sides of the bill towards each other so they overlap slightly into a cone-like shape. Once you fold the money into a lotus flower shape, secure the bill with a piece of tape.^{[9]
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- Allow the skewer to sit on a flat surface, so you can use both hands when folding the 2 sides of the bill together.
- The end shape looks like a lotus, because the 2 bottom corners of the bill that you fold up and towards each other peek out on top of the bloom like petals.

5

Fold the bill into a lily fold as an alternative.

Bend the bill into the funnel shape of a lily. After attaching the skewer to the bill, fold both sides of the bill towards each other so they overlap, as you did for the lotus fold. This time, keep bringing the 2 sides together into a cone shape until the top corners of the 2 bills are perfectly aligned. Wrap the remaining lower corner of the bill around the back of the bloom so it lines up there, and secure with a piece of tape. Then, place a 2nd piece of tape inside the cone shape where the 2 bills meet.^{[10]
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- You may also want to wrap the area where the skewer meets the bottom of the bill with tape to make sure it stays in place, as you would when making a paper flower.
- Other options include making a money rose, which you can first practice by folding a paper rose.

6

Gather 5 skewers of blooms and stick them into the base.

Place 5 skewers in the center of the floral foam. Once you’ve folded the flowers, Knight says to “start inserting your money ‘flowers’ into the foam.”^{[11]
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Expert Interview} Secure 5 skewers with 2 pieces of tape and place them directly in the middle of a piece of the foam.^{[12]
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- No matter what size bouquet you’re working with, starting out with 5 blooms as your centerpiece is important to the symmetry of the final product.
- Insert a central flower (real or artificial) in the middle of your 5 skewers if you want a flower in the middle of your bouquet.
- Avoid placing the skewers directly into a vase or container so your bouquet doesn’t shift around. A regular piece of foam works fine, or use special floral foam (which absorbs water) if you plan on adding any real flowers to the bouquet.
- Knight recommends placing the floral foam inside the vase or container before you get started.^{[13]
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  Expert Interview} However, if you’d prefer to wrap the base in wrapping paper, you can wait and put it into the container at the end.

7

Repeat with the next section of 10 skewers (and so on).

Place each of the next 10 skewers into the foam around the existing 5. Depending on the shape of your blooms, be sure that each bloom faces the same direction as you place them, so the bouquet looks symmetrical. Try to place the skewers so there are no gaps between rows, but not so close together that the blooms get crushed.^{[14]
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- Knight recommends arranging the flowers “at varying heights for a fuller, more natural look.”^{[15]
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- As you continue to make your bouquet bigger, add 5 more skewers to each new section. For example, if you add another layer after the 10 skewers, that layer would have 15. The next would have 20 and so on.^{[16]
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- If any skewers fall out or come loose, stick them further down into the foam.
- “Fill the spaces between your money flowers with dried flowers, artificial leaves, or sprigs of greenery,” suggests Knight. “You can also tuck in bits of tissue paper, organza, or ribbon to add color and texture. [Or,] add small gifts (like chocolates or mini cards) among the flowers for a personal touch.”^{[17]
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8

Fold the decorative paper before wrapping the base.

Use several sheets of wrapping paper to cover the base or container. Fold the lower right-hand corner of the paper up so it falls a few inches past the center line at the top; its point should align with the center line. Holding one hand where the natural crease in the paper meets the bottom fold, cross the left-sided corner over so it folds over the line of the natural crease—you should see 4 points along the top of the paper. Pick up the top-pointed layer and add a piece of double-sided tape underneath. Repeat with the other pieces of paper.^{[18]
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- Use as many sheets of paper as you have rows in your bouquet. For example, a $50 money bouquet made from 50 $1 bills has 4 rows (5 blooms in the center, followed by 10, 15, and 20 blooms), so you’d use 4 pieces of wrapping paper.
- Use double-sided tape when securing your wrapping paper so the paper stays in place and the tape remains hidden.

9

Attach the folded paper pieces to the base.

Pin each piece of paper to one of the 4 corners of the base. Flip over the money bouquet so the bottom of the foam base is facing up. Turn the paper upside down and pin the central bottom point to one side of the foam base. Repeat with the other 3 pieces.
- Flip the paper so the side with a visible fold goes underneath, so the inside of your bouquet looks fuller. The side facing outward simply has a crease.
- If you think of the base as having 4 directions, you’ll pin each of the 4 pieces of paper as follows: north, south, east, and west.

10

Connect 3 of the 4 pieces of folded paper.

Attach the first 3 pieces of folded paper to the next piece. Pull down the piece of folded paper that has a line on the inside first, and place it beneath the next piece of folded paper. Adjust the positioning of the paper pieces so each point you’ve created shows. Hold the 2 pieces in place and add a piece of double-sided tape to attach them together. Leave the final 2 pieces unattached.^{[19]
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- Staple over where you put the tape for added security (optional).
- Leave the final 2 pieces unattached, no matter how many pieces of folded paper you’re working with.

11

Secure the final 2 pieces after flipping the bouquet over.

Attach the last opening in the pieces of paper to get rid of any gaps. While the bouquet is still upside down, hold 2 fingers inside the final pieces of folded paper. Grab the top of the base and carefully flip the bouquet over. Hold the piece that has the line inside it first, and place the last piece on top of it. Hold the pieces tightly together so you can see all the points. Add a piece of double-sided tape between the 2 layers and staple if you prefer. Place another piece of decorative paper in a single layer around the bottom of the bouquet so it completely covers the base and secure it with tape.^{[20]
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- “If you’d like, wrap the entire bouquet in clear cellophane or decorative paper and tie it with a ribbon for a polished finish,” Knight suggests.^{[21]
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- If placing the bouquet in a container, glue another piece of wrapping paper inside before adding sand or rocks to weigh it down. Glue the foam base to the sides of the inside of the container before placing the bouquet inside.^{[22]
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- Your bouquet is now ready to gift! “A money bouquet is a creative and meaningful gift [that’s] perfect for birthdays, graduations, or special occasions,” says Knight.^{[23]
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- Similar crafty projects include making a paper flower bouquet, a money lei, or creating a money tree with cash for good luck.