Do you want to gift somebody cash, but don’t want to just give an envelope stuffed full of bills?! You need the internet’s latest trend: the ‘pizza box money gift.’ Simply fan out bills inside a pizza box, add some paper toppings, and voila – a gift guaranteed to please even the toughest of critics. Because the best part of pizza… is the dough!

This Christmas, I found myself in a gift-giving rut. Our large extended family does a holiday party every year, and everyone brings gifts for all the kids. However, the “kids” in our family are now teenagers, and what they want most is cold hard cash. But just handing over money in a card feels… boring.
I wanted to give the tweens and teens a gift that was memorable and fun, something that would spark a big reaction when they opened it. And this pizza box money gift did just that!
This easy gift idea is a super creative way to give money to anyone from your kid to that relative who’s impossible to buy for. And it’s super easy to put together with a few basic supplies!
*And be sure to check out my other go-to gifts – this Birthday Candy Bar Poster and this DIY Box of Sunshine!
What is the Pizza Box Money Gift?
A ‘Pizza Box Money Gift’ is a creative and fun way to give cash as a gift. It involves arranging bills in a circular shape inside a pizza box to resemble a pizza. Some people add quarters or half dollar coins as the “pepperoni”, but I prefer the look of printable paper toppings.
But the best part of this fun social media trend is the pun! Because no gift is complete without the addition of a classic Dad joke! Try writing “Pizza is great” on the front of the box, and “But what you really need is the dough!” on the inside.
Or my pizza money gift printables include a sign that says, “The best part of the pizza is the dough!” (Dough as in money – you’re all with me, right?!)
A money pizza gift is perfect for:
- TikTok-obsessed tweens – They’ve seen it on socials, so you know they’ll love it. The money pizza box is a risk-free gift that will buy you some cool points with your tween (for about 5 minutes).
- ‘Too cool for gifts’ teens – They no longer want toys. You don’t dare buy them clothes. But they’re still kids, and deserve a bit of fun when it comes to gifting.
- College students – You know they just want cash. They know you know they just want cash. But it’s fun to mess with them for a minute when you present them with a pizza box.
- White elephant gift exchange/Secret Santa – I love playing Secret Santa or white elephant at the holidays but, unless you know people really well, you end up giving or receiving a joke gift that is destined for a dusty cupboard or thrift store. But cash is a gift people are always happy to receive, and presenting it in a pizza box is a great way to make it fun.
- Graduation – You might feel tempted to buy a commemorative gift but, trust me – that hard-working graduate does not want a teddy bear wearing a graduation cap. They want money, to kickstart the next chapter of their life. So the money pizza gift is a great way to give them what they really want, but still make it super memorable.
- Leaving gift for a colleague – If a work colleague is heading off to pastures new, you usually want to give them a leaving gift. You end up asking around for contributions, and different people throw in a buck here, a few bucks there, and then Susan from HR ends up with a fistful of cash and no idea what gift to buy. Remove the pressure – use people’s contributions to make a pizza box money gift and present it at the leaving party!
As well as being a really creative way to give money as a gift to SO many different people, the pizza box is also really flexible. You can get different sized pizza boxes in different colors, customize them with personalized messages and decorations and, of course, use whatever denomination of bill you want, whether it’s a $1 or $100!
Supplies Needed
Here are the supplies that I used to create my money pizza gift box:
- empty pizza box – If you really feel like trying to clean grease off a used pizza box, then that’s your business – but I would not recommend it! You can easily buy clean pizza boxes online from places like Amazon or Etsy. Or ask your local pizza place if they will sell you an empty pizza box for $1 to $2.
- cash – I used a total of 30 one dollar bills for my gift. You can mix in some 5 or 10 dollar bills, or overlap your bills more to add more “dough”.
- scissors or paper trimmer – I cut out my pizza box signs with a paper trimmer so that the cuts were nice and straight. For the paper pizza toppings, you’ll need a pair of scissors.
- painter’s tape – You want to make sure that the gift recipient can easily take the money pizza apart without ripping any of the bills. Painter’s tape is perfect for securing the circle of bills to the bottom of the box.
- Scotch tape – I used the wall safe variety of Scotch tape to make the “pizza crust” using rolled up bills. It worked great, and I highly recommend this method!
- tape runner – I used a tape runner to secure the printable decorations to the outside of the pizza box. The tape runner makes is quick and easy, and the result is nice and smooth with no drying time. You can use glue or folded over tape if you prefer.
- white card stock – You could use regular printer paper, but the finished money gift will look much nicer with the thicker card stock.
- printable money pizza gift box templates – You can grab the ones that I used in my shop here!
How to Make a Money Pizza Gift Box
You’ll be pleased to hear that I’m not going to give you a complex, 10-step, arts-and-crafts process for this. It’s ridiculously easy, but looks so much more impressive when you gift it.
Step 1: Print and cut the pizza box gift templates
I recommend printing on 60-80 pound white card stock. The thicker paper will look much nicer on your finished gift, and the signs will be less likely to tear or wrinkle.
Then, use scissors or a paper trimmer to cut out the individual pieces. The templates come with different sign options for the top and inside of the pizza box, as well as “punny” decorative pieces to tape on to the sides of the box.
Step 2: Decorate the pizza box
You can leave the box plain, or buy one that comes with a pizza design already printed on. But, if you want to use my hilarious ‘dough’ pun and replicate my money pizza box gift idea, use my printables. Choose your favorite design, print, and stick – done.
Project Notes:
The printable templates come with two options for the top of the pizza box – one that is sized to about 8.25″ square for smaller pizza boxes (prints on one sheet), and one that is a “tiled” version that allows you print a larger square sign on US Letter paper. The photo above shows the larger sign pieced together like a puzzle and then taped on the top of the box – notice the seam of the paper towards the right side. This allows for a finished sign that is about 10.5″ square.
And don’t forget to decorate the sides of the pizza box, too! Choose from different signs that say either “This is dough-licious” or “Just the dough”, or use both!
Click HERE for the Money Pizza Gift Box Signs in my SHOP!
Step 3: Arrange the money inside the box
Just follow these steps to arrange your pizza cash gift. *This is the BEST way that I have found for kids to be able to easily remove the dollar bills without ripping them!
- Take a large piece of painter’s tape (about 16″ long) and fold it over on itself into a circle shape. Attach the painter’s tape to the center of the box. Repeat for two more pieces, adding them right above and below the other tape circle. This will be the base for your money pizza to stick to.
- Lay your bills flat in the box, fanned out in a circle and overlapping, so they look like pizza slices. A small part of each bill should stick to the painter’s tape base, keeping the money in place.
- Roll up a dollar bill and use a very small piece of tape to keep it in the cylinder shape. Then, place a small folded over piece of tape on the seam where you taped it into a roll. *I used the wall safe Scotch tape for this step and it worked great!
- To create the 3D pizza crust, place the rolled dollar bills around the edges, pressing them tape side down onto the outside of the cash pizza. Continue rolling the bills and taping them to the outside of the pizza until the full crust is done. *My pizza fit 12 rolled bills perfectly for the crust.
Step 4: Add paper pizza toppings
This is optional, but adding some familiar pizza toppings really boosts the impact of your gift. Print off some mushrooms, bell peppers, and pepperonis and add to your money pizza.
To tape the pizza toppings in place, I used the same wall safe Scotch tape that I used for the crust. That way the kids could easily take the pizza apart to use the “dough”. *HIGHLY recommend the wall safe Scotch tape for this project!
Pizza Money Gift Box Printable
To make it easy for your to create your own DIY money pizza box gift, I’ve created a range of different box designs and delicious toppings. You can grab the 6 page template in my shop by clicking the link down below:
Click HERE for the Money Pizza Gift Box Signs in my SHOP!
Want another fun gift idea for teens or people that are difficult to shop for? I recently gave my little brother this Birthday Candy Bar Poster and he LOVED it!
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