How to Make a Money Pizza {Simple Tutorial!}

Today I have something really cute to share with you! It’s a new money gift idea for my series on cute ways to gift cash! 

I have seen pizzas made of money before, so I thought I’d try it out for the blog. I think it turned out so amazing!

This is a great present to give any older teen or college student in your life.

Teenagers are rarely impressed by crafts but this one they will love (or fake loving) because of the money involved. Even my teen nephew thinks it’s pretty cool. 

They will think it’s super creative & nobody expects a pizza box to be full of cash! LOL

Keep reading for exact instructions on how to assemble one yourself.

Things You’ll Need for Making a “Money Pizza”

Gather the following list of materials before starting the project. 

• Pizza box
• Scissors
• Clear tape
• Pencil
• Red construction paper or red cardstock of any kind (I used a red folder)
• Circle shape to trace the “pepperoni” (I used a ramekin, but any circle shape roughly
  about 1.5” in diameter will work)
• 8”-10” round piece of construction paper or cardboard, depending on the size of your
  pizza box. (I used an 8” round cake board because that was what I had on hand)
• 23 $2 bills plus 16 quarters (for a total of $50). You can use whatever denomination of
  bills and coins that you would like, depending on the amount of the money gift that you
  wish to give.

It may seem like a long list for a simple project but once you begin assembling it, you’ll see it isn’t hard at all.

How To Put Together The Money Pizza

Now that you have all the materials, here are the step-by-step instructions with pictures: 

1) Gather all of your supplies

You can typically get a pizza box from your local pizza establishment just by going in and asking for one.

They may make you pay for it, but the restaurant that I went to was more than happy to give me one for free.

Figure out how many (quantity) and, in what denomination that you want for your bills and coins to make for a nice gift.

I would also suggest making a bunch of the small tape “rolls” in advance to save you frustration and time later when it is time to put everything together.

2) Assemble the pizza box

If necessary, and make sure that your cardboard circle will fit inside of the pizza box.

3) Lay out your bills in a fan shape along the center point of your circle.

I started by putting a bill at each of the four points of the circle (ie. like on a clock) in order to judge how far apart each bill was going to need to be spaced.

4) With your tape rolls, tape the bills down to the cardboard circle so that they take on a fan shape

Make sure they are evenly spaced, lay down nice and flat, and are secure.

5) Trace the “pepperoni”

6) Cut out the pepperoni

Take your small circle shape (the one that is 1.5” in diameter) and trace and cut out the same number of “pepperoni” on the red construction paper as you have of coins.

I used 16 quarters, so I traced out 16 red circles.

Cut out the pepperoni pieces for the money present. I used and old folder my kids had used for school that wasn’t needed anymore.

7) Attach coins to the pepperoni pieces

Next, take your quarters, and with tape rolls, attach one of them to each of the red circles.

8) Spread the pepperoni around the pizza

You will then attach the red circles directly on top of the bills on your pizza in a random pattern to imitate how pepperoni appears on a real pizza.

9) Place the “pizza” inside of the box & write a cute note inside

Lastly, place your pizza inside the pizza box and decorate as you wish with a funny or sentimental phrase written or printed out on the inside of the pizza box.

Variations on the phrase used here could be:

• “This might be cheesy, but here’s some dough. Congrats on your graduation!”
• ”Lots of fresh dough! Happy Birthday!”
• ”The best part of the pizza is the dough!”
• ”You can’t live on pizza, so here’s some dough. Congrats!”
• ”However you slice it, dough is good.”

You can always get even more creative and roll up some bills to look like anchovies or green peppers!

For More Creative Ways to Give Money Check Out These Other Articles From WhatMommyDoes

• 21 Clever Graduation Money Gift Ideas
• 20+ Brilliant Ways to Give Money As a Gift
• 17 Money Gifts Made With Dollar Tree Items
• 7 Creative Money Gift Ideas
• 10+ Funs Ways to Give Money as a Gift