Cold hard cash

Everyone appreciates cold, hard cash as a birthday gift, right?

If you're a great-nephew of mine, you don't simply get that in an envelope though....that would be too ordinary.

Start with a pan, in this case a disposable loaf pan. Add a bit of water and freeze it. Place the cash in a freezer bag and place it over the ice.

Adding water on top of this causes the baggie to float to the surface so weigh it down with ice cubes for a while.

If you don't like the look of the ice cubes, smash 'em with a hammer like I did to remove them. That was fun. Add more water and freeze again.

I took the completed block out of the pan the way you would a jello mold, putting it a pan of warm water for a few seconds. I set this back in the freezer while drying out the pan and deciding how I would wrap this gift.

Returning the block to dry pan, I wrapped it in gift wrap and off we went to the party. The birthday boy's mom knew I would need a spot in her freezer until gift opening time.

He thought it was odd that the gift was so cold but after unwrapping it, he could see the money inside.

Gotta love these boys....one thought there was $100 inside, another thought it was three million! Time to head to the sink and run hot water over the ice.

You can almost feel the excited anticipation in this photo of their backs, can't you?

The dark haired boy in the navy shirt has a birthday in two months. Time for me to start thinking of how to present his gift!