You can also put cash in a clear glass ornament. Use paint pen to paint the receivers name on the ornament and then have them find their ornament on the tree.
Even if the tax liability for a gift didn't stay with the donor/grantor, I'd still take the $15k and pay the 35% owed on the $2k above the exemption. $700 would be a small price to pay for the remaining $14,300 cash. Merry Christmas indeed.
How about one of those large, white styrofoam cones from the craft store? You can pin dollar bills to it ... It'll look like a mini Christmas tree. Put a red bow at the top.
Sorry ... I've been working with those styrofoam cones all month long, doing various craft projects. I'm O.D.'ing on cone usage.
Even if the tax liability for a gift didn't stay with the donor/grantor, I'd still take the $15k and pay the 35% owed on the $2k above the exemption. $700 would be a small price to pay for the remaining $14,300 cash. Merry Christmas indeed.
My sister and I took an idea from this thread and made a "money tree" for our dad (who returns practically everything he ever gets... and did not give us any ideas this year.) Hopefully he'll like it. I was quite pleased with how it turned out:
We threaded accordian-folded cash through wooden beads to make "bows." We made paper stockings and filled them with cash, and we rolled bills around pipe cleaners and wrapped them with ribbon to make candy canes.
We're also freezing some cash in a block of ice and calling it "cold hard cash," but it's still in the freezer, so there's no photo.