If you like to give cash, here’s an idea that makes it a more creative gift than just writing a check: dollar bill roses. Each rose is made of six one-dollar bills, and the roses are big, so you can make a really impressive bouquet.

Start by pinching a dollar bill in the center, right where the George Washington is (sorry George), so it looks like a bow tie. I find that the newer and crisper the bill, the better the rose will look.

Then get a piece of wire to wrap around the center where you’ve pinched it to hold it in place. Twist the wire on the back of the dollar bill. Do this for all six bills. I use floral wire, which you can get at crafts stores like Michaels, because the wire is straight and not curled up. The wires are around 18″ long, so I just cut them in half.

After you’ve made six of these wired bow ties, put them all together, stacking them one by one so you evenly space out the dollar bill “petals.”

The wires are all separate, so combine them into one “stem” using masking tape or floral tape. The picture shows green masking tape because most people have some kind of masking tape at home. But when I make more of these, I think I’ll use floral tape because it’s actually easier to use, and it’s less bulky. You buy that at the crafts store, too.

To make the petals look more rose-like, they need to be curved. Take a pencil on the corner of each petal/bill and roll the corner with the pencil. It really helps here if the dollar bill is crisp because a new bill will hold the shape better. Just go around the whole rose curving the corners with a pencil. You may want to go back and re-do some as you curve all the petals.

You know how the center petals of a rose are usually tighter? Let’s do the same with this dollar bill rose. Take the two petals in the center and smoosh them together. Go ahead, smoosh. There’s no right or wrong way. Now that looks like a rose.

Even giving a single rose makes an impressive gift. Look at that. It’s big.

But place just a few in a vase, and you get a gorgeous bouquet. Ka-ching!

I love to make paper flowers, so it seemed like a natural to try it with the yellow pages. Here is a method for making paper roses that I use all the time. It’s really easy, and all you need is a stapler and double sided tape. You can use the flowers in arrangements or glue them to a wreath, like I did.

First, tear out 5 pages of the phone book. 

Fold the pages in half lengthwise. On the folded edge, staple at 3 points — the left side, the right side, and the middle point.

Tear or cut four to five slits crosswise on each page, starting at the side with the open pages, and do not cut past the folded edge. Try to stagger the cuts so they are not lined up evenly. These will be the petals, and you want the petals staggered.

Apply a piece of double-sided tape to the edge that is folded and stapled.

Starting at one end, roll the paper like a cigar, pinching at the bottom where the tape is to secure the roll.

Now here’s the fun part. You know all those slits you cut? Peel down all those cut sections to form the petals. The ones in the middle are tight and will be difficult to peel down. That’s okay, leave them be. Just as the inner petals in real roses are tight, so will these.

The petals are a little too square, so just tear off the corners to round them off. Hand-tearing gives the roses a nice vintage look and shapes the rose beautifully.

The center of the rose (the part that’s wound up tightly) is probably too long compared to the rest of the petals. So take the scissors and trim off an inch or so to make it look more balanced. 

I glued them on a burlap-wrapped wreath form with hot glue. I really love the yellow base of the phone book pages, and how the color from the advertisements give the paper roses pops of color.

I’ve also used this method with old Thomas Brothers maps. The pastels of the map are so pretty on the rose. Poor Thomas Brothers. No one uses them anymore, either. 

And I’ve made flowers the same way with dictionary pages. I know I will get a lot of flack for tearing up dictionary pages, but I have about ten dictionaries that I bought for $1 each from thrift stores, and I use them for crafting. Here is a dictionary rose that I use as a boutonniere. Thanks (or forgive me), Merriam Webster.