Craft-y Tip: Money Tree Seeds

About three years ago, I started making Money Tree Seeds for quick gifts. I take 25 shiny pennies and put them in a zippered plastic bag (2” x 3”). They could just as easily go into a piece of nylon net or a small drawstring pouch. I print labels from my computer with a verse (included here). The verse could just as easily be printed in Calligraphy on a card.


The verse:
Money Tree Seeds
Plant these seeds in a safe, dark place
And over the course of the coming year
Plant a few more seeds day be day
And in time, a money tree will appear!

These make wonderful thank-you gifts, birthday gifts, Easter basket stuffers, any kind of last-minute gift. They also make great Hanukkah “gelt” gifts! If I get a chance, I'll post a photo here soon.

There’s been a story circulating around the internet for years, about how a penny is a good way to pray. Every penny we pick up off the street, every penny we get in change, has “In God We Trust.” What a powerful yet simple way to remind ourselves what life is all about.

I’ve been saving all my shiny pennies in a jar. Time was when we could “clean” old pennies with lemon and salt, or vinegar and salt, but now, when I try it, it corrodes the pennies if I leave them in the solution too long. They are not copper through-and-through anymore, and the cladding must have something to do with it. Still, saving the shiny ones sure cuts down on my wondering what to do with all those pennies. I just give them away and let somebody else worry about what to do with them ;-)

Thank you, Dear Lord, for a way to share the wealth, small at first, but great in time.