There are lots of opportunities to use coins at Disney World which has resulted in many people using mini-M&M containers to store quarters and pennies on their trip, including me.
Here are ones I made for a trip we took that included some of our nephews and nieces…
Sorry about the bad image quality
The problem with these containers is that they are huge. Each one would require $30-40 in quarters to fill up. That might work for some, but it was more than I ever needed, resulting in stuffing each container with tissue paper to keep the coins from rolling around inside of the containers.
Today, I have a new idea for something smaller that’s easy to personalize for your trip…
Using a tutorial I found for organizing cake decorating supplies, I made these bottles for storing coins on our next trip.
Here’s the simple process to creating these.
In this article (click for table of contents)
1. Gather medicine bottles
I happen to have a lot of these laying around (don’t judge me), but I’ve read that sometimes pharmacies will give you a couple if you ask.
2. Soak them in rubbing alcohol
If you have bottles with labels on them, pour rubbing alcohol in a bowl and submerge your bottle(s) in it for a few hours. The label will peel right off after being soaked for a while.
Rinse and dry.
3. Spray paint
Using spray paint that works on plastic, spray the bottle(s) and lid(s) in whatever color you like. I used Krylon which is sold at Walmart and home improvement stores.
Use several light layers, allowing for a bit of drying time between each. It took me about 3 coats, especially since the lids had words on them that took some work to get covered.
4. Add stickers
Allow the bottles a day to get really dry and ready to be handled. Add a sticker or several stickers to personalize. Voila!
9 Comments
Wow….I just stumbled on this one today. Love this idea. My kids will be 15 and 12 when we travel in December, but even I enjoy the pressed pennies!
So where do you carry the coins once they are pressed while you are in the park?
Wish I had seen this before I bought and ate 3 containers of mini mms last week. Ok – no I don’t – I enjoyed eating those mms! But I am glad I saw this before decorating the containers! Totally doing these instead!
I LOVE the idea – much better than stuffing the old coin rolls just to carry quarters for toll or whatnot. I almost hate to ask – but why are you carrying coins around WDW? What do you use them for?
Ha! I guess I never mentioned it. They’re for pressed quarter and pressed penny machines.
Great idea. We had starting saving the M&M
containers but then I started thinking that they would be heavy to
lug around all day. I’ll probably keep them to save the coins in
(kind of like a piggy bank) and then use the medicine bottles while
we’re at Disney. I can’t wait to do this and let my daughters
choose the spray paint color and stickers. Thanks for
sharing!
Great idea to use both types of containers and to have your girls help decorate the bottles – love it!
LOVE this idea, Shannon! I too have toted those M&M’s containers and they are heavy when filled up ~ this is sure to “lighten the load”. I will definitely try this on our upcoming trip. Thanks for your awesome website 🙂
You’re welcome, Michelle. Glad you liked it.