Banking On It: A Pattern-centric DIY Coin Bank

A while back (during the summer, I think), I bought some plastic house-shaped terrariums from Ikea. They came as a set of three for around $10. And as soon as I saw them, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I noticed some little slots at the top of each house, for venting the terrarium I imagine, and thought they looked like little coin slots. So, naturally I felt compelled to make a house-shaped coin bank (well, I call it a piggy bank, even though its not pig shaped).

That said, I struggled at first to find a material to cover the houses in that looked cool and was durable enough for use. Luckily, I heard about Walls Need Love not long after and partnered with them on this project.

If you don’t know about Wall Need Love already, you should because they’re awesome! It’s a Nashville-based adhesive art company that helps bridge the gap between art and wall. They make removable adhesive wallpaper (and a whole lot more) in amazing patterns, like bananas (!!!). Head over here for the full product lineup.

And speaking of bananas, today’s project definitely fits into that category. Shall we get started?

Materials:

– removable wallpaper decals (I used Velvet Bananas + Retro Pop)
– Easy stripe (I used 1.5 inch ocean and 1 inch yellow)
– shape blade / boxcutter
– plastic house terrariums from Ikea (or milk cartons, since they’re a similar shape)

Quick notes before getting started… I LOVE the designs that I selected for these coin banks, but there are TONS of design options on the website too, in case my picks are a little too crazy for ya. The quality is top notch, for real (I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t)! And would be great for more ‘traditional’ wallpaper applications too, since it’s so easy to apply to surfaces (and remove).

I would also recommend grabbing some Easy Stripe. It comes in 25 colors, multiple widths, and doubles as chalkboard! Yep, you can write on it with chalk! How fun would that be on a larger scale, as a wall design or something?

 How To:

1. Cut the wallpaper decal down to the proper size. You want to be able to completely cover the house all the way around and leave several extra inches on each side to give you some wiggle room. Then remove the backing. Place the house onto the wallpaper, being sure to leave extra room at the top and bottom (as shown in photo).

2. Then, flip the whole thing over and smooth out any bubbles, being careful not to allow the wallpaper to attach to any other sides just yet. I used a special tool to help push any air bubbles out, but you can just as easily use your hands and just start at one end and apply even pressure.

3. Use this same process to wrap / attach the remaining base  sides of the house with the wallpaper. Do not do anything with the angles top pieces yet. And smooth out any air bubbles as you go.

4. Next, use a sharp blade to cut 4 flaps from the excess of the bottom of the base of the house (one flap cut at each of the four corners). Then, secure each flap to the inside of the house.

5. Once the bottom base area is finished, it’s time to move onto the top. This part is a little more difficult, I’m not going to lie. But it’s totally doable. Promise! It’s like wrapping an oddly shaped package.

Lay the house flat again and start by cutting a line from the center top of the excess wallpaper (where the point of the house’s roof is). Then, carefully cut a line down the roof, on each side that is currently facing up. I left a little bit of excess that I could roll over to the top to give myself some extra breathing room for step 7. But it’s up to you.

6. Flip the house over and repeat this process on the other side. You know you did it correctly if you’re left with two flaps that are still attached. See photo.

7. Next, cover the top of the roof with the flaps that are remaining and smooth out any bubbles as you go. Then, cut the excess from the reaming roof sides, similarly to what you did in steps 5 and 6.

8. Then, using the preexisting slots from the plastic as your guide, cut a coin slot with a blade.

9. Once that’s done, all you have to do is cover the base tray in Easy stripe and pop the house on top. Now your coin bank is ready to use! You can add another strip of easy tape to the front of the banks too, if you want to write little chalkboard messages or just like the decorative element.

This would be a fun gift for the holidays too. Christmas is only 5 weeks away!

Photography by Rachel Brewer and Amelia Tatnall
Concept and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff
Assisted by Anissa Saxton

Think you’ll give this coin bank a try? Or do you have another project you might use this wallpaper for? Really curious to here your suggestions because I have a ton of wallpaper leftover.

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This post is in partnership with Walls Need Love. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Paper & Stitch running.