Bunny Money Bank plus Bonus Easter Decoration
Instruction
I wanted to create a little bank for a while now and finally decided to do so. I am actually trying to make a few. This is my first, in honor of the Easter season. The Bunny Money Bank.
You get both the XCS and SVG Plans.
Using the same 1/4" (6mm) wood I used, it measures 8.24" tall by almost 8.5" wide and just over 1" deep (in money storage).
It is 6 layers deep and very easy to assemble with just a little glue and time.
Soon, you too will have your very own Bunny Money Bank.
I created this using 3 different materials:
3mm Birch AND 6mm Birch
3mm Transparent Acrylic
HOWEVER, I think you should be aware that I do include the cutout for 6mm Transparent Acrylic, in which case you will not need the 3mm Birch or 3mm Acrylic. When you look at the plans you will note that there are 3 boxes on the bottom. 2 side by side that say “1/8” Wood" and “1/8” Acrylic" and then another box by itself that says "¼" Acrylic". The word “OR” is between them. Depending on the way you want to go, you could use either the two materials or the one material. The only difference is that the two materials give you a bit more storage in the bank.
Keep in mind that there are two pieces in my original plans that spells out “Bunny Money”. Should you decide to skip using the 3mm material and instead opt to go with the 6mm Acrylic, then you could, if you wanted, skip adding the 3mm “Bunny Money” on top of the 6mm “Bunny Money”
Also, you don't HAVE to use wood for the parts labeled wood. you could use acrylic if you so desired.
Speaking of which, keep in mind that if you use any other material and/or machine besides the P2, you will need to adjust the settings included accordingly.
In the plans, you will note that there are red boxes and letters. These are set to ignore and just used for labeling. Black is the cut lines and while they are all labeled “6mm Transparent Acrylic” in the material information, there are 3 separate cut settings.
Once you cut your pieces using the settings above, lay them out to ensure you have all of the parts. You should have:
1 piece of 3mm acrylic (assuming you are doing these plans just as I have)
1 piece of 3mm birch very thin outline (again, assuming you are doing these plans just as I have)
1 piece of 3mm birch spelling out the words “Bunny Money” (See note in first step about “Bunny Money”
1 piece of 6mm Birch that is solid
1 piece of 6mm Birch that is a thick outline with a piece cut out at the top
OR (see step 3 - Side Note about “Breaking the Bank”)
3 pieces of 6mm Birch that is a thick outline with a piece cut out at the top (NOTE: If you do this, you do not need the 2 pieces of 6mm Birch that is a thick outline).
2 pieces of 6mm Birch that is a thick outline
1 piece of 6mm Birch that is a thick outline with details added to show the bunny
1 pieces of 6mm Birch that is a thin outline
1 piece of 6mm Birch spelling out the words “Bunny Money”
NOTE: Should you want to make your bank thicker thereby offering more coin/money storage, you can always keep adding layers of the 6mm Birch that is a thck outline with or without the cutout at the top. The deeper the bank, the more you can store.
After you cut out your pieces and verify you have all you need, grab the front piece (the details 6mm Birch), the back piece (the solid 6mm Birch) and the two “Bunny Money”s and take them to where you will do your painting.
I recommend a pastel color for the front piece, a slightly darker pastel color for the back piece and then use two alternating pastel colors for the words. Make sure that the lighter color is on the thin “Bunny Money” to help it stand out better when assembled.
It is very important to note that I did not incorporate a way to get money out of this bank besides turning it upside down and shaking it and working to get the money out or breaking it. I did this for a two reasons.
1 - I was raised with a traditional “Piggy Bank” which did not have a stopper or blocker to remove to get money out. If I wanted it, I had to work it out by shaking it or breaking it. This gave me time to really consider if what I was getting the money for was worth the effort - or the damage.
2 - In history, personal banks, or “pyggs jars” as they were known, did not incorporate a way to remove the money without breaking it. Since they were made of dense clay and such, they were very heavy and oftentimes, had to be shattered to get at the funds. This is where the phrase “breaking the bank” originated.
By the way, this is why they are called “Piggy Banks”. The word “pygg” was a type of clay used to make jars and pots around the home during the Middle Ages. Since banks were not a thing at the time, most homes had jars made of this material to store money in. These money jars became known as “Pygg Jars” which eventually translated into “Piggy Jars” and then to “Piggy Bank”. However, the earliest known pig shaped bank was not until around 1100 AD.
So, if you want to make it a bit easier to remove the money down the line and not have to work at removing it or breaking the bank, you could always make the center pieces all the same, with the section removed at the top, thereby making your money opening ¾" in size instead of ¼".
The assembly of this is not hard but it is worth noting a few things.
1- The first outline piece you put down on the back of the bank should have glue placed on the reverse side. Put a thin strip of glue along the center of the back side and then place it atop the back piece. Run your fingers around the edges to ensure that it lines up all the way around.
2- The next few pieces, you should place glue atop the piece beneath it and then lay the outline on that. In my case, it was a total of two more pieces.
3- If doing this just as I did, using the thin outline piece of 6mm birch, you want to put glue along the reverse of this piece and then place it atop the ones already placed. It is very important that this piece be lined up to fit the one below it around the outside edges as perfectly as possible.
4- The thin 3mm piece goes on next. You will put a thin strip of glue in the corner where the thin 6mm piece meets the layer beneath it and then you will sit the thin 3mm piece into that area. It should fit perfectly all the way around.
5- If your acrylic has protective paper on it, now is the time to remove it. Then put glue in the corner where the thin 3mm piece meets with the thin 6mm piece. Put your acrylic in to the opening here. If done correctly, you will have a flat, even surface where your last outline piece goes.
6- Place your outline piece by putting glue along the outer edges of the reverse side of it. You may also want to put a bit of glue along some of the pieces that actually touch the acrylic but go very light with it as it may seep out the edges and is hard to remove from acrylic surfaces.
7- Take the thin “Bunny Money” and run glue along the backside and center it atop the 6mm “Bunny Money”.
8- Finally, place your “Bunny Money” by using dots of glue where the letters will touch the surface of the top layer. Make sure the bottom lines up with the bottom of the bank so that the bank will stand evenly.
So I took the scrap from the outline cutout and from one of the other cutouts and painted them different colors. I did not have green spray paint so I will have to touch up the carrot top later with some regular green paint. However, I wanted to show you that you could use the scrap to make an additional Easter Decoration.
You could perhaps also engrave it with the words “Happy Easter” or use some of the scrap from this project to cut out the words and attach it to the front.