Family's $1,800 savings is turned into confetti after child grabs stack of cash for craft project

An unsupervised 3-year-old child turned nearly $2,000 in hundred-dollar bills into an unexpected arts-and-crafts project — stunning her father. 

Anthony Kalejaiye, 34, was left "shocked" after walking into his living room to find his daughter Amelia, three, happily cutting up a stack of cash — with the total damage later calculated at $1,800, news agency SWNS reported. 

The money had been stored as part of a stash of hundred-dollar notes typically used during Nigerian family celebrations, where it is customary to shower guests with cash during festive displays.

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Kalejaiye had been preparing to head out to one such event and had taken out a separate stack of one-dollar bills — unaware that his daughter had managed to get her hands on the much more valuable notes.

But instead of toys or paper, the toddler had repurposed the crisp bills into confetti-style craft materials.

The father, of Barking, London, said he was left speechless when he entered the room to find the chaotic scene unfolding.

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"At first I just didn't know how to react," he told SWNS. 

"Nothing prepares you for this kind of situation!"

He added that he was "definitely shocked and angry."

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However, he said, "it really just taught me to keep a closer look at where we keep the cash."

He later learned he could recover the money by informing the bank about what had happened.

He said, "I looked it up on ChatGPT — and it turns out that if 49% of the note and the serial number are intact, they can exchange the money."

There is important context, however. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) says on its website that the director of the BEP "has the final authority with respect to mutilated currency submission redemptions."

It also notes, "Lawful holders of mutilated currency may receive a redemption at full value when: 1) clearly more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present, along with sufficient remnants of any relevant security feature; or 2) 50% or less of a note identifiable as United States currency is present and the method of mutilation and supporting evidence demonstrate to the satisfaction of the BEP that the missing portions have been totally destroyed."

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Kalejaiye added that his "partner went down to the bank and showed them the video I'd taken [of what happened] — and they were able to reimburse the money in Great British Sterling Pounds," SWNS reported.