Rolled Flowers Shadow Box for Teacher Appreciation-With Rolling Hack!

Teachers deserve appreciation all the time but this year especially! Having to deal with what we have been going through this last year has got to be the hardest thing when working with children. They have to keep the kids away from each other, remind them about masks, constantly clean and disinfect, all while still teaching all those tiny humans. They are superheroes in my eyes! I am just so thankful for my sons teacher this year. He has made so many improvements and I could not be more proud. I owe it all to her!  

This is my gift to her for teacher appreciation week this year (May 3-7 2021). I saw a hack on how to roll flowers quicker using a drill. I have been wanting to try it out. It worked!

Materials:

Cardstock: black, tan, yellow, grey, pink
Premium Vinyl
Cricut
Cricut tools
Standard or light grip mat
Hot glue gun
Shadow box (mine is 8x10 and from Hobby Lobby)
Tweezers
Drill with bobby pin
Design Space project link

I first gathered the cardstock and decided what colors I wanted to use. I then went into Design Space and found a project in access that used the rolled flowers. I just needed the template. I then had to figure out what size I was going to need for the different parts of the pencil. I had to just cut out different sizes and roll them to see what they would look like finished.

I finally was able to figure out what all sizes I needed and cut them all out in the coordinating colors.

When rolling flowers, I start on the outside and clamp my tweezers pretty close to the end. Then just start rolling. I try to keep it super tight and even the whole time I am rolling.

When you get to the end you will take it off the tweezers (sometimes you will need to take it off the tweezers in the middle and finish the rest by hand).

Set it in your hand or down on the table. It needs to ‘unwind’ a little bit.

Then the last little flap at the end is the base. I just put a little hot glue on the spiral.

Push down on the little flap. Careful, it’s hot!

HACK:

I saw this hack on tiktok and just had to try it out. I put a bobby pin in a drill. I slid the outside end of the spiral into the bobby pin just a little bit. Then holding the rest of the spiral in one hand I slowly pressed the button on the drill. I was so surprised on how easy it was! It worked like a charm. I did have to stop in the middle of a few of the flowers to make sure it was spinning even. It was so much faster than doing it by hand.

Here all the flowers are rolled.

I then hot glued them in place onto a lined notebook page. I had originally cut the notebook page so that it would fit into my shadow box.

Then I put the shadow box together.

After it was put together, I went back to Design Space. I inserted a square that was the same size as my glass for my shadow box so that I could measure and make sure it would fit. I entered my text, decided on the font (always the thing that takes the longest on my projects), and arranged it in my rectangle template.

I cut the design out of premium vinyl. Using transfer tape, I put the design on the front of my shadow box.

I can not wait to give this to my son’s teacher. Have you tried the drill hack with rolling flowers? Do you like it?

*Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.-Nelson Mandela

~Beth

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