I made a production box and wanted a couple spring bill bouquets. I looked online and the most inexpensive ones, that were still decent looking, were $25. That is not a bad price, but I want 2 or 3. $75 is more than I want to invest in a production box. So, I decided to make my own. I have a bunch of spare $100 bills laying around, after all…
Preparing the springs from an old tape measure
For the springs, I am using an old metal tape measure. Each brand comes apart a little differently, so all I can say is work slowly, be careful, and don’t let the whole roll of spring steel shoot out at you. Once you safely get it apart, start cutting the steel into 3 1/2 inch pieces (my tape was enclosed in an internal plastic box, that was nice).
I made 12 pieces for each bouquet. So I needed 24 pieces of steel cut. After you get the pieces cut, then split them in the middle, but leave about 1/4 inch connected at one end.
Now for the fun part… start trying to curl the spring steel. It wants to remain straight, so it takes some convincing. If you go too fast, you will just crimp the metal, this is not what we want. Curl it a little bit, curl it a little bit more. Set it down for a while, curl it some more.
When I originally cut the pieces I left about 1/2 inch on the end. The plan was to drill a hole in each one, attach a jump ring, then put all the jump rings on a key-ring. I still like that idea, but with my current tools it is impracticable. I drilled one. It took way too long and was overheating the drill bit. The hole was jagged, and would take a lot of cleaning. I was not going to do that for 24 pieces. With a better workshop, I would be inclined to drill holes.
I ended up cutting the end down to 1/4 inch (this pic shows an old 1/2 inch one). I put an 8 inch piece of upholstery thread on each and taped it down. I zig-zagged the thread using a layer of tape between each zig and zag. After all 12 petals were made, I twirled the threads into one and tied an overhand knot. This was just to test the knot placement. After I got it set where I wanted it, I tied a good double knot.
But I strayed ahead of myself… we still need to assemble each petal.
Preparing the bills and attaching the springs
You cannot see in the picture, but I am pointing at a piece of tape on the back of the bill, where it folds in half. They call it invisible tape for a reason. That portion of the bill will be going in the crotch of the steel spring and the hope is that the tape will help strengthen the bill where it meets the steel.
Set the spring on the center of the bill and lay it out flat.
Tape the spring to the bill. Depending on the width of your tape, you may need more than one piece of tape. I left about 1/2 inch of tape extending past the end of the bill to fold over to the front of the bill. The plan is that that will help keep the bill and the spring together longer. There will be periodic maintenance on this prop – as with most props.
Hiding the bright colors
Every resource I could find said you can leave the spring uncovered and the bouquet will hide it. I did not find that to be anywhere near true. I put one together, it worked very well, but there was a LOT of visible yellow metal.
So, I took an extra bill and cut it into eight pieces (sure am glad this is fake money). It takes two pieces to cover one bill (one on each side, you know). In the pictures you can see that some of them line up fairly well. And some of them… do not. It is not a problem. As long as they are the same material, green & white (or whatever color money you use), they will blend in. Compare the two in the picture above. That is the most mismatched bill, but it still looks better than the bright yellow.
…and the Clip
Speaking of bright colors, the clip I use to hold the bouquet closed is shiny steel and bright red plastic. I cut another bill to cover the clips. I attached a piece of upholstery thread to the clip and tied it to the knot with the bills. This way, when I release the bouquet, I will not have to deal with a loose clip. And I will not lose the clip.
Making the Bouquet
After you have the springs & strings attached, and the springs covered, you stack all the bills and clip them together. Take all the upholstery thread and twist them into one strand. Take that strand and tie a simple overhand knot. I found this to be the easiest way to secure them, but keep it flexible until you are satisfied with the knot position. If the knot is too close to the bills, it will not be able to open as fully as you want. If the knot is too far away from the bills, it will flop open and not make a bouquet.
A little playing with it and you will see where you want the knot. Once you are satisfied with the position you tie a good double knot and cut off the excess thread.
Maintenance
As with any prop, there will be periodic maintenance to keep your bouquet operating properly. With this setup, some bills may pull off the bundle, and you will have to reattach the thread.
I may need to find a more secure way than the upholstery thread. If I had my old workshop I would drill holes, attach a jump ring to each bill, and put all 12 jump rings on a key ring.
You will need to re-curve the springs periodically. They tend to try to straighten back to their original shape.
Do not store the bouquets in the closed position. The springs will straighten out. They take more room – but store them open. Just as all your sponges should be stored expanded.
The fake money is usually just paper, so keep the bills dry and try not to let them get dirty. They will be difficult to clean. Real money can be washed, but this is using $1,500 in bills! You do not want to use real money.
This was actually a very fun project and quite easy. The same method can be used for flowers, but money takes a lot less artistic talent. The bills are pre-made after all. I could use tissue paper to assemble a “flower”, but I am unsure how pretty it would be…
