How can i curl my hair early in the morning?

so i'm 12 but i have school at 8:30 in the morning. i usually put braids in my hair at night and let it get curly but its just too much and sometimes i get sick and within the first hour i'm at school it just gets frizzy and tangled :( so i just want to get up early and try to curl my hair for somedays with a curling iron. somedays i will wear it natural (i have straight hair) i haven't used one in about 2 years though and my mom did it for me because i had massively long hair but now its not that long so i can do it by myself since i cut it. what will i need? i don't want it super curly i just want loose waves or loose curls. i wake up at 7:00 so how long do you think it'll take? i have elbow length hair. also what do you think i'll need? all i really have is gel and some kind of root serum thing by Jhon Frieda...