When it’s homecoming season across the nation, only in parts of Texas and Oklahoma is it also homecoming mum season. Some students take homecoming mums just as seriously as the homecoming football game itself.
For the uninitiated, a homecoming mum is an oversize mum corsage decorated with three-foot long streamers in the school colors, bells, charms, banners, little plush animals done up in bows, sparkly letters, even Christmas tree lights.
It is usually worn in the middle of the chest like a breastplate with the streamers flowing down the front of the body almost touching the ankles. It is, in short, a fashion statement.
But homecoming mums are so much more than that. They are a sign that somebody loves you. They’re no longer given only by boyfriends. Mums can come from friends, your mom, dad, aunt, or even a booster boy (a boy-friend who is not your date).
Anybody who's anybody wears one, or two. These days, a homecoming mum can cost more than $100 and weigh as much as 12 pounds!
Homecoming mums have become a status symbol for many junior high and high school students. Designs change every year. The more original, the better.
If you’re a crafter and live in Texas or Oklahoma, you should be in seventh heaven. You can make homecoming mums for yourself or your favorite high school student at a fraction of the retail price.
Even the boys are getting into this fad. They’ve started wearing homecoming garters containing a smaller version of the mums on their sleeves.
If you craft for profit, the high margins make homecoming mums a very attractive seasonal craft.
Homecoming Mums: The Tradition
Chrysanthemums have long been the quintessential Fall flower, so it’s not surprising that they quickly became associated with the quintessential Fall sport – football. In the earliest pictures of college football games, you can pick out the mum corsages worn by the young women in the stands.
Since everything grows big in Texas, it’s also not surprising that the Lone Star State is credited with developing the more elaborate corsages known as homecoming mums. In the 1960’s, these wonderful concoctions could be had there for $10. Ahh, the good ‘ol days.
Over the years, mums were cultivated to grow bigger and bigger and the corsages grew and grew.
Today, the silk flower has replaced the live chrysanthemum as the centerpiece for homecoming mums. With silk flowers, the only size limit to homecoming mum corsages is the size of the wearer!
Now a homecoming mum can be saved as a keepsake or recycled into next year’s new unique corsage.
Making Your Own Homecoming Mums: The Basics
The basic supplies for homecoming mums are: standard incurve silk chrysanthemum bloom(s), two cardboard shields or backing disks, plush animals representing the school mascot, jingle bells (if school rules allow), gilded letters, varsity letter stickers, woven ribbon “love chains”, ribbon streamers, curling ribbon, tulle, star garland, glitter and/or glitter spray, charms and/or miniature footballs, helmets, etc., battery packs and lights. But don’t feel limited to the basics. Use your imagination!
You will also need scissors, a stapler and a hot melt glue gun.
A picture of a beautifully done homecoming mum is on this page.
Make a Nest for the Mum
You want to create a frame or nest on one of the backing shields in which to nestle your mum. This can be done with ribbon, tulle or a combination of materials. Ribbon is a very popular nest material because you can create great designs using your school colors.
Here are directions for a simple ribbon nest. It will resemble a pre-made ribbon like you stick on a wrapped present – with ribbon points radiating out like rays of sunshine.
Say your school colors are blue and gold (substitute your actual colors). This ribbon nest will have two rings of ribbon points. (You make as many as your backing shield and mum require.)
Cut seven six-inch strips of 1 ½-inch wide “blue” ribbon and seven six-inch strips of 1-inch wide “gold” ribbon.
Lay the “blue” strips on your work surface shiny side up.
Lay one “gold” strip on top of each “blue” one (also shiny side up) so that you see a striped design in your school colors (1/4-inch “blue”, 1-inch “gold”, 1/4-inch “blue”).
Pick up one pair of strips with the thumb and forefinger of both hands.
Bend the strips backwards, bringing your thumbs and forefingers together so that the strips form a point; overlap the ends slightly and staple them together.
Repeat with the six other pairs.
Arrange the seven stapled ribbon points around three-quarters of the perimeter of one backing shield and staple in place. You want to leave one-quarter of the perimeter empty to attach your streamers. (If seven is too many/few for your backing shield, adjust accordingly.)
Cut six six-inch strips of 1 ½-inch wide “gold” ribbon and six six-inch strips of 1-inch wide “blue” ribbon.
Form these into points just as before and staple them to the backing to form the inner circle of the nest, again leaving one-quarter of the shield empty for your streamers.
Make and Attach Streamers
The length of the basic streamers depends on your design sense as well as the height of the intended wearer. Between two feet and three feet is common. You want to make a statement but you don’t want the wearer to trip and fall!
Cut six lengths of 1 ½-inch wide “blue” ribbon and five lengths of “gold”. Lay the strips on your work surface shiny side up as follows.
You want to form a fan of streamers that will fit into the open triangle of your ribbon point nest.
Lay a “blue” streamer in the center.
Work out from this center with alternating streamers: “gold”, “blue”, “gold”, etc. Staple all the ribbons together at the top.
Place your streamer fan onto the backing shield and staple it down.
Lay your arrangement out on a large table or on the floor. Trim the streamers as desired.
Many designers like to notch the ends. You can also angle them to a center point. Look at your design and decide whether you want to embellish some or all of the streamers.
You can add glitter or write names with glitter glue. You can glue varsity letters down one streamer or sequins and stars down another. The sky’s the limit.
Accessorize
Arrange the accessories you wish to hang from the backing shield. When you are happy with the design, string each one onto a thin ribbon of the appropriate length and staple to the backing shield.
Use different lengths so that each individual accessory will be shown to best advantage (you don’t want them covering or clanking into each other).
Weave your love chains and attach them to the shield.
Here are illustrated directions for the following popular weaves:
Military Braid Weave
Diamondback Braid Weave
Diamondback Garland Weave
Love Chain
Spirit Chain
If you want ribbon curls, add them now. The same goes for star garland.
Finishing Touches
You’re finally ready to glue the mum in place. Hot melt glue has a short set-up time so work quickly.
Liberally squeeze hot melt glue over the center of the baking shield. Position the mum and press down lightly on all the contact points. Watch your fingers; hot melt glue is – well – hot!
If you are adding a plush animal (mascot), attach it the same way you did the mum: liberal hot melt glue; press on all the contact points; and watch your fingers!
A large bow under the mum will help to balance your creation. Use more of the 1 ½-inch ribbon in both your school colors.
Make the bow wide – about the same width as the entire corsage. Use hot melt glue to attach it beneath the mum.
Your corsage needs a sturdy hanger. Cut a 3 ½-inch piece of 1 ½-inch wide ribbon. Double it into a loop and staple it to the back of the second backing shield.
Glue the two shields together back to back so that the hanging loop is at the top of your design. This hides all of the “works” and covers the staples so that they won’t catch on the wearer’s clothes.
Other Options
Here are directions for adding lights to your homecoming fantasy creation.
Or add homecoming mum charms.
Some Homecoming Mums Supplies
Many supplies used by scrapbookers would serve very well, as would jewelry findings.
Here is a comprehensive list of wholesale and retail suppliers of homecoming mum making materials.
How to Wear a Homecoming Mum
The simple answer is that it's the wearer's challenge to figure out how to attach the homecoming mum to her apparel – because it depends on the size and weight of the mum, what she plans to wear, where the mum will be positioned, etc., etc.
If the mum is medium size and weight, it can easily be pinned; but if it is larger or heavier, two or three heavy-duty (like diaper) pins may be required.
If it's really huge and heavy, the girl may need to run a cord through the hanger loop and wear it around her neck with supporting pins to keep it from swaying as she walks.
Another trick with a heavy mum is to pin through the outerwear and a very secure undergarment such as a bra. Bras (especially sports bras) are engineered to support quite a bit of weight – whether it be a homecoming mum or a bouncing cheerleader.
Start writing here.
For the uninitiated, a homecoming mum is an oversize mum corsage decorated with three-foot long streamers in the school colors, bells, charms, banners, little plush animals done up in bows, sparkly letters, even Christmas tree lights.
It is usually worn in the middle of the chest like a breastplate with the streamers flowing down the front of the body almost touching the ankles. It is, in short, a fashion statement.
But homecoming mums are so much more than that. They are a sign that somebody loves you. They’re no longer given only by boyfriends. Mums can come from friends, your mom, dad, aunt, or even a booster boy (a boy-friend who is not your date).
Anybody who's anybody wears one, or two. These days, a homecoming mum can cost more than $100 and weigh as much as 12 pounds!
Homecoming mums have become a status symbol for many junior high and high school students. Designs change every year. The more original, the better.
If you’re a crafter and live in Texas or Oklahoma, you should be in seventh heaven. You can make homecoming mums for yourself or your favorite high school student at a fraction of the retail price.
Even the boys are getting into this fad. They’ve started wearing homecoming garters containing a smaller version of the mums on their sleeves.
If you craft for profit, the high margins make homecoming mums a very attractive seasonal craft.
Homecoming Mums: The Tradition
Chrysanthemums have long been the quintessential Fall flower, so it’s not surprising that they quickly became associated with the quintessential Fall sport – football. In the earliest pictures of college football games, you can pick out the mum corsages worn by the young women in the stands.
Since everything grows big in Texas, it’s also not surprising that the Lone Star State is credited with developing the more elaborate corsages known as homecoming mums. In the 1960’s, these wonderful concoctions could be had there for $10. Ahh, the good ‘ol days.
Over the years, mums were cultivated to grow bigger and bigger and the corsages grew and grew.
Today, the silk flower has replaced the live chrysanthemum as the centerpiece for homecoming mums. With silk flowers, the only size limit to homecoming mum corsages is the size of the wearer!
Now a homecoming mum can be saved as a keepsake or recycled into next year’s new unique corsage.
Making Your Own Homecoming Mums: The Basics
The basic supplies for homecoming mums are: standard incurve silk chrysanthemum bloom(s), two cardboard shields or backing disks, plush animals representing the school mascot, jingle bells (if school rules allow), gilded letters, varsity letter stickers, woven ribbon “love chains”, ribbon streamers, curling ribbon, tulle, star garland, glitter and/or glitter spray, charms and/or miniature footballs, helmets, etc., battery packs and lights. But don’t feel limited to the basics. Use your imagination!
You will also need scissors, a stapler and a hot melt glue gun.
A picture of a beautifully done homecoming mum is on this page.
Make a Nest for the Mum
You want to create a frame or nest on one of the backing shields in which to nestle your mum. This can be done with ribbon, tulle or a combination of materials. Ribbon is a very popular nest material because you can create great designs using your school colors.
Here are directions for a simple ribbon nest. It will resemble a pre-made ribbon like you stick on a wrapped present – with ribbon points radiating out like rays of sunshine.
Say your school colors are blue and gold (substitute your actual colors). This ribbon nest will have two rings of ribbon points. (You make as many as your backing shield and mum require.)
Cut seven six-inch strips of 1 ½-inch wide “blue” ribbon and seven six-inch strips of 1-inch wide “gold” ribbon.
Lay the “blue” strips on your work surface shiny side up.
Lay one “gold” strip on top of each “blue” one (also shiny side up) so that you see a striped design in your school colors (1/4-inch “blue”, 1-inch “gold”, 1/4-inch “blue”).
Pick up one pair of strips with the thumb and forefinger of both hands.
Bend the strips backwards, bringing your thumbs and forefingers together so that the strips form a point; overlap the ends slightly and staple them together.
Repeat with the six other pairs.
Arrange the seven stapled ribbon points around three-quarters of the perimeter of one backing shield and staple in place. You want to leave one-quarter of the perimeter empty to attach your streamers. (If seven is too many/few for your backing shield, adjust accordingly.)
Cut six six-inch strips of 1 ½-inch wide “gold” ribbon and six six-inch strips of 1-inch wide “blue” ribbon.
Form these into points just as before and staple them to the backing to form the inner circle of the nest, again leaving one-quarter of the shield empty for your streamers.
Make and Attach Streamers
The length of the basic streamers depends on your design sense as well as the height of the intended wearer. Between two feet and three feet is common. You want to make a statement but you don’t want the wearer to trip and fall!
Cut six lengths of 1 ½-inch wide “blue” ribbon and five lengths of “gold”. Lay the strips on your work surface shiny side up as follows.
You want to form a fan of streamers that will fit into the open triangle of your ribbon point nest.
Lay a “blue” streamer in the center.
Work out from this center with alternating streamers: “gold”, “blue”, “gold”, etc. Staple all the ribbons together at the top.
Place your streamer fan onto the backing shield and staple it down.
Lay your arrangement out on a large table or on the floor. Trim the streamers as desired.
Many designers like to notch the ends. You can also angle them to a center point. Look at your design and decide whether you want to embellish some or all of the streamers.
You can add glitter or write names with glitter glue. You can glue varsity letters down one streamer or sequins and stars down another. The sky’s the limit.
Accessorize
Arrange the accessories you wish to hang from the backing shield. When you are happy with the design, string each one onto a thin ribbon of the appropriate length and staple to the backing shield.
Use different lengths so that each individual accessory will be shown to best advantage (you don’t want them covering or clanking into each other).
Weave your love chains and attach them to the shield.
Here are illustrated directions for the following popular weaves:
Military Braid Weave
Diamondback Braid Weave
Diamondback Garland Weave
Love Chain
Spirit Chain
If you want ribbon curls, add them now. The same goes for star garland.
Finishing Touches
You’re finally ready to glue the mum in place. Hot melt glue has a short set-up time so work quickly.
Liberally squeeze hot melt glue over the center of the baking shield. Position the mum and press down lightly on all the contact points. Watch your fingers; hot melt glue is – well – hot!
If you are adding a plush animal (mascot), attach it the same way you did the mum: liberal hot melt glue; press on all the contact points; and watch your fingers!
A large bow under the mum will help to balance your creation. Use more of the 1 ½-inch ribbon in both your school colors.
Make the bow wide – about the same width as the entire corsage. Use hot melt glue to attach it beneath the mum.
Your corsage needs a sturdy hanger. Cut a 3 ½-inch piece of 1 ½-inch wide ribbon. Double it into a loop and staple it to the back of the second backing shield.
Glue the two shields together back to back so that the hanging loop is at the top of your design. This hides all of the “works” and covers the staples so that they won’t catch on the wearer’s clothes.
Other Options
Here are directions for adding lights to your homecoming fantasy creation.
Or add homecoming mum charms.
Some Homecoming Mums Supplies
Many supplies used by scrapbookers would serve very well, as would jewelry findings.
Here is a comprehensive list of wholesale and retail suppliers of homecoming mum making materials.
How to Wear a Homecoming Mum
The simple answer is that it's the wearer's challenge to figure out how to attach the homecoming mum to her apparel – because it depends on the size and weight of the mum, what she plans to wear, where the mum will be positioned, etc., etc.
If the mum is medium size and weight, it can easily be pinned; but if it is larger or heavier, two or three heavy-duty (like diaper) pins may be required.
If it's really huge and heavy, the girl may need to run a cord through the hanger loop and wear it around her neck with supporting pins to keep it from swaying as she walks.
Another trick with a heavy mum is to pin through the outerwear and a very secure undergarment such as a bra. Bras (especially sports bras) are engineered to support quite a bit of weight – whether it be a homecoming mum or a bouncing cheerleader.
Start writing here.
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