Homecoming is the opening of both the school year and the football season, so you want to start strong for the year. A proud Texas tradition, mums and garters are a necessary accessory for the homecoming dance that has spread to other Southern states.
A mum is like a corsage on steroids that is traditionally gifted to a girl by her date, and a girl is responsible for providing a matching garter for her escort.
If you’re going to your first homecoming or looking to level up your game, we have some mum ideas that will help you stand out from the crowd.
What Are Mums and Garters?
For the uninitiated, a mum is a large corsage that traditionally has chrysanthemum flowers as the main feature. Now, however, people use all sorts of real and artificial flowers, along with feathers, ribbons, and even plushies, to decorate their mum. Instead of being worn on the wrist, they can be pinned or tied to the dress or worn around the neck.
A garter is a smaller version of the giant corsage that’s attached to an armband. Couples or friends will often match their mum and garter to show who they’re attending the dance with.
Where Do People Get Mums?
Most people purchase their mums and sometimes add some customizations afterward. Craft stores, supermarkets, and florists sell premade mums in homecoming season or take orders for customizations sometimes months in advance.
Mum can be expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars. If you want something really unique and don’t want to spend all your summer job money on a mum, you can start with a more basic store-bought one and add your own flair, or you can even make your own from scratch.
Mum Ideas for Homecoming
If you decide to go for it and customize or make your own mum, you might wonder where to begin. Really, the only limits are your own imagination, but here are a few ideas for where to start.
Design Your Mum
First, you’ll want to decide on your vision for your mum. While mums aren’t typically worn for the actual homecoming dance since they get in the way of the dancing, you can create a theme based on your homecoming outfit. If you’re going with a floral pastel dress or a jewel-toned gown, you can match those colors or patterns in your mum.
We’ve been absolutely obsessed with Sherri Hill’s new homecoming dress collection, if you’re still looking for a dress.
Your mum is also a great way to express your identity and interests. You can add cute trinkets to your mum that represent your hobbies, clubs, or even just your favorite things. Trends from recent years include Stanley Cup mums and mums decorated with popcorn buckets and Labubus.
Add ribbons in your school colors or just your favorite color around your floral center.
Materials for Making Mums
The namesake of the mum is the chrysanthemum flower. Your first decision is whether you want to get a real chrysanthemum or a silk one as your centerpiece. Real flowers have a great texture and fresh smell, but silk flowers can be used year after year and won’t start wilting while you assemble them, making them a more popular choice for DIY mums.
Wide craft ribbons, particularly around two inches wide, are a great choice and easy to find at craft stores. There are plenty of great tutorials online for how to create cascades of folded ribbons to give your mum more texture. You can layer unfolded ribbons as well.
To assemble everything, hot glue is the best option, though floral tape and wire can also be used, especially if you’re an ambitious or experienced crafter.
If you have a date for the dance, you can make a matching garter with the same materials or even get together with your friends and coordinate your mums, everyone contributing some unique materials.
Make a Splash With Mum Ideas for Homecoming
Mums are a beloved, if sometimes over-the-top, tradition for homecoming. You have the opportunity to make it as wild or sleek as you want. It’s the perfect canvas for your own self-expression. With a few craft materials and a little time, you can add cute details to a store-bought mum or even make one from scratch.
Try to start planning and assembling your mum a few weeks in advance so you don’t add any unnecessary stress to your life. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to have fun and express yourself.
