DIY Homecoming Mum

In Texas Homecoming means one thing, Mums! See how you can make your own DIY Homecoming Mum

Homecoming mums. If you live in Texas you are probably familiar with this particular football tradition. If you don’t live in Texas there is a good chance you’ve seen pictures of these mums floating around the internet.

I grew up watching and loving football and looked forward to the homecoming game each year in high school. At my school the boys gave the girls a homecoming mum and girls gave the boys a smaller garter (basically a mini mum) that they wear on their arm. When I was in high my school was only grades 10-12, but you can be sure that I attended homecoming each of those years.

Here’s something else about those homecoming mums, they can get pricey. Which is why I quickly went the DIY route. I made my first homecoming mum when I was in high school. Then I made more for friends. And then for my sisters when they were in high school. And I’m still making mums for the kids of my friends now.

The colors of your homecoming mum depend on not only your school, but also your year (senior, junior, etc.) At most high schools the seniors wear silver and white (this mum pictured was for a senior). Each school has their own traditions.

DIY Homecoming Mum Supplies

A homecoming mum is mainly two parts, the mum (or mums) at the top and then all the ribbons hanging down. When it comes to making your own DIY homecoming mum you have a few options. You can start completely from scratch or you can buy sort of a base mum, which is what I’ve done here. That means it comes with some solid ribbons and already has the mums and the top with ribbons around the mums. But of course this is just the base.

To the base solid color ribbons you’ll want to add texture and personalization. Braided ribbons, loop ribbons, heart ribbons, and box ribbons are all easy to DIY and add to your mum.

DIY Homecoming Mum Assembly

It’s traditional to add ribbons with stickers indicated your graduation year, your name, your dates name, and your school name. Staple all of your additional ribbons on top of the solid color ribbons that make up the base of your mum.

You don’t have to be limited to just ribbons. Strands of feathers are popular to add to a mum. So are bells, whistles, and all kinds of noisemakers. These are all stapled with your DIY ribbons.

Once your ribbons are all in place you want to personalize the mum flowers at the top. Teddy bears are a very traditional choice, but you may also want to feature your school mascot.

Here the school mascot is an owl, so not only did I add a silver owl (a wooden silhouette that I painted silver and added silver letters), but I also have the teddy bear holding a small owl.

You can also add lettering, like the ‘homecoming’ word at the top. These are all hot glued onto the mums.

Now you might be wondering, how does someone wear this thing? Good question. When I was in high school most girls got huge safety pins and pinned their mums to their clothes. Thankfully we’ve gotten smarter since then. (And mums keep getting bigger.)

Now most girls wear their mums like a necklace of sorts. By adding ribbon loop to the top of the mum it can be slipped over the head. Simply staple the ribbon to the back of the mum and then add one final cardboard backing piece to cover all the staples. Attach this final piece of cardboard using hot glue so it’s smooth.

And then it’s off to the game!

When I was in high school everyone got dressed up (like dresses for the girls and slacks for the boys) to go to homecoming. While it’s much more casual now, but the mums are still the star!

Got questions about homecoming mums? Let me know!