Posted on Aug 31, 2015 in
COLUMNS,
FEATURES
Alex Belt
A mum for Fort Bend Christian Academy’s Homecoming.
Alex Belt is a mom, business owner and all around in the know kind of gal. Friends call on her relentlessly for advice. With football season in full swing and homecoming just around the corner, we’re doing what everyone else does – asking Alex!
Q
I just moved to Texas and am not familiar with home-coming mums. Can you tell me about the tradition?
A
A homecoming mum is an oversized mum corsage decorated with three-foot long streamers in the school colors with bells, charms, banners, plush animals dressed in bows, sparkly letters and even lights. Mums are a highly popular tradition in Texas schools. Homecoming mums are usually worn on the chest with the streamers flowing down the front of the body almost touching the ankles. They make quite a fashion statement! Homecoming mums can be given to the wearer by a boyfriend, friends, mom, dad, aunt or just about anyone to express how special they are and that they are truly loved.
Q
Where can I buy a mum for my child’s homecoming?
A
Mums are available at a variety of specialty florists throughout the county and range in price and design.Inquire at your local florist as to what special trinkets and sayingscould be included.
Q
My daughter wants to give her date something for homecoming. What do guys usually get?
A Foster High School Homecoming garter.
A Garter mums are designed for the guys to wear on their upper arm and can be customized with their sport theme, musical theme or school club theme. They resemble a miniature mum.
Q
If I wanted to make my own homecoming mum for my son’s date, can you tell me how to do this?
A
Warm up the glue gun! When making a mum, start with a two-circle disc of white cardboard stapled together for strength. Add ribbon points or loops of ribbon spaced all around the edge of the circle. You can add as many layers to the base before adding the mum, using feathers, curling ribbon, sparkly ribbon, lace or other material.
Then, start adding the long ribbons with the school name ribbons. It is best to have a base of long ribbons, like three to four inches wide by 20 to 22 inches long. Next, add all of the fun trinkets to make it bling and jingle by using hot glue or tying them on.
For a silk mum, spray with glitter glue for added sparkle, then staple on the white cardboard base. Hot glue the mascot in the center of the mum, add the grade level trinket, hot glue a pipe cleaner loop at the top so that it can be pinned on and add another white circle on the back to hide staples. Keep adding more to personalize it as much as possible.
