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Homecoming Mums: A Southwestern Tradition By Eileen Bergen
www.theartfulcrafter.com
It’s homecoming season across the nation, but 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 up to $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 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.
For more information about Homecoming Mums, please visit
http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/homecoming_mums.html.
By: Eileen Bergen The Artful Crafter
www.theartfulcrafter.com/craft-ideas.html