Mum-making brings spirit, tradition to homecoming
Kim Unger works surrounded by materials she uses to make homecoming mums. Unger and her business partner, Connie Ryan, constantly search for interesting materials to make the mums as personalized as possible. Unger makes a military braid for one of the Victoria East High School mums she is working on.
Print- •
-
Share
- Share this item
-
Grab the link
Copy and paste the link:
- Blog about it
- Close
- •
-
14 Comments
- •
Favorite- •
-
Report error
-
Thank you for your submission.Error report or correction
- Close
-
- •
MUM-MAKING AT MUMS THE WORDThe average mum takes about 2-4 hours to create.
The mum-makers use an average of 750-800 feet of ribbon per mum.
The mum-makers create about 70 mums in an average homecoming season.
The ...
- SHOW ALL »
MUM-MAKING AT MUMS THE WORDThe average mum takes about 2-4 hours to create.
The mum-makers use an average of 750-800 feet of ribbon per mum.
The mum-makers create about 70 mums in an average homecoming season.
The average mum costs anywhere from $25-70.
Mum rings (mini-flowery versions of the decorations), are a new trend this year for students who want to take a mum into the classroom.
The most extravagant mum the shop ever created cost $120, was more than three feet long and had a zebra mask with a glittery hat at the top.
For more information on Mums the Word, contact Connie Ryan or Kim Unger at 361-649-7988 or 361-571-3285.
HOMECOMING DATESShiner St. Paul celebrated its homecoming on Sept. 3.
Sept. 10Victoria East
Yoakum
Industrial
Ganado
Sept. 17Victoria West
Calhoun High School
Hallettsville
Woodsboro
Sept. 24St. Joseph, Victoria
Cuero
Goliad
Oct. 1 - Shiner
Oct. 15 - RefugioBloomington
Oct. 29 - Edna
Nov. 5 - Yorktown
Nov. 6 - Sacred Heart
Feather boas lined the walls of the Mums The Word showroom while in a back workshop owners Kim Unger and Connie Ryan were cutting, braiding and hot-gluing the spirit items together.
"It has to look good to our eyes, or we won't let it out the door," Ryan said, smiling.
Mums - giant, flowery spirit accessories - are a crafty, traditional way of showing school spirit for the homecoming game or dance.
With the new Victoria high schools and three back-to-back local homecomings, the ladies are churning out more mums than usual.
The first step is a detailed interview where the mum-makers learn everything about the girl or guy who'll wear the accessory.
"We really like to personalize," Unger said. "No mum has looked alike. They'll all be different."
The ladies then build the entire piece, using glue, ribbon, paper and anything that sparks their interest, on the workshop floor.
"You really can't work with these on tables because they are so long," Ryan said.
The women braid glittery ribbon, leather or vinyl into donkey braids, military braids and add anything from candy to Christmas ornaments.
"We really can do anything," Unger said.
The idea is to showcase school spirit and decorate the piece with trinkets that show sports or school activities the wearer is involved in. Traditionally, a boy will buy one for a homecoming date, something that helps the two get to know each other better.
"It makes them communicate with each other, find out about each other and what they're interested in," Ryan said.
The origins of the accessories are a mystery to the mum-makers and many people who buy them.
"It's a tradition, I guess you'd say," said Stephanie Whitley, who purchased three mums for her son's dates. "Just like when you get married you carry a bouquet down the aisle, it's a tradition to wear a mum."
The pieces have evolved over the years from using fresh flowers and short ribbons to fake flowers and ankle-length decorations with cowbells and feathers.
"The mums are more of a work of art now than just a couple of ribbons hanging," Whitley said.
The average mum can cost anywhere from $20 to $70 with some as much as $120. This year, a new trend has caught on - the mum ring.
The poofy, fake flower decoration can be worn on a hand or clipped to a purse since many schools no longer allow the decorations.
The whole idea is to create a high school memory that will last long after homecoming.
"It's a memorial type thing," Whitley said, who mentioned she still owns mums. "You can remember what sport you were in and who your friends were."
-
Print
- •
-
Share
- Share this item
-
Grab the link
Copy and paste the link:
- Blog about it
- Close
- •
-
14 Comments
- •
- Favorite
- •
-
Report error
-
Thank you for your submission.Error report or correction
- Close
-
- •
Comments
Cool Story, bro!
September 9, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.You all???
RedRage00, VHS was extinct well before I entered high school.
It's ok though, you didn't know
September 9, 2010 at 9:55 a.m.Homecoming isn't the same as when you all were in school 60 years ago.
How many students you know come back from college for homecoming? I don't think many.
It's just a reason for the CURRENT group of kids to have fun, and to have a dance. The dance is only for CURRENT students too. Alumni cannot show up to the HS dance lol
September 9, 2010 at 9:50 a.m.Not sure how EdithAnn is being negative....
I agree with her suggestion, not having a Homecoming would be lame, so why not an "Inaugural Ball"? I'm pretty sure if you polled the students, 95% would say let's do it.
Shake em' off Edith!
September 9, 2010 at 9:49 a.m.I'm with EdithAnn. Have a big event for the schools but don't call it homecoming since it really isn't. How about "Housewarming"? That's what people ahve when they move into new digs.
September 9, 2010 at 9:11 a.m.Patrick T. Barnes
Every High School should have a homecoming no matter how old the school is. Why deny some of the students that opportunity. Let them let their hair down and have some fun.
September 9, 2010 at 4:43 a.m.And Edith, speaking of supporting schools, I understand that there will be some kind of dedication ceremony I know for East. I think perhaps along the line of askings Gods blessings on the school and GOD and everyone else knows how badly we need that!
September 9, 2010 at 12:12 a.m.why would you want to deny the current senior classes their last homecoming ?
September 9, 2010 at 12:11 a.m.Redrage, Edith is right, when I was coming up, a school had to be 5 years old before they could have a homecoming. there were two new schools in just a couple of years added to the three originals and neither of them got to have homecoming till they were five years old. I didnt have one, because the school was only 4 when I was a senior and the other on only 3. It was however fun to go back to the games in the subsequent years. The first year I was married, my husband and I wentn to the dance with his younger sis and her date and found a lot of old friend there. TIMES HAVE REALLY CHANGED. The other thing I see in my grandkids is that they go stag. Back in my day, the ticket to homecoming or prom was for TWO people, (being one male and one female) and if you couldnt get a date, you couldnt go. If your date was from an other school or already in college, they had to be approved to attend...................Are you listening Mrs. Crick and Mr. Crockett?
September 8, 2010 at 11:55 p.m.Wonder if Ms Whitley has 3 sons or her son has 3 dates? Either way, what a nice mom to make sure the girls get mums!
September 8, 2010 at 9:37 p.m.dont know the man or much about the position, but your crusade against both is always funny / somewhat interesting
September 8, 2010 at 9:03 p.m.can one have a phobia of homecoming mums ?
September 8, 2010 at 8:49 p.m.It's unfortunate that the two new schools really don't have a homecoming. You have to have left something to be able to come back. East and West will have their first homecomings next year.
What would have been different and unique for this first year's 'big dance' event would have been an 'Inaugural Ball'. Nothing would be any different, only the name of the event. Still have the mums, the dance, the pictures, the decorations, the queen, but it would have been a one of a kind event. Each school could have initiated some kind of unique 'moment' to commemorate the new schools. Perhaps a crowning of the mascot.
Well, whatever! Be safe and have a great time.
September 8, 2010 at 8:12 p.m.