For you non-Texans, a homecoming mum is a huge award ribbbon type thing that high school kids wear to the homecoming dances and games. They are in school colors with small plastic bits representing their graduating year, sports they do, etc on the strings. Back in the day you used a real mum, now you use craft store kinds.
I held a Halloween party yesterday, and as prizes for best costumes and pumpkin, made the kids some Halloween award ribbons/mums. They went over HUGE for something so simple and cheap, so I had to share it here. Some wore them to the Homecoming dance that was later in the evening.
To make, you'll need a packet of three mum circles (about 4 inches) with a hole in the middle- any cardboard with a hole in the center will do if you can't find them. You'll need several spools of ribbon, fake mums/flowers (I also used a sunflower) and plastic things (I used spiders and plastic fall leaves)
Take 4 or 5 inches of ribbon and do this. To make a layered ribbon, put them together and do this (put the ends together). Staple to the first cardboard circle like so, until the whole circle is filled.
Depending on how you want the petals to look, either add the mum to the flip side or the ribbon-filled side, both make a nice flower. Hot glue it down. I had to spraypaint some yellow mums to make black.
Take a separate circle and staple down the trailing ribbon ends, at various lengths. Use lots of ribbon and all different sizes, etc.
Remember, plastic flotsam is an integral part to a homecoming mum. Add plastic spiders, army men, tiny babies, googly eyes- your choice.
Take a large safety pin and hot glue to the back of a third cardboard circle. Add a bit of ribbon over the edge so it can move around without breaking off.
Glue all three circles together like this- first the flower, then the dangling ribbons, then the back with the pin You're done!
To make this ribbon, simple take a very wide ribbon and gather one end, glue down around the edge of a circle, and add your flower and tendrils as with the other mums.
For this one on the end, add some fake fall leaves around the center hole, and glue mum over top.
To layer mum colors, pull the mum apart and stack another color inside, then add the original color on top. Hot glue at each step of the way so all layers will stay.
Cheap & fun!
