HOW TO MAKE A HOMECOMING MUM TUTORIAL

September 4, 2011

Today I am going to try my best to show how to make a homecoming mum.  Now these are pretty basic directions but will show you step by step how to put it together.  

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First things first.  The supplies.  This is a basic list I have put together of most things I use on mums.  These are not ALL required and of course you can add more!   I also sell customized DIY mum kits for those who would prefer skipping the craft store and getting everything you need delivered right to your door. You can check them out and all the other supplies we sell here: Melz Mumz Homecoming Mum Kits

• Lots of solid Ribbon in school colors – at least 10 to 15 yards of each color in every size (I use all sizes #3, #5, #9, and #16)

• Mum Flowers

• Mum Backs

• Printed Ribbon, Clear Ribbons, Honeycomb Ribbon, various Metallic Ribbons

• Trinkets!!

• Braids and Loops

• Extras!  Such as feather Boas, large letters, etcI usually like to start with the top of the mum.  So first get one of the backers.  In this case, I will be showing a single mum, so I use a 6" backer.

THE MUM TOP. Once you decide how you want to attach your ribbon backing start to staple it to the backer.  (See post here with different ways of doing ribbon for backer for ideas) For this mum, I used 6" pieces of #16 ribbon folded in half.  First I staple one at top and one at bottom directly across from one another.  then I staple it the sides.  Then I staple the ones in between and they overlap a little.   To give it added dimension I stagger these a little bit.

Next I used some Dynasty Metallic Ribbon, same size (6" pieces).  This I bend the ends together to form a point and staple them around.  I also took some silver glitter glue and put tiny dots around the top.

This part is not 100% necessary HOWEVER I do this on ALL of my mums and HIGHLY recommend it.  If you have ever heard of somoeone saying their flower came apart – this is the way to keep that from happening.

Step 1: Take 1 piece of pipe cleaner and tie a knot in the end of it.

 Step 2: Then find the center of the inside of the flower and hold that spot.

Step 3: Turn flower over and snip the back off.

 Step 4: Go back and put the pipe cleaner in the flower from the inside and pull tight so the knot holds on the inside of flower.  Now put a dab of hot glue on that knotted end of pipe cleaner inside flower to help it hold and a dab of hot glue on the green nub on back of flower where pipe cleaner is sticking out.

Next, attach your mum (lots and lots of hot glue!) using the pipe cleaner sticking out of the back of the flower as your guide – push pipe cleaner through the hole in the middle of the mum backer and pull pipe cleaner out the back and glue down to back of the streamer backer.  Start to decorate the top.  This is where your imagination comes in!  

For this one I used a 5" jointed bear.  The bear's necklace I made with some silver beads and a large rhinestone.  I had some pretty burgandy silk flowers so I popped the flower off the stem and glued it to the upper left side.   The glassine flowers are clear, so I used my copic markers (that's right – my markers!) and colored the backside of them to make them appear burgandy.  Then I curled a chenille stem and glued it onto the bottom to round everything out.

Little bit closer picture here.

Now set this part aside.

THE MUM BASE. Use your second backer.  The first thing I always do is cut my solid ribbon into 1 yard pieces. For this mum I used 10 yards of burgandy #16 and 10 yards of white #16.   I like to attach them in groups of four (four groups of 4 or 5 ribbons).  

I take the first group and spread the ribbons out on top of each other with the same distance between them (about 1/4 " ).

Now I staple this first set of ribbons to one side of the backer.  I have them angle out just a hair.

 Now attach another set to the left side. 

For this mum I had 4 sets, so the next two sets I attached to the right middle and left middle.

Try to make sure you have that middle covered.  You don't want any "holes" when you complete the mum.

 Now I added 2 yards of honeycomb ribbon and 2 yards of silver mylar #9 ribbon.

Now gather all your braids, loops, trinkets, garland and anything else you want to add and lay it out.  This is where I decide where I want to hang everything to kind of "balance" the mum.

Start stapling and gluing!   I personally staple most items and then hot glue things that won't staple like the garland. 

Once you have this done, then we want to make sure we add a neck ribbon or hang ribbon to pin it on with.  I usually attach both.  Most girls now like to wear them around there necks but I like to give both options just in case they would rather pin it onto their jacket.

Now COVER this backer with hot glue.  And I do mean COVER.  I use a high temp glue gun for this purpose because of course the glue will not continously come out and has to melt, but with the high temp it stays hot for longer.  Now we attach the top.  Try your best to position it directly over the backer that you just applied hot glue to and press it down.    Hold it there with lots of pressure until the glue starts to dry.

Now you have a mum!!

 I know it is kind of hard to see here – but there is a burgandy maribou boa on the right side

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Hope you enjoyed this and that it helps explain the process a little.  Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or need help!

Thanks for looking and as always HAPPY MUMMING!

Melissa

  Made by www.MelzMumz.com