Yes, it is, during fall at Texas High Schools and colleges, homecoming is a little bit different than most parts of the country, starting with American football games and dances are special events that indeed go together.
The way in which homecoming is celebrated in Texas is very similar to any graduation party. It is the most familiar tradition to attend a sports match in which the high school team participates, a meeting attended by former students of the school that come “back home.” One or two days later there is the school dance where only Jovani has the best homecoming dresses for you.
If all these ritual young people come with a date, having a sweet protocol to meet: he must give her a mum, and she must give him a garter that both will wear in school on the day of the game, and during the meeting.
The name of mum comes from the chrysanthemums which were the flowers that were originally used to make this ornament. Now the mums are plastic flowers hanging around the neck or hanging from the shoulder and wrapped and tied with ribbons. Around them are added ornaments and teddy bears with T-shirts, caps or anything you can think about as they have been evolving through the years.
For boys, they receive the garters, which are similar to the mum’s ornaments, smaller, but without teddy bears and are worn on the arms. If the young are a couple, the mum and the garter always combine. Also, they have the colors and symbols of the school. After the homecoming party, many students hang them in their rooms or keep them as souvenirs.
The Customized Mum Business.
At The Woodlands, Michelle Turcato makes those decorations at night, and during the day she works as a project manager at Windstream Communications. She has received many orders to make mums for families in the area and orders to mayor schools of Texas.
Turcato established his Mums by Michelle business several years ago in a separate workshop in his home. Her studio is full of containers with braided ribbons, spools of ribbons, shelves with ornaments and finished mums that she proudly displays while waiting for new customers. Turcato can dedicate between six and 10 hours, or more, to the making of a mum, everything depends on the size.
“Some girls have cried with emotion with the mums and the garters that I have made for them,” says Turcato. “I like that they have many details because I want everything to be symmetrical.”
The basic price for a mum in stores ranges between 40 and 130 dollars. Those of Turcato, which are made to order, cost around $ 100, but the price may increase depending on how elaborate they are. High-quality mums can weigh from six to 10 pounds at the cost of up to 400 dollars.
It is assumed that a mum should be the reflection of the person who carries it. Turcato finds out the height of each girl to ensure that the ribbons and other ornaments of their mums reach the ankle. Then add other decorations, such as a horn of plenty, a graduation cap or a soccer cap depending on the extracurricular activities of each student. It also adds cheerful accessories such as feather boas, bells, and even lights.
Once finished, a single mum can consume up to 60 feet of ribbons, 20 sticks of glue and many staples to keep it all together.
“There’s nothing that looks like its mums,” says Torcato. “Depending on the school they go to, if I know the mums that have been placed in that school, I would never do the same. That would be devastating, “says Turcato, who usually pays considerable attention to the details of what she does. Thanks to that, her business grows every year.
Years ago she had to decline dozens of last-minute orders due to the vast amount of work she already had. But the making of mums stimulates Turcato’s creativity and, more importantly, she loves to know the boys who will use them and their families.
“It’s nice to see the children grow up, to know that most of them are entering college and that they are starting to live. That is fabulous. It means more than ribbons, bows and plastic ornaments. You are creating memories for them, “concludes Torcato.
