ALEDO, Texas — Homecoming mums are a Texas tradition almost 100 years old, said to be first photographed at Baylor University in 1936.
Now, an Aledo mom is taking the tradition and tying it to a new trend: Stanley tumblers.
Kristian Recio said she first started crafting with her mom, making her first high school homecoming mum in the ninth grade. “Yeah, I remember," Recio said about crafting with her mother. "Orange and black were our colors."
Things have changed quite a bit since then, with mums becoming bigger and more elaborate each year. “Now, it’s so extravagant," Recio said. "They do any color. They do lights. They do bells. They do shapes -- Texas shapes. They make them bigger than the kids. That’s been cool to see how it’s gotten bigger every year.”
This year, the stay-at-home mom decided to do something different.
“I made one for my six-year-old, a garter to wear with his friend -- a mini one," Recio explained. "That’s how I went smaller and smaller to the Stanley.”
And people went crazy for it.
“It’s just a Texas thing and I think it’s just a tradition. I’m not even sure how it came to be, but it is so important.,” Recio said. “I’ve had grandparents asking to wear them, to pin it for the game to support their player or their drill team girl.”
The themes are also endless.
“Disco cowgirl. It’s not even just for schools. People are requesting breast cancer, autism [awareness mums], just something to make it personal to them,” Recio added.
The mini-mums trend has made it down to San Antonio, with other North Texas families placing orders too. She’s making dozens per day, trying to stay organized to make sure every order is fulfilled in time for those homecoming Friday night lights. “I don’t even know how it blew up like this, but it has been really cool to see,” Recio laughed.
To learn more about Kristian's mini mums, visit her design page here.