Becca's Mums

Becca's Mums For the past 27 years I have hand crafted mums for any occasion. IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO PLACE AN ORDER :) And finding customers has never been an issue.
(6)

For any graduate of a Texas high school in the past few decades, the homecoming mum needs no introduction. The outsize corsages line shelves at grocery and craft stores each fall, and for the past 27 years Rebecca Olmeda has crafted her own handmade contributions to the mum tradition. Despite her decades in the cutting, hand-braiding and gluing of homecoming mums from plain ribbon, today’s bigger-

is-better mindset was already established by the time she started. In Texas, mums are ubiquitous on one Friday night per year for each school, Olmeda said. She does all her work from scratch and all her advertising by word of mouth. Olmeda made her first mums when she was in high school and guesses she has made close to a couple thousand since she started. She even exports the Texas tradition across state lines every year to a long-term customer who moved to Mississippi. Olmeda said she has had to start putting a cap on orders so she has time to fill them all.

“I make them every year, from peewee until they graduate,” Olmeda said. “They tell their friends, and then their friends tell their friends. I went to school in El Paso, where they are all even bigger, and I started making them because they were just too expensive.”

Olmeda has only two requirements for her customers, she told Kobi Gill when the La Vega High School senior came by to pick up her mum Tuesday night. Gill placed a last-minute order when she found out her classmates voted her onto the homecoming court.

“I’ve got to get a picture, and if they ask you who made it, tell them Mrs. ‘O’ from the band,” Olmeda said. She uses the pictures to keep track of her past work and be sure each new mum stays fresh for repeat customers. Her customers have won the homecoming court mum competition at La Vega High School for the past two years, and she thinks Gill will be a strong contender for a third, she said. Gill’s mum has two black silk flowers on ribbons and intricate braids in the school’s colors, complete with rhinestones and charms representing her sports teams. The second flower drapes over her shoulder on a long ribbon and rests on her back. Before Gill could leave with her new mum, Olmeda instructed her on proper storage. But that may not be an immediate concern.

“I think I’ll probably just wear it before too long,” Gill said. Olmeda has made at least 30 or 40 mums a year recently and starts getting orders as early as July or August. The kids know what they want, and when they get their football or basketball numbers assigned, they finalize their orders, she said. By the time homecoming games start coming around again, ribbon rolls, rhinestones, jingle bells and, of course, silk chrysanthemums fill the front room of her house. Her computer desk, hutch and piano fade behind a wall of colorful, Texas tradition waiting for eager, adoring youths to pick up and pin on. Real chrysanthemums were still fairly common when Olmeda was in school, but fake flowers are more practical for today’s intricate mums that are often prepared weeks in advance and tweaked along the way, Olmeda said. Fake flowers also make for keepsakes that last years instead of days.

“All the girls keep them,” Olmeda said. “It’s like a football jersey or a helmet.”

A few even keep the same mum all four years of school, then bring it back for updates and tweaks for each homecoming game. For a pre-made mum, students have to pay nearly $5 per yard of ribbon, Olmeda said. When she buys a roll of ribbon, it costs closer to $5 for 250 yards. Instead of charging what some students and parents are willing to pay, she tries to keep prices reasonable. But that doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. Olmeda’s most intricate mums, which can include more than five silk flowers, several yards of hand-braided ribbon, plus myriad personalized charms and messages, top $150 and can take more than five hours to make. Olmeda enlisted help this year from Janet Kelm, her retired boss at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and having someone to chat with and help with prep work makes the process feel a lot less like work, she said. She sits with her friend, designing, braiding, gluing and chatting the night away.

“We enjoy doing it,” Olmeda said. “We enjoy sitting here. We’re just sitting in front of the TV.”

Olmeda is an accountant at the VA, and the busy season at her day job tends to coincide with the busy season at her side job.

“I get off work at 4:30, so I usually get started by about 6:30 and go until I can’t see anymore,” Olmeda said. She makes mums for several schools, so she can mix up her work when it gets repetitive.

“When I can’t deal with looking at yellow and gold any more, I move on to something else,” Olmeda said. There is a progression to the craft, for better or worse, Kelm said, pointing toward some of this year’s biggest projects hanging on the wall. Students make requests for something a little bigger, a little flashier every year, she said.

“They just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and intricate,” Kelm said. The most intricate mum Olmeda is making this year is metallic white and gold with a long feather boa for a member of La Vega High School’s Homecoming Court. Olmeda has put LED lights in several mums and even tracked down small battery-powered black lights for one request a few years ago. Coordination with a dress is necessary, and sometimes the mums can be so big and flashy they overshadow a student’s outfit, Olmeda said.

“You don’t even have to wear a dress. You just pin it on really well and you’re good to go,” Olmeda said.

Spirit pants also available!
09/15/2023

Spirit pants also available!

09/15/2023
It’s still mum season!
09/15/2023

It’s still mum season!

Place your orders soon!!!
09/10/2023

Place your orders soon!!!

Homecoming is upon us!!! Place your orders soon!!
09/09/2023

Homecoming is upon us!!! Place your orders soon!!

Place your orders NOW!!
09/09/2023

Place your orders NOW!!

Place your order for spirit pants!!
09/11/2022

Place your order for spirit pants!!

Mum photos. Place your order early.
08/14/2022

Mum photos. Place your order early.

09/11/2020

Hello All, Happy Homecoming 2020. Please feel free to contact us via messenger for your safe distance ordering.
We are now accepting orders. Let us know how we can serve you!!!

Week 3 mums!! Harker Heights, Connally and. Gatesville!!! Thank you all!!
09/28/2019

Week 3 mums!! Harker Heights, Connally and. Gatesville!!! Thank you all!!

Harker Heights, lit mum. 3 strands of lights!!! She is going to love it!!!!
09/24/2019

Harker Heights, lit mum. 3 strands of lights!!! She is going to love it!!!!

Rose gold, silver and Gold Senior Sash.
09/22/2019

Rose gold, silver and Gold Senior Sash.

University High School. A few mums for 2019.
09/22/2019

University High School. A few mums for 2019.

A few Valley Mills mum.2019
09/13/2019

A few Valley Mills mum.2019

La. Vega Homecoming 2019
09/13/2019

La. Vega Homecoming 2019

09/03/2019

Hello, if you just tried to message me. Please send a message in messanger.

08/31/2019
08/06/2019

2 new homecoming dates to be added to our 2019 list.
Rosebud-lott is 9/13
Axtell is 9/20.

Hello All, school is about to be underway. With that comes football games and Homecoming. Below are the dates for our ...
08/04/2019

Hello All, school is about to be underway. With that comes football games and Homecoming. Below are the dates for our Local schools.
Be sure to place your order soon.

His and hers Prom 2019
05/08/2019

His and hers Prom 2019

Prom 2019
05/05/2019

Prom 2019

Prom 2019 his and hers
05/04/2019

Prom 2019 his and hers

His and hers prom 2019.
05/04/2019

His and hers prom 2019.

Custome Wedding flowers. 2019
04/28/2019

Custome Wedding flowers. 2019

Prom corsage and boutineer. Connally 2019.
04/28/2019

Prom corsage and boutineer. Connally 2019.

Not Homecoming. But flowers never the less. Prom 2019 his and hers.
02/24/2019

Not Homecoming. But flowers never the less. Prom 2019 his and hers.

10/12/2018

Homecoming 2018 has come to a close. I want to Thank everyone who allowed us to make your mums and garters. Special thanks to Janet Kelm and Ashley Gosha. Without you two this could not get done.
Please post pictures of you wearing your mums amd garters. Thank you all again.

Look at the Beautiful Connaly cheerleader. She makes that sash look good. Tamara Gooden
09/21/2018

Look at the Beautiful Connaly cheerleader. She makes that sash look good. Tamara Gooden

Address

Bellmead, TX
76705

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 10pm
Tuesday 7am - 10pm
Wednesday 7am - 10pm
Thursday 7am - 10pm
Friday 7am - 10pm
Saturday 7am - 10pm
Sunday 7am - 10pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Becca's Mums posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category