From flowers and bears to LED lights and glitter, homecoming mums are a big deal in Texas high schools. They are made with the mindset that nothing is too much. The bigger the better.

While the tradition of homecoming originally started at the University of Missouri, mums are a Texas high school tradition, although they have started to spread to neighboring Oklahoma and Louisiana. The tradition is based off the fact that Chrysanthemums (where we get the word ‘mum’) were given as corsages for homecoming. Typically, a boy gives a girl a mum and she gives him a garter, which is similar to a mum, only shorter.

While they were introduced in the 1930’s, it wasn’t until the 1970’s that the tradition went to the extreme in Texas. Because the original mums were made of real flowers, they were fragile and would easily break. This made it difficult to put many decorations on top.

In the 1970’s the silk mum base became popular, mainly because it holds more weight and can withstand a hot glue gun.

These decorations don’t come with a small price tag. On average a pre-made mum from an online store costs anywhere between $100 and $300, although money can be saved by buying the supplies and making one by hand.

Mums vary by grade. While the freshmen wear smaller, more simplistic mums, the seniors go all out by adding tons of ribbons and flowers. For freshmen, sophomores and juniors, the mums are school colors, but for seniors they are white and silver.

More extravagant mums may also have lights or motorized parts, such as spinning objects or flickering lights. Some people order special lights while others use Christmas lights.