Burning of the S 2025

Homecoming week was really busy for us and fly by. One of the things I had to do on the fly was come up with an outfit for Jaina to wear on Wednesday for Burning of the S. I searched high and low for a fire costume. Yes, she has one from last year, but she did not want to wear again, and yes, she has a new one for Friday's pep rally that has flames on it but it is velvet and long sleeves so she definitely could not wear it. So, I had to come up with something. 
I had this black and tan base costume that I told her I would stone. I also had a spare eagle and some letters. So, we came up with a plan, and I had exactly two days to get it done. 

I got right down to business. It didn't take me long. I was able to knock it out pretty quickly. The hardest part is coming up with a pattern. Once I get that down then everything else kind of just flows. 

I put the letters on the back and the eagle on the front

She paired it with a black skirt she already had. The only thing was we were a little nervous because the skirt was a little too long. Yes, in the baton world your skirt can actually be too long. We were a little nervous about the fire being close to her long skirt, but I had faith in her that she wouldn't get it that close, and it would all work out. 

Looking cute.

Hair must be in a bun with no hair spray and no perfume 

She was ready to go. 

She was a little nervous, but she did great!

This is a community pep rally, and everyone comes out for it.

It was time for their routine. Jaina let Aeralynn borrow one baton and Jaina twirled with the other

No drops thank goodness

They did a great job especially this being Aeralynn's first time to ever twirl fire

I dared Jaina to put the fire baton in her mouth at the end of the routine, and she actually did it, haha! It was pretty awesome!

The band director was very proud of them

Great job girls!

Proud of herself after her routine

Jolee ran around with her friends while we were there

And at the end of the pep rally, they lit the S on fire

We had a great time

I love this little picture of Jolee with her friends cheering on the S

Afterwards we headed straight home

Now we are ready for Friday night's homecoming game

After the pep rally Michael gave Jaina the mum his mom made for her

Look how pretty! 

So fun! 

Mum Talk

So, let's talk about these mums. Yall, I hit a wall, I had no idea where to start this year. My kitchen table looked like this for about 3 weeks, and the house was a total mess. I could not concentrate on anything but these mums, homecoming dresses, Jaina’s fire twirl outfit and Jolee's rabbit 4-H project. It was a lot to take on but I made it through and got it done. 

Come August all the videos on Tik Tok, Facebook and every social media apps were all about mums. The bigger the better, making them unique, following mum trends and I just couldn't keep up with all of it. 

This year Jaina and Jolee both said they wanted their mums to be big. I asked both girls what they wanted and not wanted on their mums. Both of them pretty much said to do whatever and they would like them and to use all school colors which are red, black, white and silver and Jaina did not want her's to light up. 

The one thing I do like to do is make their mums match their personality and what events and things they are into. So, for Jaina's, I made her all about Junior year, twirling and incorporated her boyfriend's football number and this is how it turned out. Jaina also said she wanted a boa in her’s this year.

Jolee said she definitely wanted her's to light up and she picked out the horse to go on top. I kept her theme as horses and band, and this is how her mum turned out.

Jewell, I made her a little mum that lit up and was all about cheer since she says she wants to be a cheerleader when she gets older.

And I also made me a tiny mum to hook onto my Yetti cup for the game because I'm an adult and if I want to make myself a mum I will, and I did! LOL  

(That's my new motto turning 42, I'm an adult now and if I want to do something I can and I will because I'm an adult and nobody else's opinions matter :) Just thought I'd put that out there.

It took me all of about 2 weeks to make them. I started, then took everything off and then would start again at least 5 times on Jaina's mum. I just could not get it going. I knew exactly what I wanted to do for Jolee's mum but man Jaina's I just couldn't get with it. 

This was the head of her mum. All she wanted and her initial on it so that's what I put on there. I busted out my silhouette Cameo that has been sitting in the box for at least 8 years and learned how to use the program in about 2 days. I was pretty proud of myself! I cut the letters on glitter cardstock and then layered it and glued it on. 

I layered the back of her mum with about 10 ribbons of red and black. Then I start layering with the chains. I made all the chains myself using different methods, letters, stickers, gems and trinkets.

I made her a Junior ribbon, I used baton and 4-H ribbon, I made a box chain, ribbon loop chain, and a diamond chain.

I even incorporated a little picture of her and her boyfriend

Oh and I put little disco balls on it too

I finished it off with some curly ribbon

And lastly her red boa

She loved it and wore both of her mums at school

I was pretty proud of the final result

For Jolee's mum I already knew pretty quickly how I was going to design her mum

She picked out this black stuffed horse which I hot glued to the head of the flower with a homecoming trinket. I also had to incorporate the lights inside the flower.

The first layers of mum were plain black and red ribbons like Jaina's mum

Then I layered her chains. I made her a homecoming chain, a loop chain with her name on it

And hot glued lots of horse and band trinkets on it

A disco ball and some bells. She likes her mum to make lots of noise

I finished her mum off with curly ribbon as well. I love the curly ribbon because it really makes it pop

And because she loves butterflies, I made her a custom red, black and silver butterfly to give it that final touch

Jewell's mum was much smaller. Do you know there is a size chart for how long and wide a mum should be according to the child's grade level and there are about 16 different chains you can make. I only know a few techniques. Some of those chains are super hard to make and I do not have the patience for all of that especially a military braid, no ma'am. 

She also wanted her mum to light up so I incorporated the lights into the head of the mum with a cheer emblem I picked up from the store and glued it on. 

I did not make her any fancy chains, instead I put a bunch of cheer and homecoming ribbons on her mum

I learned last year when she wears it to school not all the kids in her grade get one, so the other kids like to touch and mess with it so the less the best at her age. The one special thing I did for her was put her name on it. 

And.... this is the one Michael's mom made her Jaina. It turned out so cute! 

This was Michael's mom first time to ever make a mum and she did a great job. Jaina loved it!

So, she got to wear two big mums at school all day.

I love the red and white only. Next year since she is a Senior the rule of thumb is an all-white mum no matter what your school colors are, and I think that is what I will be doing for her so we shall see.