This Easy Hack Will Turn Your Dead Mums Into Sparkly Holiday Decor

It’s October, and you know what that means. Mums are everywhere. The hardy subshrubs, as botanists call them, come in yellow, purple, and orange and are ubiquitous this time of year, nestled on porches beside pumpkins from Texas to Toppenish, Washington. But their beauty is fleeting. It seems just as soon as the trick-or-treat candy has been put away and the temperature drops, the blooms wilt and the festive plants lose their luster. That’s why mom Brittany Mitchell's public Facebook post went viral. She’s figured out a way to recycle dead mums into fabulous Christmas decor.

"For all you fellow mum killers! Look at this," Mitchell wrote.

"We can just turn them dead things into Christmas decor! Who knew lol"

Her post quickly earned 4.6K emoji responses and 16K comments. The reason? Mitchell’s idea is easy, genius, and involves sparkle: When your mums die and turn into brittle bushes, give them a facelift and transform them into glittery, metallic holiday stoop decorations. All you need are some small Christmas ornaments and a can of spray paint.

Here’s how to copy Mitchell's mum look:

1. Buy some spray paint. It can be any color, but Mitchell used silver. Metallic will likely deliver the biggest statement.
2. Put some newspaper or something down that you don’t mind getting paint on and place it in an open space outdoors. Then spray paint the mum.
3. Let that glittery plant dry, then take colorful Christmas ball decorations and nestle them within the branches for an up-cycled, sparkly holiday bush.

This YouTube tutorial from craft influencer Jennifer Allwood takes a similar approach (and shows how to spray paint your plant).

Guaranteed to garner neighborhood attention, this holiday hack is easy, affordable, and saves you a trip to the dumpster with your dead mums — or, the trouble of attempting to overwinter them in the hopes they’ll return next year.

Instead, answer your inner need to glam-ify your home for the holidays and double down on that winter glow by throwing some glitter on those crunchy brown branches. Heck, drape them in holiday lights, too. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to repurposing dead mums. All you need is to channel your inner crafter and use your imagination.

Oh, and should a neighbor ask if that is, in fact, a dead plant under all that paint, don’t worry. We won’t tell. Mum’s the word.