You'd Never Guess These Gorgeous Potted Mums Are Fake — Here's How To Make Your Own

Mums (Chrysanthemum indicum) look great for a bit, but they turn into a disappointment fairly quickly. Without proper care, the mums that you buy at the store fade and die within a few days. So while they look stunning at first, they're frustrating and hard to love. But instead of going down that route, why don't you use a bit of DIY magic to make a gorgeous artificial mum arrangement? These look as good as real, and they're not going to die anytime soon. Sure, there are ways to plant potted chrysanthemums so they come back every year, but this DIY is an easy alternative for those with a brown thumb. If you're not sure how to keep real mums alive, try this DIY.

To do this DIY, you'll need a styrofoam dome, some green spray paint, artificial mums, and a small wooden rod. To place these fake mums out, simply use a flower pot you like and fill it with soil mix, pebbles, or sand. And to finish it all and make sure this DIY lasts, you can use some Lunza UV Protectant Spray for Outdoor Decor, which helps protect the faux flowers by blocking UV rays that typically fade and damage them when left outdoors. That way, you can reuse this DIY year after year.

This is a simple DIY that you can do in an afternoon. You can repeat this with other types of faux flowers, too, and even change things up by using glued-on fake moss instead of green paint. For a different look, you could also consider using smaller foam domes and pots to create small indoor flower arrangements that fit nicely on shelves and tables. This DIY is an easy and affordable way to give fake plants a luxury upgrade.

The idea for this DIY is to use the foam dome to give the flowers a bouquet shape. You can find domes like these Crafjie Hollow Half Foam Balls online or at your local craft store. Choose the dome size based on how large you want the DIY to be, keeping in mind that it needs to fit snugly inside the top rim of the flower pot you're planning to use. Before attaching the flowers to it, cover the dome with green spray paint so that the foam isn't visible between the petals.

Once the paint is dry, push the stems of fake mums into the foam to arrange them like a bouquet. If the artificial flowers you're working with have long stems, like these Artificial Mums from Amazon, simply cut off the ends and keep an inch or 2 only before the petals. Another option is to cut right before the petals and to use a hot glue gun to secure the flowers in place on the dome. Both techniques work, so choose whichever you're most comfortable with.

When you're done covering the entire dome with the faux flowers, place a wooden rod at the bottom. If you're working with a hollow foam dome, which doesn't allow you to push the rod into it, then you can use some hot glue to attach it to the inside of the dome instead. The goal of the rod is to hold the flower DIY down and prevent it from flying away. To do this, push it into the soil, sand, or pebbles inside the flower pot, and you're done. Leave these out on the porch as long as you want, and reuse them every year as fall decor.