To create the perfect Whataburger mum, we partnered with DIY blogger Haeley Giambalvo from DesignImprovised.com. Follow her step-by-step directions below to create your own. 

What You’ll Need:

• 4 large heart backers (12” x 11.75”)
• 5 large mums (6” wide)
• 2 rolls of orange acetate ribbon (1 5/16” wide)
• 2 rolls of white acetate ribbon (1 5/16” wide)
• Various styles of ribbons
• Trim and accessories
• Hot glue sticks
• Glue gun
• E6000 glue
• Stapler
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Sparkly orange pipe cleaners
• Whataburger fry box

Step 1:

Overlap two heart backers to create a “W” and line up the holes. Staple together to secure.

Step 2:

Insert a large mum in each of the five holes, and secure in place with a generous amount of hot glue.

Step 3:

Make striped “wings” for the Whataburger “W” by cutting tenn 3-inch” strips of orange acetate ribbon and eight 3-inch” strips of white acetate ribbon.

Starting with the orange ribbon, layer five 5 orange and four 4 white ribbons, making the orange a little wider than the white. Overlap each ribbon and secure with a bead of hot glue. Create a rounded edge,  and trim as needed with scissors.

Slide each of the “wings” under the mums (in between the backer and the mums), and secure to the front of the cardboard backer with hot glue.

Step 4:

Create ribbon loops to edge the mum by cutting 7-inch” long strips of acetate ribbon. You will need 12 orange strips and 14 white strips.

Create a point by bending the ribbon in half and overlapping at the bottom. Make sure the shiny side of the ribbon is facing the outside. Staple in place. Repeat with the rest of the ribbons.

Add the ribbon loops around the outside of the wreath with hot glue. Nestle them under the mums, and alternate between orange and white.

Step 5:

Create the back of the mum by overlapping the two backer hearts similar to step 1; Staple together.

Step 6:

Cut a variety of ribbons three-feet  3 ft. long to hang from the mum.

Overlap at the base of the mum backer, and secure with a generous amount of hot glue. Avoid covering up the holes for the mums.

Step 7:

Personalize your mum ribbons with letter stickers. We spelled “whatamum!”

You can add additional embellishments, accessories, and trim to jazz up your mum.

Step 8:

Create a harness for your mum using a sturdy, thick piece of ribbon. Measure the ribbon to the appropriate length to fit around the neck. Attach the ribbon to the top of the mum backer with staples and a generous amount of hot glue.

Step 9:

Finish the mum by adhering the front hearts to the back hearts with a generous amount of hot glue. You can use a strong adhesive such as E6000 to make the mum extra secure. For the finishing touch, add a Whataburger fries box with sparkly orange pipe cleaners bent in half to look like fries!

And, for him, it’s not about numbers.

“It doesn’t matter if you did 1 or 100, you were there to help. That’s all that matters,” he says.

Lann, 39, lives about 200 miles northwest of Houston, in Blooming Grove, Texas. He spent four days ferrying people to dry land from homes swallowed by Hurricane Harvey floodwaters. Despite the physical and emotional demands of the days, Lann talked fast when he pulled off the road on his way home to share his story.

“I’m flying on Red Bull,” he says. “The adrenaline left a while back.”

With a borrowed boat in tow and a social media army behind him, Lann plowed through headlight-deep water in his Dodge pickup truck and arrived in Dickinson Sunday night and went to work.

Elderly people in wheelchairs were neck-deep in water as Lann and other rescuers in the neighborhood helped them to safety. National Guard trucks plied the streets looking for people on rooftops.

“These poor elderly people couldn’t even get outside to put something on their door much less get on the roof,” he says.

On Tuesday in Hardin, Lann helped a family with a baby that had been without formula for a couple of days. “We went and got food and baby stuff,” he says.

“First thing Wednesday, I got a call that Port Arthur was hit bad. I started hauling butt,” he says.

In Port Arthur, Lann teamed with a new friend, Beaumont boxer Quantis Graves, who was with a group of men looking for people who needed help.

Like other rescuers, they responded to social media pleas for help that poured in from concerned relatives all over the country. Lann posted his mobile phone number and urged his followers to use the Zello walkie talkie app to communicate with rescuers.

“We spent 10 to 12 hours on that boat saving people in Port Arthur,” Lann says.

On his Facebook page, Graves posted about meeting Lann and working with him.

“We were a unit, we came together as one team to complete a mission that was sent from God regardless of skin color. He and I saved people of all colors. I am honored to have met such an incredible person who would drive from Dallas, TX to Port Arthur, TX to help everyone that needed it.”

"Real Life Heroes" by James Lann