those are AMAZING!

Thank you. I am in semi-retirement from paddle-making because I am almost certain the paint fumes make me sick. And yes, I use a mask.

OMG! Paddles is my chapters' thing! Littles give them to bigs after initiation. (chapter tradition)

Some are traditional with a creative flair (ex. a "normal" paddle but the handle is Tinkerbell).

My paddle is a HUGE painted Lightning McQueen from the movie "Cars" because that is my obsession!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i6.../mypaddle2.jpg

There was a Mickey Mouse with a moving top, a HUGE actual Sleeping Beauty, the witches from the poster of "Wicked" (gorgeous), a HUGE moon/star combo. A neon pink "A" (both big & lil had names that began and ended with "A"). My big was a TKE Sweetheart and I knew and she didn't know, so we got initiated the day of TKE Formal, and I gave her a red heart with a cute slogan having to do with her nickname and her being sweetheart when they announced that she had the position at the formal! All the letters were painted silver.
Another of my pledge sisters went by the nickname "Pimpin'" so she made her big a HUGE pimp cup with bling and everything it was so neon pink it looked orange! We've also had a huge ballerina, toe shoes, and the list goes on.

My chapter is HUGE on paddles, I'll try to post some of the pics so you can see! We usually have big's name, pledge class, and season/year, and little's name, pledge class and season/year on them. Some girls don't ask around to see exactly what should go on a paddle and it can make you feel bad when people bust out with some of the gogeous creations that they do and you put like 5 minutes of effort into it. It gets crazier every year! It helps that one of the girls' father cuts wood and can make any shape. It's not a requirement, but it's a beautiful ceremony and we encourage everyone to participate. And even if they come with just a simple plaque, it's appreciated.

At my chapter, big sisters made the paddles for their lil sis, and gave the paddle to them after initiation.
I have pictures, but can't figure out how to put them in the post without them being on a website...

hahaha, my org is known for having crazzzzzyyyy paddles. My PE paddle was 5 ft tall. :D :D

We got paddles during Big Sis revealing.

We also did a paddle exchange, and there were always sisters who did their own paddle exchange on the side.

I have four paddles. One is yellow with frogs all over it. Another is pink with pink polka dots, another is purple with plaid letters, and the last one is gold and tiger striped w/ivy.

At my chapter, the little Sapphire Sisters give it to their big Sapphire Sisters, sometime after initiation...

I only have one, and I still love it!!

Sorry for the photo quality, I had to use my camera phone...

Here's the whole paddle - I am one of the twin founders of the Cheetah Family, thus the cheetah:


Here's a closer look at the airbrushed cheetah:


I love it, it's the first thing you see when you walk into my room!

these are all beautiful... I would love to see more!