hahah thanks Gusteau. Never said I was embarrassed.. just that it might not compare to all of the hand done extremely creative ones hah.

But no, I didn't actually use the saw myself. I didn't trust myself at all. One of my brothers did it for me b/c he's really good with wood (can't think of better wording). The whole thing took forever and a half, though haha. He was actually amazed himself that he got into those extremely detailed parts in the handle. I did all of the sanding and many, MANY coats of finish, though.

ETA: And of course I designed it.

freshman year i made my big, a coach themed paddle because we both love everything coach.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...z/100_1862.jpg

its very pink and flashy.

yall are making me want to head to the greek store and get really creative. maybe ill make one for my new girls.

yay! i was hoping to see a pi phi paddle on here.
i love this!

Here are my plaques/nonpaddles!!
I really hate that Alpha Xi's aren't allowed to use traditional paddles, I think a huge ribbon on the handle would have been so cute!! *sigh*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43969032@N06/
hopefully that link works!

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2491139_n.jpg
My Big and I both love cherry blossoms so this is the paddle I made her. It took me longer than you would think but I like how simple it is. Its not the over the top paddles that you would normally see but that's not really for my big anyways.

Wow! That paddle is gorgeous!

our public symbol, star shield.
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3602748_n.jpg

Wow everyone's is all colorful -.- and bright and pretty and such... mine is just simple! >.< i am not very creative

hahah mine is just stained brown so you can see the wood detail


http://i48.tinypic.com/2d26tmp.jpg

That's really lovely! I'm a huge cherry blossom fan, too! I have a dish set that is blue with cherry blossoms that would match your paddle :)

LOVE this paddle. I guess I'm very similiar to your big, as I also like simplicity :)

Thanks! It was so cute, I had to make a matching picture frame for myself! You can find the cherry blossoms in the paper section of Michaels.

I figured I'd post two more pictures. As part of the BMP, you go through different stages. During Sigma you receive a Mentor and during Phi you receive a Big Brother.

Little Brothers make paddles and Mentees make rocks. Since I posted my paddle already, I figured I'd post the rock I received when I was a Mentor a year ago. Sadly, though, I don't have pictures of the rock I made for my Mentor (now my Big Bro).

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs025...._6549946_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs025...._4718471_n.jpg

My mentee ended up picking my Big Bro as his Big too, so we're pretty similar. The rock really made me smile.

FTP = Fight the Power btw

New paddle! The letters are upside down lol

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2587699_n.jpg

My Grand Big Brother gave me this paddle a few days ago. He received this paddle b/c the person who made it couldn't give it to his own Big Brother, so he gave it to my Grand Big. So, Grand Big didn't want this anymore and said I could have it (he's always giving me things!)

Also, in my head, I like to think of it as the paddle I would have been receiving this year had my Little Brother not resigned.

[which, btw, leaves me (Token 2) and Token 4 as the active tokens lol]