Creative Gifts for your Little
 

So I'm taking a little for the very first time, and I don't have a Big because of the way we recolonized our chapter, so I want to make a really big deal for my little. So I have a few gift ideas in mind, but does anyone have anything really cool or creative that they've done for their littles or that their big did for them?

There are lots of things you could purchase or make for your sister daughter, and it really varies with your budget and her likes and dislikes. I'm personally a craft woman, so I'd knit something such as a scarf or sew letters on a tote bag, or even paint a mug or something at a paint your own ceramics place. If you're going to have more sister daughters (and sister grand daughters etc.) perhaps you could purchase stitched letters in a particular style or color that are just for you two. If she plays golf or tennis a polo shirt with embroidered letters could be nice.

If she's a coffee or tea drinker, why not purchase one of those travel mugs where the outer plastic comes off and you can slide pictures and designs into it? My chapter has a tradition of giving sister daughters a box for their badge, perhaps you could do that or make a small pillow for her to pin her new member pin and then her badge on. Perhaps you could buy a piece of jewelery, such as a chapter guard or a symbol pendant so she can have something not lettered.

at my chapter some families will make a scrapbook for their little and give it to them at initiation. the item that everyone usually gets here for big/lil are decorated glassware from their big. ie: shotglasses, martini glasses, wine goblets. Usually the big will use some kind of puffy paint and use chapter colors, letters, etc. it's a nice useful thing!

maybe tumblers, coffee mugs, or nalgenes? you know, that whole "greeks = drunks" stereotype isnt helped by giving a little XYZ shot glasses, decorative or not.

Those padded bulletin boards with cross-hatched ribbons are always cute. Most Christmas fabric is on clearance now so perhaps you could find an inexpensive print that isn't too seasonal yet has your colors. Actually a red and cream toile with green ribbons or vice versa would be quite classic. I'm pretty sure I've seen squirrel buttons in JoAnn's in the woodland series but when I googled it, nothing popped up.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ld_oth...269939,00.html

Its a tradition in my chapter that the big sister gives the little her letters on a lavaliere. I also got them charm bracelets with some of our symbols on it. Always be on the lookout in stores for things that have your symbols on it; they make great gifts!!!

In my chapter, one of the most popular things for a big to give her little is a handmade fleece blanket (letters optional).

You will need:
Pattern/color #1: 2 yards of 60" wide fleece
Pattern/color #2: 2 1/4 yards of 60" wide fleece (extra 1/4 yard is for the letters)
Thread to match
Needle or sewing machine
Scissors
Wide open area

1. Cut the 1/4 yard off of the 2 1/4 piece (or ask the cutter at the fabric store to do this for you).
2. Draw letters onto paper or directly onto the 1/4 yd piece and cut them out. Make them 5" x 5" or larger as you prefer.
3. Sew the letters onto the #1 sheet of fleece. Location is up to you. We usually put them in a corner, but leave at least 6 inches from the edges.
4. Lie flat the two sheets of fleece, #2 on the bottom and #1 on top, letters facing out. Make the edges match as best as you can (it doesn't have to be exact, but close).
5. Fringe the edges of the blanket. Cut fringes (both sheets at the same time) about 1-1.5 inches apart and about 3 inches deep.
6. Tie all of the fringes together in double knots.
7. Admire your work and give to your little!

This is the best picture of one that I could find. You can't see the letters, but you can see how much this NM loves the blanket. :)
http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/40...425x425Q85.jpg

I took a little this year- her favorite thing from her initiation basket is her flannel blanket with our letters on it. (I had it done at Things Remembered)

It's fun to get random things that you see in stores that relate to your sorority. I also bought her a purple lion piggy bank just as a cute little addition- purple for TCU (or violets) and the lion for ADPi. :)

Depending on your knowledge of your family tree, you can give her a diagram of the family tree on pretty paper to either frame, laminate, or for a scrapbook. If your family is very large and branched, just do the names. If your family is small/you don't know much of the "genealogy"/you just want to do your branch, you can include a picture of each family member.

easy things are picture frames with your colors and letters on it, or ones that say big and little. My littles favorite gifts were a mirror that said "little now you can see yourself as a sister" and a stool that I painted and wrote her name on it, she absolutly loved it and it has now become a regular big/little gift in our chapter. Along with a blanket I knitted for her that was navy blue with yellow phi sigma sigma our chapter letters and her inititation date.

I just wanted to comment on how GREAT this is! One of the girls on the other side of my family put together the tree last year and everyone else in our chapter was jealous. She traced back several "generations", and now I've met almost everyone in my line (minus my great grand big). It made me realize just how special being in a sorority was because once you join, you're linked to people you have yet to meet!

It's definitely a neat gift- I'm considering editing mine to give to my little with her birthday present this year.

She's part of a recolonization, so there isn't a family tree. However she could start a book/journal and make an entry about herself and give it to her sister daughter, and then when that sister daughter takes a sister daughter do the same thing, and so on. It'd be a neat way to have a record and another way to document the chapter's history.

Whoops, forgot about that. I was just thinking about things my family does that I forgot what was in the original post! I actually started a scrapbook where each family member makes a page about herself and passes it down to her little. This would be a great tradition to start as part of a recolonization, since you're sure to have all of the family history!

HIJACK

well i'm not in a sorority but we did something similar for my competitive cheer squad.

the girls on the senior team would "adopt" girls on the junior team who in turn would "adopt" girls on the pee-wees so we had our own little family.

i remember the pee-wees got the most presents because they got it from the girl on the junior squad and senior squad. *the moms took care of us on the senior squad*

we normally just did this stuff when we had competitions, ESPECIALLY nationals in dallas. i still have my list from my last year i did it and all the stuff i bought

for my lil sis on the junior team i got
*hairspray
*ponytail holders
*bobby pins
*eye mask that i decorated with paint pen & glitter with her name & team name
on it (for sleep on the plane & in the hotel)
*candy
*normally 1 or 2 bottles of gatorade & water
and now the fun stuff
* a mix cd
* a picture frame with all 3 of our names on it and a picture of us
* flip-flops with our team colors tied on
* magazines for the flight

for the girl on pee-wees i got
*hairspray
*ponytail holders
*bobby pins
*eye mask that i decorated with paint pen & glitter with her name & team name
on it (for sleep on the plane & in the hotel)
*candy
*normally 1 or 2 bottles of gatorade & water
and for her fun stuff
* all the senior girls went to build a bear and made a stuffed animal for their lil sis
on pee-wees
* she also got a picture frame with all of our names on it & a picture
* coloring books & crayons for the flight *my lil sis was probably about 6 or 7 at
the time*

but yes definitely creating something means more because i ran into the girl who was on pee wees when i was on senior (aka my lil sis) and she recognized me but i didn't recognize her (they grow up sooo fast!!!) and she was like I STILL HAVE the bear you gave me from nationals! and i was like omg!! and both of the girls said they still have the picture frame.


gah i miss the days of competitive cheerleading.


END HIJACK

Michaels, etc. has some great items that you can customize. I bought framed mirrors and painted the trim in my sorority's colors and then did designs/words on them in metallic markers. I did the same with some wooden picture frames.

One of my littles made a gorgeous tote for her little by painting a design on it. I seriously couldn't believe she made it herself!

I've also seen some really cute picture frames decorated with scrapbook stickers and decals.

I wonder if the OP is talking about big/lil week or just about being a big in general.

For initiation:
I made a pillow for my little. On the front were our letters and on the back was sisterhood quote. I also passed down my favorite set of letters to her. Oh, and you can't forget the family pattern letters. I also got her a chapter gaurd for her initiation.

During her big/lil week:
-I left clues everyday to who I was.
-I made her a picture frame that said "The World Stops for My Little Sister" with our symbols and colors on it.
-Each day I gave her a red and white rose. And, then, at her initiation, I gave her the rest of them because she finally knew what they meant.
-I also made her a door hanger. I got the big sis, lil sis, spring 2007 stuff from AC Moore (cuz pledges can't display letters).
-Also a wooden little box with the words "Sigma Alpha Iota" and a rose and a music note.
-I painted a box white with red roses for her pledge and sister pin.
-I modge podged an old liquor bottle with just random stuff, wrote her a letter, and put it inside the bottle. Of course, in the card that day, I alerted her of the "letter in a bottle"
-I bought her a little sister charm.
-I think one day I also left her a dvd and let her know that one of my favorite actresses was in the movie.
-Oh, and I got a little red heart and with a sharpie I wrote "YBS loves you. SAI KG"
-And, for her pledge notebook, I made a front cover out of magazine words that said "Sigma Alpha Iota women are..." and then around it I put all kinds of words like, "classy", "talented", "beautiful"...etc. And then, on the back cover I put "But most of all, WE'RE SISTERS!" Along with a chapter picture and another sisterhood quote.

I think that's it for her big/lil week.

Currently, I'm working on a countered cross stitch for her. It's really cute. It's like potted plants, but instead of blooms it's each letter of the word "Sister". And, I also have a blanket that I'm going to get embroidered for her. And, just about every time I find something with the word "Sister" on it, I buy it for her.

(sorry for writing a novel)

my favorite gift was actually not from my big, but from another sister who was significant in my journey. It was a hand-painted box with a key-lock to keep all my "special items" from the journey in. i know that's vague, but it is very special to me. i would say that when making gifts, at least one should be very unique and meaningful to your little. for instance, picture frames and much and doorhangers are really nice, but everyone has one. make something just for her! for example, i'm an art major, and one sister gave me a painting smock with the letters on it. i love it because it's prettymuch the only one like it!

We actually did something special with picture frames for our Gamma Sig lil sisters, we bought the kind of picture frame that hold multiple pictures and decorated them with dried (or nice silk) sorority flowers, and then we placed in them pictures of their pledge period. From beginning to end, and wrote up captions underneath. They were really special.

Here is a cute cross-stitch pattern that wouldn't take long to complete. You could sew the piece as a pillow (as shown), frame it, or incorporate it as a side panel on a tote bag.

http://www.stitchworks.com/shop/Soro...mma-delta.html

QFP