New Lineage
 

Ok, I've just reaffiliated with a new chapter at another school and rush is upon us. I went through informal recruitment and have no idea what to expect, plus I am picking up a little diamond. I'm way nervous and want to be a good big sister - but I'm very poor after dues and paying for school so I was wondering if any of you have any good ideas for fun traditions to start or any money saving tips on gifts, letter making, etc. Have fun with this! Hugs, Katie

Dollar stores are very handy... You can get items and decorate them so they are entirely original... You can usually get cute wooden boxes to make into pin boxes... In general making things can be the cheapest way to take a diamond sister but make them feel very loved... I personally did drawings for each of my diamonds, and everyone loved them... They only cost me the dollar frame I put them in...

like nauadpi said the dollar stores are your friend! Discount department stores like Walmart are also good too.. they have a pretty extensive craft dept. and it's mostly all pretty inexpensive!

I bought these clear glass jars with lids, and some acryllic paint (altogether it cost about $5.. you can get acryllic paint @ walmart for 88 cents a pop, and the bottles last FOREVER!) and painted letters and swirlys and violets and diamonds, and viola'! You have a Qtip jar! (or candy jar... or whatever!)

Last spring some girls went to Walmart and bought a canvas bag (around $2), some inexpensive fabric, wonder under (stuff that makes the fabric stick to the bag by ironing it), and paints and made cute letter bags for their diamonds.

Something else you can do is make a card for her! Use MS Word, or any other type of application to put in pictures, letters, and a cute message for her.. print it out (on cardstock or even regular printing paper) and you have a cute personalized card to give her :)

I'll try to think of some more for you... :)

As others have said, the small, personalized items are great (and pretty inexpensive). Utilize the discount stores/dollar stores around you. I've made a pin box for myself, my diamond, and my Secret Santa person one Christmas and I think for all three of them it cost me less than $15. I've also done the glass jar and made a candle holder/candy jar, or another idea is to get a clay pot and paint it, then get some marbles and put them in the pot (like dirt) and take some ballpoint pens and a few silk violets (or any other flowers you like) and wrap the pens with floral tape to cover the pen and hold the flower at the top, and you can make your own pot of violets that is a great desktop accessory (my diamond now has hers on her desk at school).

Making your own letters to wear or making a tote bag with letters are pretty inexpensive too. :)

I also picked up little lions and other cute things when I've come across them...one of the gifts I absolutely loved was my blue lion sippy cup that my diamond got for me from Walmart, or buying a 3-pack of wooden picture frames from IKEA (not sure if they have them in NC, but we have them here in CA) and paint those, then put stickers on them (or paint other symbols/words) before painting some sealant on the top.

Best of luck with your new diamond! :)

Talk to the NMC at the new chapter. At this year's DLC, it was stressed that Delta Diamond Sisters should not be paying for any gifts out of pocket, and that all new member gifts need to come from the NMC budget.

Of course, it was also indicated that as a Delta Diamond, you will want to share ADPi with your Alpha Diamond. Writing little notes and giving her small "happies" (an inexpensive plush lion, baking cookies, giving her some of your old ADPi t-shirts, etc.) are perfectly acceptable.

Time spent with your diamond sister is the most precious. Make an effort to call her weekly and make plans to include her with your friends and ADPi sisters-- lunches, watching TV at night, exercising together, studying together, etc.

That is totally impossible at a chapter of Beta Tau's size (65 total--usually at the time of new Alphas we have 45-50 Delta's) for us to afford to give the diamond sisters gifts-- the NMC budget is not big enough for that! My chapter would purchase a little goody bag for our new members (first car decal, pencil/pen, etc), but never did the chapter buy anything for the new members relating to Diamond Sisters. That would break the bank!

I think the appropriate thing is buying small items from the dollar store or someplace inexpensive as listed in the above postings. But, just like ADPiUCF said-- always remember when you are an older diamond or even a younger diamond-- sometimes just a hug, a phone call, or simply dropping by to visit means so much more than anything you can buy!

Hi Akron,

I come from a chapter where the average new member class is around 65! So I understand where you are coming from that the NMC budget doesn't fit, and the chapter needs to adjust the budget to accomodate for this. The idea is more women can be sponsors to the alphas if they're not forking out $100+ on gifts. It's a noble cause, and the TME Directors are supposed to be looking at the Alpha Ed Planning Outline to make sure this adjustment was made to the budgets, but... noble intentions.

And yes, the best thing you can give a Diamond Sister is LOVE AND ATTENTION. Those don't cost a thang ;)

Katie,
I have to co sign with what everyone else is saying.

Honestly, the best things I received from my diamond were notes that she would make herself on computer paper saying stuff like "adpi loves you", etc...

Plus, she did a lot of hand things, like she gave me jars and used paints on them. Quite inexpensive.

Cosign on everything adpiucf said.... We actually made this changeover in 1996 when I was the NMC, and I was met with a LOT of resistance from some of the chapter members. And even still now that I advise them, they fight it. I know that they all want to spoil their diamond sisters, but some women, especially at my chapter, just don't have tons of money for it. There are those who get complete financial support from their parents and don't have to work to pay dues or tuition. And then others who have to work 20 hours a week to cover expenses.

The worst thing is to see some of the Alphas get lavish gifts and others get nothing. They can't help but think that their diamond sister doesn't care for them, when in reality they are struggling to make ends meet. This year, our chapter will have approximately 52 Deltas, and possibly 30 Alphas. (That's the way it always is, as we are a smaller state university where people start out and then transfer after a couple of years to a larger school.) Therefore, a vast majority of our chapter must serve as a diamond sister - so we can't just say, "oh, those of you who can't afford to get gifts, just don't volunteer."

It really has helped QUITE a bit by enforcing the policy of gifts coming from the chapter rather than the diamond sisters. I know that there is gift exchange going on under the table, but at least it isn't out in the open to make those who don't receive them feel bad. Basically we upped dues by 20.00 per year. This allows the NMC budget approximately 30.00 per Alpha on gifts. It might not seem like much, but when you buy stuff in bulk, you get much better prices, and the Alphas love their gifts!

Katie, I know this doesn't help your situation, but hopefully your chapter will soon catch on to the policy. Suggestions for you specifically:

1 - Check ebay! Usually some cute stuff on there that is cheap.
2 - Find some of the websites that sell in bulk, and enlist some other Deltas to go in with you and get 6 or 10 of a same item to reduce the cost.
3 - Like others have said, bake cookies, brownies, etc. Use the blue and white tube icing and write stuff on them.
4 - See if you can find some recently graduated seniors from this chapter or your old one who have things they'd be willing to give you or sell cheap so that new members can enjoy them as well.
5 - Get a lavalier that you start the tradition of being passed from diamond sis to diamond sis. She'll appreciate that next year and not having to buy one!
6 - Get a clear glass jar from the dollar store (or use an old soup or mayo jar) and get a $1 decal with letters to put on it. Fill it with Hershey Kisses or her favorite candy.
7 - Or do the same with a cheap white plastic coffee mug. (These two things happen to be sitting on my desk right now!!)
8 - Pass down some of your tshirts from your old chapter (or find someone willing to give theirs up). She'll love something that no one else will have!
9 - Get a plain bulletin board from Wal-Mart and decorate it for her with ADPi stuff.

I'll keep my eye out for you for anything that might be on sale. :)

Our biggest solution to the big gift/small gift/no gift issue is that we were/are not allowed to give gifts to our Diamonds in front of others-- then Alpha Susie does not know Alpha Katie is getting a crest blanket when all she got was a card made off the computer!! Overall we could not make the no gift giving thing work-- because some would never follow it-- so just making it private helped a lot!

Also...if you have a crafty mom or grandma.....

My mom use to always cross-stitch different ADPi stuff for all my littles. I wasn't crafty enough to do cross-stitch but my mom always enjoyed making stuff like that for my littles.

I think I've said this before, but my roomie (who was also my little - when we had them!) and I passed a trophy back & forth. I had won the little trophy, and there was a slot where you could slide out the brass inscription and make a new one. I think it went back & forth for at least 3 years, with various "awards" - "Biggest Klutz", "Most Likely To Date a Sailor", "Most Likely to Own 15 Cats", and a lot of really crazy things.

And it cost absolutely nothing!

All great ideas.

I also wanted to let you know about the new rules national put out. I am assuming that they are for all ADPi chapters. I know our chapter was informed of this because I talked with some people on executive board this week and they told me about it.

Anyways, it is always so hard when you take a diamond. Some people go WAY overboard in buying stuff. We had one girl a few years ago I heard about who spent like 600.00 on her diamond and that is SOOOO hard for most girls when you work to pay for things and you dont have all the money in the world to buy them things.

I had heard that nationals wants to stress the importance of diamonds and the relationship, not the gifts so their new rule is that you are not allowed to give your diamond gifts. Usually we gie our diamonds gifts every meeting or leave gift bags or gifts on the steps in the front of the house for the girls. Nationals does not want that to look like one girl gets way more than another girl so they ask you to still leave the girls notes and if you want to give them a gift give it to them away from the sorority house. Same with initiation. Usually we give them a TON of stuff that day and we are now asked to only give them one gift so that it doesnt look like one girls gets way more than the others. This promotes all girls to take diamonds when before people would shy away from that due to money issues. Now the money issue is suppose to be lessened because you are not to give gifts and stuff. Now I know people will still give diamonds stuff but not noone really sees all one girl got and what another may not get.

Im not sure if this is the case at all ADPis but I know our chapter was told of this and will be following this this fall and from now on. I actually think its a great thing. Of course you can still make them cute things and buy them things but giving it to them at a diff place makes it much easier on all girls taking diamonds.

If you chapter isnt following this, I agree on the dollar tree and dollar stores. Id go to the everythings a dollar and get cute pic frames and paint them and write ADPi on them and it was so cheap and so personalized. Id buy cute bags to put candy in and cute note pads and all sorts of things you can do. Its so much more cost effective and so much more from the heart. Id bid on ebay items over summer of cute things that were cheaper than buying them and then give those things in my gift baskets too. Id buy the baskets and ribbons and stuff at the dollar store too. The dollar trees here are HUGE now and have so much stuff. You just use your imagination and you can make such cute things. Candles, all sorts of stuff. Also Walmart is my savior. If I couldnt get stuff from dollar store, I got it from Walmart. Also go to art.com and you can find some cute prints or posters of lions or violets if you type those names into the search. Recently I found a cute violet picture for 3.99. If they are freshmen, go to the campus bookstore and get them a cute keychain or something with the schools name on it. Writing poems about friendship, sending them cute emails or notes. Get a bunch of cheap poster boards from Walmart or Dollar Store and take markers or paints and put ADPi or cute ADPi sayings or your names on them and get into their dorm room and put them on their dorm door to surprise them or if they live off campus, make them and stop over with them. Leave them a note on their car, cook them dinner one night, take them to a cheap movie, so many things to do. Start a family tradition and make something that can be passed down from diamond to diamond sister. Take tons of pictures of her and you and her with her new alphas and make a collage for her or put them all on a pillow, you can scan them and iron them onto a pillow. Find out their fave stuff like candy or something and make them a cute basket filled with that stuff. All simple, cute ideas that mean so much to them but are inexpensive. Let us know if you need anymore help hon. :)

Our chapter used to operate a little differently, but from what lyrica9 told me, I think we're going to start putting all the Diamond gifts somewhere in the budget.

Before, we are usually told by the NMC what to get, that way every Alpha gets pretty much the same thing. For Diamond Discovery last fall for example, we were told to get a small basket, candy, a small plush lion, and a couple of small items like pens/pencils for example. We are also given a spending limit like $15 for example.. so if the Delta Diamond wants to get something other than pens/pencils, she can, as long as it is within the spending limit.

We did the same for Diamond Days. For initation, our chapter already has New Delta gifts in the NMC budget, so everyone in the nm class gets the same items. Some Deltas (myself included ;)) bought their diamonds a couple small items to include with the gifts that the chapter had budgeted for. For example one of the gifts was a frame, so I got a reprint of a picture of her Alpha class at the Fall retreat and put it in the frame... or some inexpensive towels with our letters embroidered on them.. just small stuff.. nothing like a huge crest blanket or anything like that.

As Delta Diamonds we were encouraged to spend lots of time with our Alpha Diamonds or do small things like give them a card on meeting night. That's another thing I did... I went to Walmart and bought some cute cards that were blank inside and gave her one each week with words of encouragement (if she had a bad week last week for example... or if she had a big test coming up) and general happy thoughts about how glad our chapter was to have her :)

I'm not exactly sure how it's going to work now.. I think lyrica9 might have more info to elaborate. She mentioned to me the other day that they were going to be budgeting for gifts for Alphas, that way Delta Diamonds don't have to make it an out-of-pocket expense (even though we love to spoil our Alpha Diamonds!!!)

Just re-iterating this to go along with Shannan's post!

Maybe things changed but it was that way when I was there-- except for violet sister gifts on the stairs-- which are supposed to be totally "banned"!