I know this is an old thread, but I just thought it was interesting that some houses ban paddles completely b/c they're thought of as representing hazing. My house has an official rule of making the paddles totally unpaddle-looking...they'd be wood cut in different shapes (like animals or flowers or anything you can imagine...you can even bring in a picture and they'll custom cut it for you!) and painted cutely and then have the wooden letters and big sis lil sis stuff. But you can still get away with traditional paddles, if that's what you want. I intend to have a totally traditional paddle-looking thing, with my letters as the handle maybe, and an angel cutout and maybe a teeny bell hanging from the cutout (like you know from "It's a Wonderful Life," where "everytime a bell rings, there's an angel getting its wings"). Ha ha, I feel a little sorry for my future little sister, but I will gladly help her make it! (Hey, I'm gonna have this thing for the rest of my life--surprise nothing. Like I don't know what a paddle looks like.) Some of my pledge sisters' bigs even made them detailed blueprints! With the hundreds of dollars you spend on your little, they can spend a little time on your paddle...
