The branded items that everyone got in my chapter were:
* jersey (one similar to this:
http://somethinggreek.com/shop/shope...y+Jersey&id=99 -- you either got it in your sorority colors, or school colors so you could wear it to the games)
* koozie (yes, I realize this "dates" me)
* hand-painted plastic frames for party pics
* key chain (sometimes, it was a floaty key chain)
* shorts with your letters either on the leg OR ... across the butt (gosh, what were we thinking --
http://www.customgreekthreads.com/Gr.../4822.lscs.htm Sorry, Alpha Phi, this was the example I found)
With my budget, I had to be inventive. Luckily, I can sew and had access to a sandblaster & wood carving/burning machine, so I made my big & little (plus my Sigma Chi big & little brothers) items with Greek letters like:
* frosted glasses (& pretty much anything else you could frost: mugs, coffee cups, pitchers, vases, picture frame glass, etc. -- there was a glass products outlet in town and, let's just say, I WENT to town! Cut letters out of duct tape, put it on the glass item & sand-blast away.)
* anything I could sew letters on: sweatshirts, bath towel wraps (with letters & cute trim), tote bags, jerseys, and duffel bags (until someone called it a "shag bag" & then I stopped)
* things you could burn in an owl or letters: Owl pencil holders (my big, my little & I STILL have these ... after all these years), smoking pipes with the Sigma Chi cross & letters (and I am SURE my fraternity big brother and little brother ONLY used these for pipe tobacco ....), wood picture frames, paddles, etc.
I am still "crafty" (yeah, both ways), so as an Advisor, I make things for the UCLA chapter for a "Must Be Present To Win" raffle at Chapter Dinner/Meeting. The favorite thing I've made is a hockey jersey with our letters on front, owl patch on 1 arm, scull & crossbones patch on the other arm & 1895 (our founding year) on the back.
Hybrid Mode
