Any good big/little sis presents?

[alpha_beth]

Does anyone out there have any good ideas for big/little sis presents? Last year was the first semester that I had a little sister and I don't think she like any of the store bought gifts that I gave her. So I want to try something different. So if ya'll have any ideas please post them?

alpha_beth

[BearyCuteAPhi]

Anything you made is great!! It seems they like it when it has meaning behind it and you spent time on it for them.

Ronnie

[AOIIBrandi]

My Big made just about everything for me... Some of the best things I've received or have seen others do are:

Cork Board - Edge the outside by hot gluing w/ appropriate ribbon, hot glue a small Panda and/or Rose in the top right corner, then paint pen AOII and your names on the board somewhere.

Fabric photo album/scrapbook and/or matching fabric daytimer - these were great I still have both... See this link for instructions (bottom of the thread).

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...+OR+scrapbooks

Huge Insulated mug that has been paint penned with AOII, occasion if there is one, and your names. - I've been alum for about 5 years and still use this.

You would be amazed at what you can do with anything that is red or white, a couple of paint pens, and a hot glue gun (they cost about $5.00). I might also suggest stickers, wood letters, and other AOII type things that you can use for added decoration. I am co mpletely non-crafty but once you've seen a couple of ideas it's pretty easy.

Keep us updated

[AOII_Luv]

I totally agree with AOIIBrandi! I was a junior last year and got my first little sis! I was pretty broke so I made her the fabric photo album. I found some fabric with roses on it and trimmed it with some fun lace. She LOVED it! I did buy her some things that were already made, but I honestly felt like she appreciated the album more than anything. And, it only took aboout 1.5 hours to make.

Something else that I saw that is a good idea it to decorate a step stool. My little sis is going to be living in the house and chances are she will be either climbing onto her bed or reaching for something in her tall wardrobe. So, getting a tough plastic stool and decorating it with her name and stuff will be fun and cute too!

I like the corkboard idea! I may have to give that one a try! It's sad cause I am not that crafty so it honestly takes me about a week to plan it out before I actually get to making it!

Good luck with the gifts. Ones you make are great...comes straight from the heart!

[AOcutiePi2002]

My big sis did a lot of cute things for me during bing little week. One night, she made a cookie cake that said "big loves little" on it. I thought it was so cute. Another day, she sent me a basket of stuff, and everything in it was our lineage color. They weren't really big things either.......just stuf like jelly beans and candy, candles, and bosy wash... all stuff that you could find anywhere for realitively cheap, but it was so sweet!!!! I also got a big basket of homeade cookies, which were sooo good

Hope these ideas help!

Panda Love,

Lacey

[AOII*Azra-elle]

A girl I know got a metal bucket at a craft store, some paint pens and wrote their sorority name on it with their colors. Then put their family name on the back with the big and lid'l name on it. Then she put odds and ends type of stuff that she either made, or bought that pertained to their family or to the sorority. It was really cool and her lid'l loved it!

[AOIIalum]

My big sister made me a bunch of things for me. I still have a hanger (yes, a hanger) she made for me. It looks to be pretty simple, she took a wire hanger and wrapped it in red and white yarn. It's held up now for almost 19 years now, I could probably post a picture of it if anyone would actually like to see it.

You could also get a frame and decorate it for her, and put a picture of the two of you inside it!

I've heard of some chapters that have a tradition where the big gets the little her lavalier. If your chapter doesn't already have that tradition, maybe you could start it?

Good luck!
Roses,
Christin

[AOIIBrandi]

That reminds me...at our school the tradition for all the sororities was to get your lil those disc charms with either the letters or a rose/crest on the front and then have it engraved on the back. Our family's had the Big's initials, Lil's initials date of initiation, and the chapter's sub-motto: A.S.L.F.

We gave them immediately after initiation b/c AOII states that the only jewelry you can wear as a NM is a lavalier so it's kinda special and they have it before their pins come in. You can buy these from the Emporium or all of the greek shops in our town sold them.

[PiGirl866]

We do some really cute gifts at our chapter! During our poem passing the girls get handmade Big/Lil picture frames, candles decorated with ruby gemstones, pearls, roses, etc. They are given a really cute candy bar poster. And of course a stuffed panda! We also give our Lil's the photo album covered in cute fabric...and we usually get them letters that match the album. For their retreat the each get a care package from their Big. A big box or basket decorated with paint and filled with little nik naks. I think another cute little gift is a potted miniture rose plant.

[SoExited@FSU]

Here at FSU, we're "assigned" specific present categories to give on certain days. On the day that all the Bigs gave out snacks and candies and stuff, my Big had bought a big glass cookie jar and decorated the sides with paint pens and rhinestones, filling it up w/ all my fave candy in red and green (Our colors) I use that jar to store everything!!! Another cute thing they did for us was to decorate Mead 5Star planners for us (You know, like spiral date books) and write down all the important AXO dates inside!

[SnowLady]

I know this is going to get some responses - but I'm not trying to be negative.

Look into your Ritual. I don't remember ANYTHING that says a Big needed to spend her entire college savings on a little sis. Also, spending a week buying gifts and spending money takes away from the CHARM and EXCITEMENT of Initiation.

Please, whatever ideas you do come up with for your "rose week" "I-week" celebrations - don't forget why you're there. And don't make the pre-initiation parties bigger and more exciting than Ritual itself. Ritual should be the HIGHLIGHT of the week. (and to be really on the HQ train - it should NOT be a week of celebration). Ritual should not be a let down after all the gift giving.

If your chapter has not already done so - please suggest putting a limit on the amount of money that is spent on lil sis gifts. That way one New Member isn't getting more than others. You shouldn't be rich to be a big sis. You should be an elder sister willing to guide your lil through her chapter experience.

In the chapter I advise- they actually buy gift packs from The Emporium so that everyone is equal. They also buy their lavalier and exchange panda paddles.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't give gifts - but look around. Is everyone getting the same amount or are there those that can afford to spurge? Does that make their lil sisters better? Of course not. Think of the lil sisters when they're together and make sure that they ALL feel welcome.

When you get back to school, pull out the Ritual book and read it alone. See what you feel. Look into your heart and then come up with the appropriate gifts. Really, if we don't have our Ritual - why are we in our sorority?

Roses,
Heidi

[cbee926]

big/little week in my sorority is a HUGE deal. it consists of 5 nights:
the first night is just door decorating and usually you bake your little some type of food.

days 2,3,and 4 are usually themed nights based on what is a tradition in your family or just something that you like. I think this year the themes that I am going to do for my little is
day2: spa/pamper night
day3: drink night
day4: sorority night

then day5 is the big/little reveal. usually we host it at one of the girls apartments (we do not have a house) and all of the sorority comes and we do a guessing game for the littles to guess who their big is. then the big usually presents the little with one last gift that night. it tends to get quite expensive hence why I have been saving all last semester just for my little for this upcoming semester.

[sarahanne]

I love fleece jackets, so my little and I are going to Old Navy and get matching fleeces and have them embroidered with AOII on the front with our name under it. It's not that expensive, Old Navy fleece jackets are cheap, and getting the jacket embroidered isn't too expensive if you keep it simple.

[barnard1897]

In our chapter, tradition dictated that the bigs made special pillows for their littles. Mine was unlike any of the others. My big sis took a ivory satin heart shaped pillow, then put rose potpourri on top of it and then sewed an overlay of lace over the potpourri so that it would be visible and of course, smell amazing. I still have that, two decades later. Every new member had her own special pillow and it was so exciting after our roses and wishes ceremony when we each opened ours.

She also made me an AOII scrapbook that was covered in fabric and had AOII embroidered in a small frame that was attached to the front cover of the book. I don't know how she did all of this but it was really touching. In it were photos of our big/little lineage, as there was another of her littles still in the house. Each page was signed by the other sisters in the chapter (we had about 50), who each wrote a little poem, drew pictures, included a saying, or penned a letter to me about why they loved AOII or why they felt I would be an asset to the chapter. It was really something to be cherished, and the unique personalities of each sister came out in their notes. I still keep in touch with my big sis even though she lives on the west coast now.

With the wealth of scrapbooking and pillow-making kits out there today, you could easily try something like this for your little. Of course, the most elegant idea to me is still the simplest-a silver AOII photo frame that could be used to feature a photo of the 2 of you. She could use it long after graduation.

[rhodester]

Go to Michaels and look at the wood aisle! and buy acrylic paint in your sorority colors and a few paint pens! you can do so much more than you think with these items and save yourself a lot of money!
i raided the wooden craft aisle in Micheals. i bought a small wooden chest for her pin. i
painted it and put her initials on the top side.it only cost a dollar!
i also bought a few wooden frames and paint penned them and painted them. i found a three tier picture frame hanger and painted it with three different designs. it only cost $5 and it looks like i bought it somewhere! it decorated the first frame with rhinestones to spell out "AOII" and hot glued a scrapbook felt panda on the other side of the frame. the next frame i painted white and wrote in red paint pen "classy and fabulous." the last frame on the hanger is red with white polka dots. it is absolutely adorable and so much fun to make.
i also decorate a cork square 1ft by 1ft by gluing a polka dot ribbon border. i then put our flower in the top left corner and a panda scrapbook felt sticker in the bottom right corner. i wrote "AOII" above the panda with a paint pen. it looks great! and it only cost about $6 to make.

i also found a wooden hoor hanger and decorated it with a panda sticker, paint, and wrote "an AOII lives here." i decorated the other side by writing the letters vertically and adorning them with rhinestones. it only cost $1 for the door hanger

in addition, i decorated 7 styrofoam cups by paint penning them with simple "AOII" on the front and the back of the cup. i stacked them and put them in a clear cellophane bag and tied it up. the ends stuck out and i curled a lot of red and white ribbon and tied it to hold the end. it looks really professional--i got the idea from a site called www.shopthehanger.com and i saved a lot of money. this goft cost $3. so cute and so original!

i paint penned a trashcan.

I bought a picture frame with a mirror in the frame at Michaels. I painted it and painted penned "I'm an AOcutieII" and adorned it with 2 raised rose scrapbook stickers. adorable! my big made one for me and i love it!

i wrote our chants on the rim of a laundry basket and looped ribbon around the holes.

i found a set of red towels at TJMaxx and i embroidered them with a white "AOII." I did that with a red snuggie too. (inexpensive if you can find a local seamstress or friend)

I made a party mix cd and found an inexpensive makeup case and decorated the handle with fake roses on a wire. i put red lipgloss and red polish in the case.

paint penning wine glasses from the dollar tree is a great gift too.

I also found a wooden heart in the wood aisle at michaels and painted it red and wrote "alpha" for our sorority's phrase "alpha love"