Handmade Sorority Gifts-Made 25 Years Ago

Ideas for Sorority Awards and Gifts
The following photos feature historic sorority gifts made 25 years ago for Chi Omega, Delta Zeta, Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu, Zeta Tau Alpha and Kappa Delta...hand-painted plaques, brown jugs, & paddle.



These sorority gift items were made in 1983. I only have pictures of the items since all of these sorority items were either special orders or were sold at the Chatter Tree craft & gift shop in Statesboro, Georgia to sorority girls from Georgia Southern College (which is now Georgia Southern University). Perhaps this blog will connect to some of the girls that actually bought or received these items as gifts. That would be so cool!

As far as I know, these were created before Greek Licensing came into being. That was back in the day when artistic ideas flourished for unique, one-of-a-kind sorority gift creations.

Perhaps, just viewing the pictures of these sorority items will inspire some of you to make something similar.

Sorority Scrapbook Paper - Alpha Chi Omega Idea

A Great Scrapbook Idea:

Start a scrapbook for your little sister this fall and let her finish it.
Include some of these pages that you print off yourself, as well as special photos of sorority events or photos of the two of you together. What a great sorority keepsake can be made by a big and little working together.

Scrapbooking Tools, Supplies & More all at Joann.com


An Ebay seller has designed beautiful sorority papers that can be downloaded and printed out on your printer. These sorority paper designs enable you to create a personalized scrapbook highlighting your sorority. UPDATE October 2009(SORRY...last I checked, these sorority scrapbook papers were no longer available!)

Make a Handpainted Delta Zeta Picture Frame with Turtle

This Delta Zeta Picture frame was made as a sample for this blog.

You Can Make One!!

Here is a hand-crafted gift that is easy to make for a sorority gift.

Recycle a picture frame and make it into a very special Big Sister/Little Sister sorority gift.

Here are some TIPS to get you started:

This picture frame was already painted olive green.

If the frame you have available is not the color that you want, or if it is scratched, etc. in need of paint.....simply paint it with acrylic paint which is available for less than one dollar. The black foam "brushes" work great for a project like this one and they, too, are very inexpensive.

I used some acid free white cardstock paper to sketch a little turtle. I colored him with colored pencils and then cut him out. I glued him to the mat that was already a part of my frame.

Try to use what you have, but you can buy different colored mats in standard sizes at craft stores.

The rest of the design is painted with acrylic paints onto the frame and then sprayed with crystal clear varnish (varnish is optional, but helps to preserve your work)

If you are not confident using paintbrushes, you can use paint pens for a very good effect. Practice the way you are going to write, first on paper before you actually paint or write on your frame. This helps prevent an undesired outcome.

Embellish your written design with some little hand painted flowers. Use the end of the paint brush to dip in the paint to make the dots of the flower. Then add stems and leaves with green paint. These, too, can be painted with paint pens if you don't like to use paintbrushes.

Scrapbooking Tools, Supplies & More all at Joann.com

Unique Delta Zeta Handbag with Greek Letters Appliquéd

For those of you looking for handmade sorority gift ideas, you can personalize a fabric tote, a makeup bag, or any item made of fabric with your sorority Greek letters to make a very unique sorority gift for a little sister or a big sister.

Directions for Appliquéing Letters to Your Sorority Handbag

Cut out fabric letters with Stitch Witchery as a means of bonding.
(Stitch Witchery- a fusible bonding material available at fabric stores).

Use iron set on Wool setting to iron letters onto the tote bag.

Sew around the outside edges of your letters with a zig zag stitch as shown in the photo above.

Make a Sorority Hat- Handmade Sorority Gift Idea

One-of-a-kind Kappa Delta Hat.



You Can Make This Hat!

Can you paint within lines?
Can you cut fabric?
Can you do simple sewing with a machine or a needle and thread?

If you can do these things, you can make a sorority hat like the one shown above.

Directions for Handmade Sorority Hat (Kappa Delta Sample Hat):

(Actually, you must buy a straw hat-mine came from Target-You just make the "medallion" patch)

From paper make a basic shape pattern for your "medallion". The sample hat has an oval shape.

Use your pattern, to cut out 2 from light colored fabric. You can use pinking shears for a zig zag edge as shown in the sample or just use regular scissors.

Draw your Greek Letters on paper. Make the outline dark with a marker.

Place your light colored fabric over the letters so that you can see the letters through the fabric and draw letters on the fabric with a pencil.

Use acrylic paint to paint your letters.

Sew back & front of oval "medallion" together with 1/4" seam allowance. (you can use a machine or just a needle and thread)

On the back side of your fabric oval, use sharp scissors to cut an small opening (only on the back) Stuff a little cotton or fiberfil stuffing through the slit to make your fabric "medallion" puffy (3D).

Use a glue gun to attach the sorority fabric oval to your hat.

That's all there is to it!

This Kappa Delta set was made as a sample for this blog. It is a one-of-a-kind Kappa Delta assortment.

Discount Sale on Sorority Rubber Clogs

If you have been wanting a pair of these sorority clogs, but couldn't spare the money, now is the time to buy and get a great deal. GreekGear is having a sale on the clogs and also on some flip flops and sandals. The sorority clogs were originally about $35. This sale offers them for only $15.95 today.

You must navigate to the "Big Discounts" page on GreekGear.com. You will find the link on the left near the top of the page.

One more thing....

I like to recommend GreekGear because of their reasonable shipping charges. With gas prices so high, postage costs keep going up. But Greek Gear charges only $5.95 no matter how big your order. So think ahead about what you will be needing in the fall for apparel and little sister gifts so you can buy your needed items all at once and only pay the flat fee, $5.95 for your shipping.