One of the highlights of crossing into a fraternity or sorority is gifts. After all the hard work, you finally get to show off the organization that you labored to enter. The gifts become a part of you and your experience.
Out of all the gift that you could receive, the one of the most popular ones is a paddle. Wikipedia says that paddles are “commonly exchanged between ‘little Brothers’ to ‘Big Brothers,’ or as a gift from ‘little Sister’s’ to their ‘big Sisters. It is a symbol of their induction to the sorority or fraternity.” You honestly can’t go work with presenting someone a paddle of a gift in this situation. They make great gifts, especially for deans. A common practice is for an entire line (a line is the group of people that the dean brings into the organization). People how have been deans numerous times usually have paddles from the various lines they’ve brought in.
Following are some tips for creating a stylish paddle that everyone will remember.
Types of paddles
The types of paddles you can buy are astounding. They vary in shape and size. You can find a paddles as small as a key chain or as large as a rowing oar. Find out what type of paddle the person you are making it for would like. A general rule of thumb is smaller paddles work for girls, while bigger ones work for guys.
Also, keep in mind what you intend on doing with the paddle. If you want to spray paint it, don’t get one that finished (finished paddles look like hard wood floors). If you want to paint it with a brush, then any one should be fine.
Ways to paint paddles
Before painting, make sure that you get the correct colors. Navy blue and blue are both different and every gold isn’t the same (ex: athletic gold and old gold). However, with spray paint the color scheme sometimes varies. You may have to settle for a certain color. Make sure to see what the common color would be to settle for. For example, athletic gold doesn’t work too well as spray paint. You would be a better bet to either get yellow or old gold. See which one works better.
When you begin to paint the paddles, you should put down some newspaper so that you don’t ruin anything that you don’t want paint on. Painting with a brush is self explanatory. For spray paint, make sure you spray evenly. You’ll probably want to do more than one coat of paint. Make sure that any part of the paddle that you don’t want colored with paint you cover with duck tape.
Letters
The most popular type of letters to use on paddles are stick on letters. These letters have adhesive on the back that sticks to the paddle. They come in various shapes and sizes, so pick the ones that are best for you. Take your time when placing them on the paddle so that they won’t be crooked.
You can color the letters with paint markers. These types of markers come in various colors, so again make sure that they match your organization’s color scheme.
The Back
Usually, you don’t paint the back of the paddle. You can put a nice message on the back to make it personal to the person you are giving it to.
Other options
If you don’t want to make a paddle yourself, there are always other options. Look in various Greek Shops and you’ll find pre-made paddles for some organizations. You’ll, if you aren’t that artistic yourself, you can have a paddle with the letters burned into it, or laser burned. These usually have a nice smell to them for a time.
These are the basics for picking out a paddle. If you follow them, you’ll create a pretty good paddle that someone will enjoy.
