Quote of the Week: September 25, 2013

This week I'm not actually going to share a quote of the week but rather a story about life.  I found this while browsing the internet and I think everyone can take something away from this article.  So read this story, it might give you something to think about.

XOXO- Taylor S

How To: Recruitment Edition!

This month’s craft project comes straight from our formal recruitment. Our recruitment chair decided that because of the mold incident (our campus decided to turn off the AC in our Greek Village resulting in mold growing EVERYWHERE. It ruined everything) we would have to make all the preference night decorations. She passed around sign up sheets at the meeting and I thought that making “puff-balls” couldn’t be too bad. Well, I thought wrong. We had to make 30 of the suckers. In all honesty, they are actually super simple to make, just not when you’re making 30 of them in one sitting.

To start, you need a package of tissue paper in whatever color you want (we went with white), a stapler, scissors, and lots of patience. Grab the package of tissue paper and count out 8 sheets.

Take those 8 sheets and fold them accordion style. When you’ve got it all folded cut off any excess, if there is any.

Next, staple the middle of the paper. I folded it in half to figure out exactly where the middle was.

Then, cut the edges. The ‘puff-balls’ look weird if you leave the edges uncut plus they’re easier to fluff later.

 

HUGE CRAFTING TIP: if you can do a little extra work now to make it easer later, DO IT. You’d be surprised how easily things go when you get the hard work out early on.

When we cut the edges, we made them either pointed or rounded. After you cut the edges it is time for fluffing! And yes, I mean exactly what you’re thinking when you hear ‘fluffing’.

Once you get the ‘puff-balls’ fluffed you can hang them by tying a piece of rope around the center part to whatever you want to hang them from!

 

Website Spotlight: Craft Cuts

Hey ladies! How have we all been the past few weeks? I hope recruitment has been going great, and I want to give a huge congratulations to all of the new member classes that we've all had the chance to take on this Fall semester!

Today, we're doing something a little different from my usual how-to. Since initiation is just around the corner for some of you, I'd like to share with you a great website that my mother found while browsing the internet one day. She had been looking for a present to get me over the summer, something she knew I'd appreciate and would last me a while to come.

Wooden Greek Letters.

If you'll remember correctly, most of us have large, Greek letters, something creative and cute to show off at events and rituals. You may remember that they look a little something like this:

Aww, lookit how cute, letters~

I'm sure that jogs your memory. I'm sure we've all posed in front of our letters and held them up, proud to display the letters that we wear across our chests and across our hearts. And, though many of us may have gotten these done by a carpenter, or someone we know, or some other hole-in-the-wall place that many of us, collectively, may have never heard of, I'm here to tell you that there's a place where you are get all of this and more for a cheaper price than you'd expect.

It's a website called Craft Cuts.

My mom should have been particularly proud of her self when she found this one. Craft Cuts is a division of a company called Woodland Manufacturing Inc. that specializes in craft lettering and shapes, small Greek letters, custom stencils, and decorative vinyl designs. Of their products, which specifically include unpainted and painted wooden letters. When ordering, you can specify a size and a width, ranging from  6inches in height to 48inches and 1/8inches in width to 2inches. They're incredibly easy to order from and have a lot to choose from. Their customer service is fast and friendly and they know what we want.

Shown below are various examples of purchases that my sisters and I have made over the past couple of months since using their website:

A set of portable letters my roommate made for tables and club fair.

A small set of letters, 6inch height and 1/4inch width, for a crate for my Little.
There were painted by the manufacturer and sent to me this way.

1 1/2inch thick and 9inch high, these are perfect for the window of my suite.

Each set of letters has been a great addition to my crafting collection as a whole. They're so convenient to have around (I buy them in sets at a time), and they're sturdy and made to last. I cannot tell you how often I've dropped the bottom set, or how often the letters on the crate get shoved into a wall while hiding it from potential littles.

As far as pricing goes, they're reasonable and cheap. Including shipping, I paid $15 for an unpainted set of 6inch letters, similar to the ones in the middle picture. My roommate paid $35 for the ones on the top, a 14inch height with a 1/4inch width.

Not only does Craft Cuts sell Greek letters, they also sell the English alphabet, stencils, vinyl wall decals, and carved monograms. On top of their painted, patterned, and unpainted finishes, Craft Cuts also sells letters made specifically for the outdoors, starting at $12 before shipping.

Craft Cuts is one of the best finds I've made since sliced bread. It has everything I could need as a demanding sorority girl and has given the answers needed to every #sororityproblem I've ever had. This site, along with Little Problems, has been the answer to many "What Am I Gonna Do For My Little?????" themed questions.

I hope everything has been going well for us all, and I hope you'll continue to follow us here at the Little Problems Blog! We love to have your smiling faces here everyday, and nothing will stop us from bringing you the best of our best. Again, congratulations to all of the new members of Greek life and a happy Bid Day to all of those to come!

Sorority Newsletter Ideas

As Correspondence chair of my sorority I am responsible for writing monthly newsletters to the chapter. As I have gone through my time as Correspondence chair I have picked up a number of ideas on newsletter making.

Pick a newsletter development platform:

Two of my favorites are Mailchimp and Microsoft Publisher. Use Mailchimp if you want kind of an e-newsletter format that anyone can subscribe to. It has a pretty simple to learn and use format and up to 2,000 people can join your list which is perfect for any chapter. Use Microsoft Publisher if you are making newsletters with multiple pages of information. I use Microsoft Publisher to make all my newsletters.

What to put in your newsletter:

Newsletters are the perfect way to keep your chapter up to date with what is going on with the chapter. Here are a couple of ideas on what to include in your sorority newsletter:

1. Sister Spotlights: If you have a particularly big sisterhood, or even a smaller one sisterhood spotlights are great! You can just include facts about their hometown, major/minor, why they chose to Go Greek, their favorite memory of Greek life, and an interesting fact about them.

2. Stories about sorority happenings: I got my sisters to write small articles about our sisterhood and submit creative works to the newsletter that they wrote about the sorority.

3. Question of the month: To get more input from sisters I asked a question each month and asked my sisters to send in responses. I tried to make them themed to the month we were in and ended up being a super cool thing.

4. Pictures: I usually make a two page spread with just pictures on it. I use all kinds of pictures from all the months happenings. If their is a sisterhood, a picture is up. Recruitment? Tons of pictures. Just show your sorority doing awesome things.

Distributing the newsletter:

I wanted to make the newsletter viewable to more than just my sisterhood. From alumnae to potential new members--newsletters are the perfect way to show what your sisterhood is made of. I use a site called Scribd to share my newsletters. It allows me to share them publicly to everyone--anyone can download them and print them off if they please, but I don't distribute copies of them in meetings.

If you would like to see some of my newsletters click here, they are all on Scribd and anyone can view them.

Quote of the Week: September 19, 2013

"When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?"

Whether you are best friends with your entire chapter, or just a small group of girls, what matters the most is that you are all sisters, and you have each other.  This is something that no one can change and it is a bond no one can replicate.  College can be such a trying time for many girls, being away from home, difficult classes, and just general stress can easily get the best of you, and this is the time that you need your sisters the most.  They are your family away from home, a shoulder to lean on and a group of girls you can vent to about anything.  Your sisters are the ones that will be there for you when you need them most, so stand together and no one else will stand a chance.

XOXO- Taylor S

You Don't Have to be PRVP to do Public Relations

So many women think that they have to be their Vice President of Public Relations to actively represent their sorority, FALSE! Anyone can, and technically everyone is always representing their chapter.

"You are always wearing your letters." 

If you are your respective chapter's Public Relations Chair like I am, I have some useful information for you to think about and potentially implement on your campus. SOCIAL MEDIA! Use it, it can be your best friend and it is a quick and easy way to keep the world up to date on what is happening, and doing it in real time. It is great for big events on campus like homecoming! Check out how I have been keeping our campus up to date on our chapter's successes during homecoming!

Members of our Battle of the Brains team right before the event! 

Here is a tip that I have learned, if you are managing multiple pages, make sure that you are posting to the desired page you want your information on, and not your personal page. Being a PRVP is definitely in need of a someone who is paying attention to the details! I have flubbed a few times where I have posted to my personal page, which is great because I am promoting my chapter, but then I have to go back and fix that post and send it to our page! Here is the most recent flub I had the other morning!

The post after our team won 1st Place in the Battle of the Brains Competition.

If you are using social media from a chapter stand point make sure that you are following up on what you have posted before, especially if it is a series of events, i.e. Homecoming or Greek Week.

Like I said earlier, you don't have to be your chapter's Public Relations Vice President to promote your chapter positively. You can talk up your chapter, post videos that inter/national headquarters provides, talk about events, successes, and just how awesome your sisterhood is! Social Media will get what you want out to the world quick but you know that saying "actions are louder than words" it is so true, even more so in the sorority world.

As members of sororities we are under such scrutiny from the public and those who do not know how awesome and special Greek Life is. Show your campus how awesome Greek Life is through you actions. Create a service project for around campus, volunteer in your local community, sit in the front of the class, get to know your teachers, be prompt on all assignments, and easiest of all WEAR YOUR LETTERS! You paid good money for them, why not flaunt them, I know that they are all adorable so why are you hiding them!

I love all of my letters! 

You are always wearing your letters, they are forever imprinted on your heart, make sure that the world knows that, and you as an individual have to remember that you don't have to run your chapter's public relations to help promote your chapter, for true success it has to be a chapter wide effort. I hope that this post has empowered you to get out, promote your chapter, and truly your letters and the organization that you are a part of.

Living in a Sorority House

Believe me when I say, the last place I ever wanted to live was in a house with 65 other girls. I never saw myself living in any type of all girls establishment, but after living in one for about a month now, I cannot begin to explain to joy I get from living here.

Unity

Living in the sorority house, has made me realize how many girls I may not have made friendships with if I had chosen to get an apartment. For the most part, we all get along extremely well and enjoy each other's company. There are always girls in the dining room studying, rummaging the kitchen pantry for food before our house mom locks the kitchen for the night, or a group having a Keeping Up With the Kardashians marathon in the TV room. So many of us have become better friends from just being able to walk into another girls room and talk about random things. 

Food 

You know I have to bring this up. THE FOOD IS SO GOOD. It's like having a homemade meal right in front of you without actually having to cook it. What is better than that? Not to mention, everyone in the chapter comes for lunch and dinner. Fried Fridays?? You don't have to tell me twice. 

Convenience 

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the fact that I have 60 other closets to raid when I need something to wear. What sorority girl do you know that is completely satisfied with her clothes in her closet?? Exactly. 

Another fabulously convenient thing about living in the house is rush workshop. I will admit, I would rather sleep until the very last minute and look not so great. (I mean my sisters have to love me regardless, right?!) Anyways, I loved being able to legitimately roll out of bed, throw some yogas and a T-shirt and go down stares three minutes before roll call. 

Obviously, every school is different. Some don't have sorority houses to live in, but if your school does, make sure and live in the house! 

Quote of the Week: September 12, 2013

"We're not sisters by birth but we knew from the start, God put us together to be sisters at heart."

I love this quote because I actually do not have any sisters of my own. Though my best from from elementary school is still my best friend now and we treat each other like sisters, I have made so many more friends that I have become close with through my sorority.  They are girls that I live with, laugh with, and will be standing beside me at my wedding.  These friendships were made through the simple choice of choosing a sorority, and that choice is one I will never regret.

XOXO- Taylor S

My Greek Life Experience: Christine Cassimus

Going Greek wasn't much of a decision for me. It was something I had wanted to do ever since I saw my brothers join Fraternities at the University of Georgia. I've never actually admitted this but I immediately ruled out schools that didn't have any kind of Greek life at all. At Queens, sorority recruitment is usually in September so the potential new members (PNMs) have quite awhile to wait. 

For me, it was pretty easy to go through recruitment because both my roommate and the two girls who lived next to us were also doing it. I had someone to rush around and get ready with. You know that old saying that you “shouldn't talk about what house you’re prefing”. Well we didn't keep to that. Every night after the parties we would talk and gossip about the different houses. All four of us had different opinions about the four sororities on campus. Preference night came and went and we were told that Bid Day would start at noon the next morning. We were also told that if someone didn't receive a bid, that girl would get a phone call early in the morning so she wouldn't have to show up. Of course this made my mind race about in fear; I thought I was going to be that one girl who didn't get a bid. My nervousness woke me up at 7AM the next morning and for the life of me I couldn't go back to sleep. So what did I do instead? What any good sorority girl would do instead: shower, shave, and make myself look perfect for bid day. I was the very last girl in my Pi Chi (rho chi for some schools) group to get my bid and when I did it was the happiest moment of my life. 

As fate would have it, I went KD, my roommate went Chi Omega, and our next door neighbors went ADPi and Phi Mu. We were still the best of friends but that didn't mean we were destined to be sisters. You can’t fight fate after all. If you are on the fence about going Greek, do it. I can promise that you won’t regret it.

Perfect Game Day Outfits for Sorority Women

I love everything about fall. The colors, the clothes, the breeze, and football season. I've been listening to Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney for about a month now just to prepare myself for it.


There is nothing better than a football game on a beautiful fall day.  It's not only a great opportunity to support your school and cheer on your team, but it's also a chance to throw on a cute outfit and represent your school or sorority!  (Luckily, I can do both of these because Kappa Kappa Gamma and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have similar colors.)  There are three looks that I absolutely love for games.

For a super casual look, wear a school t-shirt and some shorts.  Add cute accessories and sandals, and you have a quick and easy look that shows how much you love your school!  If you have a letter shirt in your school colors, this is also a great option!

If you aren't a t-shirt girl but you still don't quite want to wear a dress, I would suggest finding a cute outfit that includes your school's colors.  It's kind of like a stepping stone between t-shirt and sun dress.

One of the more popular outfit choices for sorority women at my school is a dress and cowboy boots.  I love this look, but I usually only wear a dress once or twice during the season.  You could wear a variety of dresses!

There are so many options for game day!  Be sure to wear something that's cute, but also practical and comfortable.  Game days can be pretty warm and you stand for quite some time, so you don't want to wear something that's going to make you miserable.

What are your favorite game day outfits?

Time Management 101: Dealing with Schedule Constraints

Being in a sorority is hard work. Amid sorority meetings, intramurals, socials, and library hours there is a ton of other things. You have the obvious--school, the not so obvious like a job or other extra-curriculars, and you have that pesky thing called sleep that you have to pencil in from time to time. It can be difficult, painstaking, and generally not a lot of fun. You have to learn time-management skills and I am here to give you a crash course in Time Management 101.

1. Use a planner: A sorority girls number one accessory besides her favorite pearl bracelet should be her planner. Planners are absolutely essential in college. Buy a Lilly Pulitzer one, or one out of the dollar bin--it doesn't matter. As long as there is a nice place, with a calendar, that can help you see into the future it's perfect. Once you buy the planner, be sure to use the planner. That may be a dumb thing to emphasize, but planners are nothing if you don't use them.

2. Start the year off organized: One of the biggest things is to start the year off in an organized fashion. Courses are usually back-loaded (meaning most assignments are due at the end), if you are organized from the beginning it becomes a habit and habits help you stay focused throughout the year.

3. Remember to prioritize: Pick a night (usually Sunday night) to sit down and take a serious look at the week ahead. See what's coming up in school, work, and with your student organizations and plan around that. Also take some time to look at the next week and really see what is happening long term as well as short term. That way if you have a test you need to start preparing for now you know this and can start doing what you need to do to get great grades.

4. Remember you are a student first: The scholarships you receive aren't going to evaluate your involvement and dedication to Greek life in order to be renewed. Remember that good grades are important to school life as well as Greek life. You need a certain GPA to stay in school and in your sorority.

5. Exercise your right to say no: Even during the new member process you have a right to say no to things. Taking on responsibilities is wonderful but be aware of how much responsibility you are taking on. Someone may be able to do the job better because they don't have as many responsibilities so make sure you take only what you can handle.

I hope this time management lesson was helpful for all the people who are just joining college and Greek life. For all the older sorority member what is your favorite time management tip?

Quote of the Week: September 5, 2013

"Because class isn't just something we attend"

This weeks quote is something that I feel is important for everyone, Greek, or non Greek alike to remember.  Particularly as ladies in the Greek system we always have to remember we not only represent ourselves but our entire chapter, every single day.  It's important to portray yourself in a positive light and to be the best person you can be.  Believe me, it sounds dumb and I'm sure everyone has heard it a million times, but if you wouldn't want your grandma to read the things you post on social media, don't post it.  When you are looking for a job after college you will be thankful you didn't.  Not only does this apply to pictures you post or things you say it applies to how you live your life. 

So you stay classy ladies! 

XOXO- Taylor S

Made With Love

Good afternoon, everyone! It’s Amanda, back with another of my easy and affordable snack ideas for recruitment! Now, I know for a lot of you, recruitment might either be well on it’s way or over, but I’m still holding out some hope that there are some of you left going through the same, exciting time as I am. My recruitment period starts tonight!

Along with some simple recipes that anyone can execute from their teeny, tiny dorm room kitchens, I will also be showcasing bakegreek.com, a website I found during one of my daily travels across the internet. Bake Greek is a website that specializes in Greek letter and alphabet cookie cutters. They are an official licensed product, with more products aimed toward Greek life to come.

Using their products, my organization’s recruitment chair will be baking cute and delicious Greek letter cookies to serve to the PNMs. They’ll hopefully be in for a sweet surprise! For today’s recruitment treat, we’ll be making sugar cookies from scratch. Though it may be less time consuming to simply use a Pillsbury roll, cookies made from scratch have the kind of flavor that not all cookies can capture (and how proud of yourself will you be after you’ve finished them up?)

The recipe that I’ve provided below makes four-dozen cookies (probably enough for one rotation of PNMs), but doubling or even tripling the recipe shouldn’t be a huge ordeal.

Homemade Sugar Cookies: Made with all the love of a sorority girl!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients Include:

Two 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

One teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

One cup softened butter

One 1/2 cups white sugar

One egg

One teaspoon vanilla extract

All of these ingredients can be found in small and bulk amounts at your local supermarket.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)

2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder

3. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until smooth

4. Add egg and vanilla extract into the large bowl

5. Combine the contents of both bowls gradually, kneading the ingredients

6. Separate dough into pieces and roll them up into balls.* Place onto ungreased cookie sheet

7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden

8. Remove and let cool

*If you were planning on making these little beauties into the shapes of your letters, replace this step with the Greek cookie cutters instead!

Once you've finished baking, your cookies should look a little something like this:

Look at them little golden brown nuggets.

But don't stop there! They're so boring, aren't they? And no one wants to serve boring sugar cookies to potentials. So what can you do to spice them up? Here are a couple of pictures I've found of various decorating ideas and the like to help you out.

Sprinkles!

Flower power!

Greek letters, man.

Aww yea, no one can resist these guys.

Bake Greek has some pretty awesome tutorials that would be great for decorating. They're easy to follow and really fun to execute (I know, I've tried!)

Now, if baking from scratch is too time consuming (and, with how stressful recruitment can be, this is a possibility), there's no shame in buying a couple rolls of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough. Each 16.5 oz roll makes approximately 16 cookies, but it shouldn't be hard to squeeze 20 out of the roll. The instructions are on the sides of the rolls and only takes about 15 minutes to finish up.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm gonna end up making my roommate take me out for some cookie dough in a minute or two... I hope recruitment has been going well! Congratulations to all of the new member classes that have been established and all of the beautiful new sisters to come!