ZTA Sister Makes Unique Sorority Jewelry

ZTA Wine Glass Charms made by Tricia (see link below article)

Sorority Wine Glass Charms

I asked Tricia how she got started making and selling sorority gifts and I am so pleased that she agreed to share her story with us.

FROM TRICIA:

I was in Zeta Tau Alpha in college and my sister and I were always trying to come up with creative ways to give gifts to our sisters without spending a fortune. We made and sold ZTA T-shirts, pins, and hair accessories during college.  During our year after graduation we spent some time traveling along the East Coast and partly paid our way by taking our hand-made shirts to various chapters and selling them after chapter meetings.   We had a fun time being creative and impressing our ZTA sisters.

A couple of years ago (after a 12-year Air Force career and 2 years of teaching), I found myself at home starting a family.  I still love being creative and one day decided I wanted to make wine glass charms.  They’re so fun, but they always seemed kind of expensive and I wanted them personalized to my friends’ interests.  As I got going I found so many cute charms and had soon found these ZTA symbols:  the crown,  strawberry,  Cuddlebunny,  and Hope ribbon."

"I researched many of the other sororities’ symbols and soon I had a little eBay business going on.  A friend who is a Kappa Kappa Gamma was amazed when she saw wine glass charms at my house with the owl, key, and fleur-de-lis.

Wine glass charms were my start and that’s why my store is called “Tipsy Tags”.  But, I didn’t want to limit myself to wine charms so I expanded into other jewelry:  necklaces, earrings, bracelets, cell phone charms, keychains, and bookmarks.  It has been fun providing unique inexpensive gifts to so many people.

I love the uniqueness of my items and I love getting positive feedback from my buyers!  I know how nice it is to be able to give a thoughtful little gift, and especially in this economy it’s great to be able to find one that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.  I also love providing the service of customizing my gifts.  I have a lot of buyers who ask for special colors or a change in charms and I always try to give them exactly what they want.

Chi Omega Bracelet

(see link below article)

It’s funny that you mention the pandas. (I told her that I especially liked the Panda charms and earrings, etc.) I think they’re my best-sellers now (necklaces, bracelets, earrings, keychains, and more!)  I’m personally fond of them because my little daughter is adopted from China

I sell all sorts of different charm jewelry in my store, but sorority members are my most frequent (and happy) customers.  I think they love seeing their mascots and symbols and being able to give a special gift to a special friend!

I wish we’d had a site like yours (well, okay, there was no internet! J) when I was in college.  There are so many fun creative ideas out there!"  Tricia

You can visit a Tricia's Tipsy-Tags Store and see all the cute sorority things she has for you!

Make Your Own Sorority Bracelet

Show your little/big sisters what she means to you with an easy-to-make sorority  bracelet. You can follow any color scheme that you desire. For a start, just make it special by using  your sorority colors. You can also pick a charm that  fits your personality (see the tiny purse CHARM in the picture?).

After seeing how this sorority bracelet turned out, I might try the jewelry making craft which I have never done before.  I believe that this is a gift making craft that anyone can do with ease. It just involves buying the supplies, a few tools, and then putting it all together. It's nice to see that Greek letters are being made by a craft company to supply the needs of sorority gift makers.

The nice thing about jewelry making is that it is so easy to make original items by varying the colors or the bead shapes. Each change that is made produces your one-of-a-kind bracelet, necklace, or earrings. Also, it is easy to make matching jewelry sets like a bracelet with matching earrings, all made according to your choices of beads.

Here are the basic directions for making a bracelet like this:

1.  Cut a length of ZambaPro™ 49 .019 to 9 or 10 inches. Attach one wire end  to the sterling silver closed jump ring using a 2x2mm sterling silver crimp tube. See video below for help in how to do this. Begin by stringing a Hill Tribe silver spacer bead followed by a 3mm fire polished Czech glass bead, a 4mm fire polished bead of another color then a 4mm druk bead in the 3rd color. Next string another 4mm fire polished followed by a 3mm fire polished bead and a spacer. Then you should repeat the pattern three more times.

Beading Video shows how:

2.  Add your Greek letter beads with a spacer between them as in the picture above. Repeat your glass bead and spacer pattern three more times and crimp the wire to the sterling silver swivel clasp.

3. Last, open your sterling jump ring and attach the charm of your choice. Hook the charm to the closed jump ring at the end of your design.

SEE the suggested tools, etc. that you will need for this project if you want to make a bracelet just like the one in the picture-AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE. OR...use the beads and supplies that you already have. You can get your Greek letter beads from http://artbeads.com.

Sorority Jewelry is a favorite among sorority sisters for gifts as well as for personal acquisition. Jewelry is not often thought of as something that you can make your self, but the craft has become relatively easy to learn and the supplies are widely available.

Cost: Under $30.00 (does not include stringing material)

Tools
Nipper tool (TOOL-101)
Crimper tool (TOOL-100)

Chain nose pliers (TOOL-106)

Supplies:

Sterling silver handbag charm (CHARM299, qty 1)
Thai Hill Tribe silver spacer beads (HTS075, qty 10)
5.6mm sterling Greek letter beads (use the letters from your own sorority)
4mm Czech glass druk bead (choose your color, qty 1 pack)
3mm Czech glass fire polished bead (choose your color, qty 1 pack)
4mm Czech glass fire polished bead (choose your color, qty 1 pack)
Sterling silver 10mm swivel clasp (SS-SWIV1, qty 1)
Sterling silver 4.6mm open jump ring (SS-OJR35-C, qty 1)
Sterling silver 6mm closed jump ring (SS-CJR-ME, qty 1)
ZambaPro™ 49 .019 30FT jewelry wire (ZP49-30F-019)

Vintage Sorority Jewelry

I am thrilled to share a new line of hand crafted sorority jewelry made by Keely Phillips. I asked Keely to share her story with you and a little bit about her sorority art. The following is what she told me:

"I am originally from Meridian, Mississippi  and am a Chi Omega alumni from the University of Alabama.  After graduation in Dec. 2008 I moved to Los Angeles and went to makeup school and worked as a freelance makeup artist for about a year.  When the recession hit hard I moved back to Tuscaloosa, AL.  I worked for an interior designer there. Since the University of Alabama has over 15 sororities and pledging is really big there I thought it would be a great opportunity to make a little extra money to make sorority items.  I have such a love for vintage items and find them to be so classic and unique. I have never seen sorority jewelry anywhere before and it was an instant hit.  I make jewelry and accessories for initiation, bid day, and rush for girls all over the country.  It has grown into a great jewelry business, even going outside the sorority field, but my vintage sorority items are still my big sellers." Keely Phillips

"Two of my most popular items are vintage sorority cocktail rings and antique watch fob necklaces.  With the rings, I use vintage cocktail rings (usually in the color of the sorority) and add vintage sorority crests. My other big seller consists of taking antique Victorian British watch fobs and adding the vintage sorority crests.  Younger girls love to wear this on a 30 inch sterling silver chain.  It makes it modern and fresh.  Other I items I do are antique pin boxes, sterling silver rings, etc.

There is always variety: "Here are  a few more of the vintage and antique sorority pieces I have made."

Visit Keely at malickandgrace.com and place your order for your one-of-a-kind jewelry!

And don't forget to tell other sorority sisters what you think with your comment below.