*Buy Sorority Mascot Cookie Cutters!

You would be amazed by the array of different cookie cutters that you can find online!  I was able to find a lot of cutters that are also sorority mascots!

Imagine how much fun your sisters would have making cookies that look like some of your favorite symbols!  This will also be great for public relations on campus, as it can help make customers remember your organization!  These customers may just be girls who are thinking of going through recruitment!  (Oh! I remember you girls! You are the ones with those cute dolphin cookies!)

Find your organization’s mascot or symbol here!  Click on it to find out where to purchase it!  All are very inexpensive!

cookie cutters by christinepalaski on Polyvore.com

After you have your cutters, decorate them with sprinkles, frosting, or colored sugar!

*Put a Twist on an Old Recipe!  S’mores Brownies!

Having something different will really turn heads and keep people coming back for more!  S’mores brownies are fun and delicious!  Follow the pictures to see how to make them for your own bake sale!

Gather your regular brownie ingredients:  brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs.

Mix them up, but just don’t over beat!

Grease your pan!

Pour in the batter and bake according to package directions, but subtract 10 minutes from the normal baking time.  For example, my package of brownies stated to bake them for 28 minutes, so I put mine in for 18 minutes.

While the brownies are baking, coarsely chop up 6 graham crackers.

Gather 1 cup of mini marshmallows.  Marshmallows + Graham Crackers = BFF

Pull the brownies out of the oven!

Pour on the marshmallows!

Add on the graham crackers, and put them back into the oven for the remaining 10 minutes!

Take it out of the oven!  Look how yummy they look!  Let them cool completely before you decide to cut into them!

The chewy brownie, sticky marshmallow, and crunchy graham cracker make the best combination!

Yummy!

*Make Dorm Friendly Recipes!

Our kitchens at home during the summer are great!  The fridge is always stocked and there is every piece of equipment that is needed.  But when we are away at school, this isn’t at all the case!  The kitchen in my residence hall at school doesn’t really have that much equipment, and sometimes during the school year, I really don’t have much time to bake!

Here are some ideas for when all you have is a little bit of time, and a microwave!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!

image courtesy of bombshelleventplanner.wordpress.com

-In a microwave safe bowl, melt a cup of chocolate chips (any kind:  white, dark, milk, semisweet, etc.).  Be sure to do it in small intervals (10 to 15 seconds at a time) to make sure that the chocolate doesn’t burn, and stir up the chips between each interval.

-Once your chocolate is melted, dip and roll your strawberries in the chocolate!  Once they are fully covered, place them on a plate, and put them in your fridge to set!  So easy!!!

-To make it more fun, after you roll the berries in the chocolate, roll them in toasted coconut, crushed nuts, colored sugar, or anything else you can think of!

Rice Krispie Treats!

image courtesy of quarrygirl.com

Not everyone knows this, but you can make rice krispie treats without the use of an oven!

In a microwave safe bowl, microwave ¼ a cup of butter with 3 cups of miniature marshmallows for 2 minutes.  Stir, and then return to the microwave for another minute.  Then, stir in 6 cups of rice krispie cereal until it is all combined.  (It may be easier to use clean hands rather than a spoon!)

Then, grease 13 x 9 inch pan, or if you do not have one, you can buy a cheap, disposable aluminum one.  Press your cereal mixture into the pan and allow it to cool.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

*Pack Your Items Prettily!

It is all about presentation!  No one wants to buy an ugly brownie, no matter how delicious it may be!

Ribbon and cute labels can really dress things up!  For this picture, I simply tied a ribbon around a plastic bag, the type without a zipper.  They sell cellophane bags in craft stores, but they can get expensive, and the other bags can be purchased in the dollar store, yet they get the same look!  Make a label out of construction paper and tie it on!

Cupcake liners are not just for cupcakes!  They make great holders for almost anything:  chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, and small brownies.  They are inexpensive and make it easy for customers eating on the go!

Need a place to hold all of your already packaged products?  Line the inside and the outside of an old shoebox with wrapping paper.  Everything will be instantly cute!

*Make Committees and Competitions!

Baking is more fun when you are doing it with someone else!  For your chapter’s next bake sale, randomly split up sisters into different committees, for example, the cupcake making committee, the brownie making committee, etc.  Working together will make it easier for those “baking-challenged” sisters, and for those sisters who do not have any baking supplies.  This is a great way to build sisterhood too!

Make some competitions that will make people want to go above and beyond and to bake even more!  (Which then means more profit!)  Which committee can make the most?  Choose a fun and inexpensive prize to reward these hard working sisters!

*Advertise!!!

No matter how awesome everything is, no one will come if they don’t know your event is happening!

Make a facebook event, describing where and when your bake sale will be, and describing some of the delicious food that will be there!  Have your sisters invite EVERYONE they know!  The day of the event, ask each sister to make their status about the sale.

Make a banner where a lot of people will see it, for example the cafeteria!

How do you make your philanthropy fundraisers more exciting?

Christine Palaski is a College Lifestyle Intern.  In the fall, she will be a junior at Adelphi University where she is a nursing major and a proud sister of Delta Delta Delta.  She can be found baking something fun and delicious.

Day one of Formal Recruitment (Friday) involves the women who are signed up for Formal Recruitment going to each of the sorority houses to meet the women. It is generally viewed as a sort of information night/ meet and greet.

Day two of Formal Recruitment (Saturday) is philanthropy day and the women signed up, go and visit four out of the six houses that they preferenced.  At each of the houses, the potential new members (PNMs) make items that goes towards each sororities philanthropy.

Day three of Formal Recruitment (Sunday) is formal desserts where the PNMs go to the houses they preferenced, experience an open ritual and eat lots of yummy desserts.  Later the night, the sororities find out who are their new sisters, which involves cheering out in the cold to welcome to all the new sorority members. Each sorority then goes back to their lodge and has a party to celebrate their new members.

These three days are exhausting but it is so worth it to get new members!

GO GREEK!

One of my best friends in high school was in an abusive relationship, and I witnessed it, as did several of our other friends. I had no idea what to do, and imagine that most high school students today would share my confusion. That’s why it’s so important to spread the word that there is something you can do to help, and it could make all the difference. That’s why this week is focused on teen/dating violence. If back then, I would’ve known I could have helped it may have changed things for the better.

Here are a few facts just to get an idea of how serious this. Statistics from loveisnotabuse.com:

• 89% of teens between the ages of 13 and 18 say they have been in dating relationships; forty percent of teenage girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend. (Children Now/Kaiser Permanente poll, December 1995)
• Nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate relationships continue to date their abuser. (City of New York, Teen Relationship Abuse Fact Sheet, March 1998)
• 1 in 3 teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)
• Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend had threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a break-up. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)
• If trapped in an abusive relationship, 73% of teens said they would turn to a friend for help; but only 33% who have been in or known about an abusive relationship said they have told anyone about it. (Liz Claiborne Inc. study on teen dating abuse conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, February 2005.)

Scary, isn’t it? This is a serious, prevalent problem. It’s often assumed that only married couples or older couples suffer from domestic violence, but this is not the case. So what can you do?

If you think your friend is in an abusive relationship, talk to them. Be prepared for them to deny it, but make sure they know you can be trusted. Recommend they talk to someone like a counselor, teacher, or someone they trust. Give them a hotline they can call if they decide they want help. A good national helpline is loveisrespect.

Love is respect is a National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline sponsored by Liz Claiborne. One of the greatest features of loveisrespect is their live chat. They have peer counselors that will chat with you online 24 hours a day to help you with whatever you’re going through. They also have an 800 number in case the chat is unavailable for some reason.

Think you’re being abused? Chat with the counselors and they’ll help you with what your options are. Worried about your friend? Loveisrespect has tips on how to talk to them. Not sure if your relationship is good for you? Take the quiz at loveisrespect to see if your relationship is healthy. Liz Claiborne also teamed up with dosomething.org to create the program MADE, Mom’s and Dad’s for Education to Stop Teen Dating Abuse. They have a special page dedicated to Teen’s. What can you do to get involved? What do you do if you’re being abused? This page covers all that.

Loveisrespect also has a lot of awesome celebrity involvement; Martina McBride and her daughter have teamed up with loveisrespect to get the word out about teen dating abuse and educate both teens and parents on ways to stay safe. She is currently on tour with Trace Adkins,  calling it the Shine All Night Tour. Also, Lauren Conrad has teamed up with Mark to create the m.powerment by mark campaign, in hopes of educating young women and spreading awareness about the potential for abusive relationships that could change their lives. They created the Have a Heart necklace, available on meetmark.com with proceeds going to the m.powerment fund, trying to put an end to teen domestic violence.

This is such an important cause and one of the most relevant to people in our age group. Statistics show that women ages 16-24 experience the highest rates of dating violence. This includes all of us college students plus our younger sisters, cousins, friends, etc. We can make the change and put an end to this!

If you or a friend is suffering from domestic violence, call the National Teen Dating Violence Hotline at  1-866-331-9474 | 1-866-331-8453 or chat with peer counselors live at loveisrespect.org.

Patrice is an intern with College Lifestyles (TM). She is a journalism major at William Woods University and is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She is passionate about Domestic Violence Awareness and loves doing her part to spread the word!

“Life is too short. Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. Laugh when you can and let go of what you can’t change. Love deeply and forgive quickly. Take chances. Give everything and have no regrets. Life’s too short to be unhappy.♥”