If you and your family are sticklers for proper etiquette €“ or if you simply like to be regarded as thoughtful and gracious €“ it€™s the time of year when thank-you notes and nice stationery come in handy. Whether it€™s a short note from a child or adolescent thanking a relative for their holiday gift, or a more elaborate missive from an adult to a good friend, notes and letters take on more meaning when presented in an attractive and personal way. The Stationery Studio offers online shoppers a huge number of ways to personalize their notecards and stationery. One of the most clever is the €œFamily Flesh Tone Notecards,€ (48 for $25) where the front of each card is decorated with cartoon depictions of each family member. Online, you can select from a variety of skin colors for each person, as well as various cartoon hairstyles and ages, and end up with a cute drawing which roughly resembles your immediate family. At Stationery Studio€™s €œThank you note€ page, you can choose from a wide variety of fonts, styles, colors and patterns, from tiny blue whales to magenta and green toile or pink and brown damask. The prices vary but in general run about $30 to $40 for each 50-card set. If your child is just learning to write, these sweet little thank-you notes from Expressionery.com make the task simple. The Kids Frog Holiday Fill-In Notes have a cute design of a frog, with spaces where the child fills in the name of the giver, and the gift (Dear ___, Thank you for the ___, it is ‘toadally’ awesome!). Expressionery.com also carries artist Luis Fitch€™s vivid €œJubilee€ line of notes. These are bright, festive and very reasonably priced - a set of 25 is $24.
Finestationery.com carries paper collections by various artists, including the well-loved (and ubiquitous) Vera Wang. Her €œMandarin€ stationery line is expensive - $385 for 50 cards- but beautifully rendered.