Our answer to the annual question to "What am I going to give this year?"

Who’s on your holiday gift list? And what are you going to give this year? We all face trying to think of something thoughtful and distinctive to give during the holiday season. Sometimes it’s a lack of inspiration. We can help you create a gift that you are excited to give to the important folks on your list. 

One clear solution is personalized stationery. It is a one-of-a-kind, consumable gift that can be used for any occasion. We recommend using: 

- to staying in touch the old fashion way with friends and family (beyond camp where technology is banned and letters are the only option).

- in place of a typical sympathy, wedding or birthday card. 

- to write thank you notes. 

A personalized piece of stationery adds a bit of luxury, especially when printed letterpress that you can feel on fine cotton paper. Your recipient will feel exceptional with something tailored to them. And they will be relieved when they don’t have to scramble for a card. It’s perfect to have a stash on hand when needed. 

One of our favorite people asks us every year to create a personalized product for her family’s annual holiday gift. She likes paper and knows how useful it can be. We print digitally to stick closely to her budget but the gift remains custom. Win. Win. 

Here are some non-stationery items we created over the years:

Coasters personalized with each family’s last name. Each family received a set of 20 coasters.

Mailing labels personalized with each family’s return address information. Each family received a pack of 50 labels because not everything is shipped back to Amazon with a QR code.

Wine gift tags are personalized with each family’s last name to dress up the bottle without the fuss of gift wrapping. Each family received pack of 25.

Tabletop accessories that included napkins and personalized placemats to ease the work entertaining during the busy holiday season. Each family received set of 50 napkins and placemats.

Stationery, tabletop accessories, and labels are all custom and individual to the giver and receiver. They won’t get two of these.

For more than 175 years, people connect to friends and family by sending holiday cards

The holidays are around the corner and with stinkin' covid slowing everything down, it's not too early to think about your holiday cards.

But before we jump into what your cards will look like this year, let's consider how this long-standing tradition of sending cards began. The British postal system introduced the first stamp in 1840. Dubbed "Penny Post," this method of affixing a penny stamp to a piece of post allowed an inexpensive and accessible way to circulate letters.

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This created a problem for popular Henry Cole, a patron of the arts and supporter of the new postal system. He corresponded with many and no longer had the time to respond to their letters or send a large number of folks in his social circle a handwritten letter at Christmas time.

Cole asked artist friend, J.C. Horsley, to design an image of a family celebrating the holiday around a table surrounded by people helping the poor. Cole printed one thousand copies of Horsley's illustration on ridged cardboard to create the first Christmas card. And much like today, it featured a generic Christmas and New Year's greeting with a personalized "To" line. His friends and family adopted the idea of a way to save time. 

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Once the tradition gained mass appeal, sending cards became an integral part of celebrating the holidays and expanded beyond Christmas to other holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's. The greetings remained special due to the card's artistic qualities. People began to collect them.

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Like Cole, we're all busy and looking for a way to connect with friends and family in a meaningful way. We want it to be special, meaningful and a break from today's turbo-paced, digital world. There's something about the tradition that creating a holiday post on social media just won't cut it. Thankfully we're not sending one thousand cards.

For more history on Christmas cards, check out Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas by Ace Collins and this article by Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-christmas-card-180957487/

Seeing a display of pens and pencils gets us as excited as getting our hands on a row of penny candy jars. Both make us drool. We cannot pass up a chance to test them on a sample writing pad. And purchase a few to add to our collection. 

Here are the details on some of our favorites. We’re briefly covering why we love them, when to use them, and where to buy them. Click on the name for more purchase information. 

Muji .05 Ballpoint

We love a visit to Muji in the city. The minimalist, Japanese store sells stationery, household goods, and apparel with the stationery supplies the highlight! They make fabulous pens. Our favorite is the ballpoint pen 0.5. It comes in numerous colors. The kids love to use them for school.

Paper Mate Flair

A1960s vintage but still made today, Paper Mate Flair comes in a rainbow of colors. They won’t smudge and have bold colors. Add color to your journal, lists, and craft projects with these timeless pens. It’s a grown-up way to keep markers around. 

Bugle No. 2

This classic 1816 pencil is simple and honestly just looks good. It’s lightweight and the wood grain is beautiful. You’ll want us to ship you a handful to stow in every drawer so you can write with something lovely.

Tombow 04

This pen is great for illustrations, technical drawings, lettering, and journaling but we just jot notes with it. It’s smooth, no-smudge writing with instant-dry ink that makes us smile and even helps us write neater. Comes in various sizes but the 04 is our favorite.  

Poppin

We like things neat and pretty. We replaced all our freebie pens with a set of these white pens. It’s a smooth ballpoint pen that works for everyday jots and notes while keeping everything minimal and clean-looking.

Plastic Fountain Pen

This feels fancier than the price. Made by a Japanese stationery company, the ink flows smoothly and evenly. It has the precision of a fountain pen and the richness of a felt tip pen. And it’s less disposable with the ability to add refills. 

Blackwing 64 

Blackwing has been around for 100 years and beloved by authors and artists. John Steinbeck, E.B. White, and Walt Disney to name a few. The Blackwing 64 nods to halftone printing in comic books with colors used in the earliest comics books. Graphite is perfect for sketching or making math homework fun. You may even feel like a superhero jotting your to-do list. 

Uniball White

Sometimes you need to address a dark envelope or write on something dark. No problem with this white Uni-Ball Signo Gel pen. It applies silky and opaque white with its rollerball tip. This pen is smooth and bold to help your text stand out. Just be sure to let it dry before stacking something on it.

Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Pen

We work with amazing calligraphers and secretly wish we had their talent. This pen allows us to play and dream of one day writing as distinctive as them. Okay, that will probably never happen but it is fun to play with this inexpensive pen. Try it out in different size nibs and let us know if you go into the calligraphy business. We’ll want to work with you.

Le Pen

The smooth-writing, microfine plastic tip makes Le Pen a great choice for writing. Also works well for sketching, doodling, journaling, scrapbooks, and more. Its sleek, slim barrel matches the ink color. 

We think there's something to those thoughtful birthday celebrations we had at home growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. It was exciting to pick the cake for mom to bake from Baker's Cut-Up Cake Party Book.

We're not saying you have to bake a cake! But we are saying that our own parties and seeing our parents throw a dinner party (boy, could they entertain!) inspired our new party collection. Most of our parties are designed to host in the backyard at home. And with the pandemic, it's the perfect time to celebrate at home and outdoors. If you're in New England, it will be warm soon!

For the Love of a Handwritten Note

We admire handwritten notes and hand-addressed envelopes on holiday cards and invitations. To us, it feels like you're adding a bit of yourself into your communication and events. And in this digital age, we know your recipient appreciates it. There's just nothing like that personal touch. Some may say it's old-fashioned. But we think those social graces never go out of style. A handwritten note on paper is here to stay. Put it on fine paper and we'd stretch to say that's modern luxury.