As facile and affordable as your pharmacy variety gift tag stickers may be, they're a little lacking in the humor department. That's why I'm refreshed — and your giftees will be, too — by the
Shine Box Print Gift Givers Tag ($6.95). These gag gift tags come with the requisite "To" and "From" fields, but they're given a dose of light-hearted humor with wry one-liners like, "I made this myself, in China," and "No elves were harmed in the making of this gift."
No, it's not tradition to send cards at Thanksgiving. But, take one look at the
Dingbat Press Maple Leaf/Thanksgiving Boxed Notes ($24), and you'll be convinced. This gorgeous boxed set of six notes features soft-red maple leaves in varying sizes falling from a vivid-orange maple tree.
Mail is a precious commodity these days, so I appreciate those friends of mine who make the effort to send cards, letters, and small packages of goodness to my mailbox every now and then. These faithful correspondents, who eschew email in favor of more arcane forms of communication, are responsible for brightening the days of everyone who receives one of their letters. To encourage more letter writing in your circle of friends and family, I've found some postcards, notepads, and stationery that will be sure to delight any letter writers on your wish list.
Laurie Mee and Carrie Siegel, the co-owners of
Two Trick Pony, create delightful card designs that are screen-printed by hand on 100 percent post-consumer waste recycled paper with water-based inks. I love the retro look of their designs, and the straightforward perfection in the cards' sentiments.
Since I'm in the middle of writing thank-you cards to our
wedding guests, my eye was particularly drawn to these
thank-you cards ($16 for six cards and envelopes).
The next time you're attending a
housewarming party, once you've built your
housewarming bucket, you'll need a cheerful card to wish your friends or neighbors well in their new digs. The
Hello! Lucky Welcome Home Greeting Card ($4.50) will fit the bill and then some.
I've written in the past
about Iomoi stationery and how I think it's important to have cute personalized stationery for those occasions when you need to write a hand-written note. But, there's no reason you shouldn't write on smart-looking paper when you're jotting notes to yourself! Iomoi has released
a new memo pad ($48) in a variety of stylish patterns, 250 five-by-seven-inch pages set in a custom-designed Lucite tray.
When sending a hand-written note, it always pays to have
cute stationery. But, what about multipurpose stationery? Why just send a card, when you can send a small packet of seeds along with it?
I'm not big on sentimental central quotes on cards, but I couldn't resist the adorable mod living-room design on this
Welcome to Your New Home Card ($4). I wouldn't mind moving right into this living room; you know I adore the lime green and raspberry color scheme. It's pretty much the perfect housewarming card for all those hip new homeowners you know.
Sometimes I think there's not enough "dropping a line" in the world. Good old-fashioned notes, updating your friends on what's new in your life, and asking about theirs. Yeah, there's prolific Facebook wall and Myspace commenting, but a part of me feels that that's all for show.
Shopping for gifts is one of my favorite activities; I even prefer it to shopping for myself (probably because I'm too easy to please). Finding the ideal gift for a friend is a challenge that I really enjoy. So, when it comes to shopping from a
wedding registry, I get kind of bummed.
