Charming Children's Stationery

Pretty personalized paper shouldn’t just be reserved for the adult set. Little ones have bespoke stationery-worthy celebrations too, after all, and it’s never too early to teach them the joy of sending a hand-penned note. For advice and insights on stationery crafted especially for kids, we reached out to the talented Chicago-based designer Laura Manteuffel of Elizabeth Grace; here are her recommendations:

• It’s not just about envelopes, it’s also about etiquette. One thing we love about doing stationery for kids is that it gets them started on crafting handwritten notes while they’re young and really starts to instill the importance of thank you notes and the written word.
• Start soft, then adapt to developing tastes. We think choosing a neutral color palette—or even baby blue or blush pink—for the babies or really young children can be a smart way to start. As the child grows up and begins to develop their favorite colors we can incorporate those new colors into the existing stationery. Reusing existing engraving plates is an easy way to do this! The blush pink note cards engraved in white take on a whole new look when printed in fuchsia ink.
• Involve little ones in the design. I think anything that gets the kids excited about stationery is wonderful. Letting them get involved in the process is always fun. Whether it is incorporating one of their drawings into a note card or designing a party invite around something that excites them (a baby’s love of red balloons, a little girl’s fascination with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory…boys and pirates…), allowing their inspiration to influence the design can lead to a really fun product.

Expert tip and featured work from Elizabeth Grace in Chicago, IL.