I like making stationary for a gift. For one reason it is useful, as long as the person writes letters (and you probably know whether they do or not) it will be used up and not just clutter up someone's house. Another reason is that it is very quick and easy to make and then also it is very inexpensive. Just because it is inexpensive doesn't make it a "Cheap" gift as you can make it nice and if you look at the prices in the store you will find that stationary can cost quite a bit.
For this particular set of stationary (which I made for my mother-in-law, who loves to write long letters) I used some of the paper from a blank pad of paper. The pads of paper had 100 sheets each I and got them on sale for 2/$1 at Walgreens. I also got envelopes on that same sale and I decorated some envelopes to go with them. I used only one stamp for this set of stationary. Usually for stationary you don't want it too busy so you don't need much. I did use two different colors of green ink. If you don't have stamps you could make a cute set using thumb print pictures (this would be especially cute if a child was doing this for their mother or grandmother) or you could do a quick watercolor picture in the corner of each paper.
Something that might be nice to add to this gift is a book of stamps. You can tie it all together with a pretty bow or make a special folder to place the stationary in.
For more of my ideas for frugal gifts go here. Check out "How to have a frugal Christmas" at A call to Higher Places for more ideas.