Welcome to the teen room!... Teens make and design letterbox stamps for Fairhope Public Library to help introduce people to the new teen room in a fun, creative way. On Monday, March 31, the Fairhope Public Library hosted teens from 5-6 p.m for Maker Monday. Most stamps were created and designed for personal keepsakes, with many being objects, symbols or characters from TV shows or movies.
Welcome to the teen room!… Teens make and design letterbox stamps for Fairhope Public Library to help introduce people to the new teen room in a fun, creative way. On Monday, March 31, the Fairhope Public Library hosted teens from 5-6 p.m for Maker Monday. Most stamps were created and designed for personal keepsakes, with many being objects, symbols or characters from TV shows or movies.
Ava Gardner
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Teens craft letterboxes, stamps at library

Byline photo of Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner, staff photographer
April 7, 2025
Drawing the letterbox stamp… Sophomore Ainsley Cook draws the design for the letterbox stamp. Before she drew the stamp, Cook and others who participated in Teen Crafternoon brainstormed design ideas on the whiteboard. (Ava Gardner)
Sketching personal designs… Sophomore Maeve Adkinson sketches a design for a personal stamp using a reference from her phone. Other teens made sketches of objects or a reference to a movie or TV show. (Ava Gardner)
Cartoon sketch… Sophomore Samantha Jensen draws BMO, a cartoon character from Adventure Time, for her stamp. To help her draw the character accurately, Jensen used a reference on her phone. (Ava Gardner)
Disguising the letterbox… Sophomore Mary Higdon covers a plastic container in camouflage duct tape to help it blend in with its hiding spot. Other participants continued to work on their stamps. (Ava Gardner)
Transferring traces… After finishing the letterbox stamp drawing, Cook transfers the design onto the material to carve the stamp. She drew the letters in the design backwards so the letters would face the right way when the stamp is used. “Drawing the letters backwards was hard, and it got easier after some practice,” Cook said. (Ava Gardner)
Tracing lines… Jensen traces over her stamp design on the material to define the lines and make it easier to carve. Some retraced their designs, while others didn’t. “The drawing didn’t show up correctly when I transferred it onto the rubber; I could barely see it, so I just drew over what I couldn’t see and added any details that didn’t make it onto the material,” Jensen said. (Ava Gardner)
Carving stamps… Cook carves the letterbox stamp design into the rubber stamp material using a carving tool. Fairhope teen services librarian Allyson Russell supervised and assisted the teens. (Ava Gardner)
Finishing touches… Cook finishes carving the stamp, making minor adjustments as she prepares to test it for the first time. She used an ink pad to color the finished product and stamped the design on paper, making sure it came out right. (Ava Gardner)
Cleanup… Teen Crafternoon participants help clean up rubber shavings around the workspace and return the tools to where they belong. The teens kept any personal stamps they made after they cleaned the teen room. The library’s next Teen Crafternoon is on Monday, April 7, at 5 p.m. (Ava Gardner)
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