Reduce-Reuse-Recycle Project

{Linked to Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday!}

In all fairness, I must admit that this post is not really about recycling. I just needed a catchy title. Although, I did recycle these cereal and snack boxes for my little project...that was not my main focus here. Ok, let me set the stage for you. Each week I take my 4 kids to church, a 3 hour block of church, mind you. I have really good intentions. I also have really high expectations (somewhat unrealistic). These two things do not mix well with church and rowdy kids. I'm just gonna be honest here and tell you that we make a spectacle of ourselves each and every Sunday! Try as I might to convince, coerce, bribe, and threaten good behavior...it rarely happens. I end up chasing a two year old around who seems to be allergic to church or shushing a four year old who cannot stand to be quiet, much less NOT talk. All the while, my boys are making matters worse by tickling, teasing, and terrorizing the little girls. I end up twisting ears and making empty threats of personal injury. It's not pretty. So, what exactly does any of this have to do with these cut up cereal boxes you might ask???

It all comes back to trying to make my kids behave like civilized human beings at church. I will try just about anything...well, not anything...but close. Coloring seems to have lost it's luster, so I needed to amp it up a bit.

I used my Cricut to cut shapes out of those used boxes.



My hope is that these stencils will become one of our new quiet church activity. And we can cut new ones each week so they don't get bored. I'll let them decide what they want to draw and we can cut them out together. Hopefully getting them involved in the process will help them be more excited about it.



I put them on a big clip ring so we can keep track of them and make clean up a bit easier. Please pray that this will work. I really want my family to stop being a three ring circus at church!!!