Tuesday, January 19, 2010

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!!!




30 comments:

Mom24boys said...

Hmmm, I'm liking this idea. My boys are colorers at all. I wonder if this would spark some artwork though.... Thanks for the idea. Oh, what setting did you use on your cricuit? How deep did you set your blade? TIA

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Awesome idea Amanda. I love it. You are so clever!

We are all doing well here. My kids had Monday and Tuesday off school so I am going to try to get back into the school routine.

I think I have found a designer. I will give you more details soon!

XOXO
Jen

Jess said...

Great idea! My kiddos loved to doodle during church. I used to pick up these little pocket sized coloring books that also came with lots of stickers from WallyWorld, they were about a buck. I wonder if they still have those?

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

Great idea, Amanda! I've actually been thinking of using cereal boxes {and similar} to use for when I want to Mod Podge on card stock.

Melissa said...

What a clever idea! Love the bright colors. If it makes you feel better, we're a 5 ring circus! :) Thanks for the heads up on Kmart, and I got some of the exact same things at Target 90% clearance! Wish we could shop together! Have a great day~

Richella Parham said...

Why, yes, Amanda--what a great idea! I pray that it does work for you!

Meanwhile, remember what you'd tell another mom. You know what you'd say. You'd extend all kinds of grace to her regarding the behavior of her children. Now cut yourself some of that slack. And keep cutting stencils! :)

Love you,
Richella

Anonymous said...

This is such a clever idea! I'm sure the kids will love it.

MaRiN said...

great idea! church can be so long. i'm always looking for new ideas to keep the kids entertained.

Leanne said...

This is a great idea. My youngest is now 6 so we're doing better during Church although my 15 year old still wants to talk to me while I'm trying to listen to the talks. We have 8 kids, so you can imagine what we use to be like at Church. People would avoid sitting around us.

Under this Umbrella said...

this is a GREAT idea. I needed to read this post to not feel like I am the only one that has an anxiety issue about church and gets hysterical thinking about how the behavior will be! We should go to church together...perhaps we could even sell tickets to the circus show! :)

Melissa said...

I'm not sure if I ever realized you were LDS. Way to be!! Good luck with the kiddos.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Great idea!! I'll ditto Richella. I get sooo embarrassed over the way my kids are behaving, but I am almost always ready to excuse every one else's kids. Maybe I need to cut myself (and my kids!) some slack. ;)

I don't know what I'd do without Sunday School. We had to take Natalie into church with us on Christmas Eve b/c nursery was only for ages 3 and under that night. I thought I was going to have a panic attack wondering what she was going to get into...just some whining, it turned out. :s

Miss Obara said...

so sorry to chuckle here, but the way you tell this story is exactly what we go through too. My kids are 11 and 13 and stencils won't work for sure, but totally can realate to your story. Great project!

Carmen @ Life with Sprinkles on Top said...

Boy oh boy does this make me thankful for our kids' ministry! :) God bless you for taking your kids to church every week. When we went to a church where I had to keep the kids in there during the service, I used to pray beforehand to not think bad thoughts about my kids while in church. haha Anyway, I think these stencils are a great idea. I hope it works!

avisiontoremember said...

Those are such a great idea I know that my daughter would love them...I might just use cardstock though and then have them laminated with my yourstory machine

Thanks for the great idea

Michelle said...

What a clever idea...thanks for sharing it!

Infarrantly Creative said...

LOL...poor thing. I always feel like women with 4 kids pull it off with grace while I have two and look like a nut job!

Made In The South said...

Amanda, My daughter goes to Southeastern in Hammond. I am gonna have her look up Berrytown. I think that I should compare a few King Cakes for my post. Thanks!

Gretta said...

LOVE this idea. I got a Cricut for Christmas and have been loving seeing all the ways you can use it. As a Mom of 4, I totally relate to the church issue. We will have to try this too.

Pam Walter said...

Your kids are very lucky to have such a talented and creative Mom! www.satisfiedsole.com

Shelley in SC said...

Ooooh, excellent idea!! I usually end up with a 6 yo on my lap wiggling 7 minutes after the service starts. This could SO change with these fun stencils!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh, Amanda, I can't believe that I forgot this was one of the cereal box projects I saw!! thanks for linking it up, hope things are good at your house! :)

Angie Holden said...

Cereal boxes are just awesome!! nice stencils!

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

Heather said...

That is such a great idea! I don't have to have kids to use it, right?

LOL

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