Turning Rainbow Dino 3D Puzzle into Mommy Self Care
I found some Mommy Self Care at the Target Dollar Spot this year; they had balsa wood Dinosaur 3D Puzzle. The boys each got one as a gift for their birthday – the boys colored them and both their babysitter and I remarked how pretty “we” could have made them. I got a vision of a rainbow dino marching across my shelves.
Target Dollar Spot to the rescue for Mommy Self Care
So, I started picking one or two up every time I saw them at the dollar spot. My goal was to find as many different ones as I could. I collected them for a couple of months until I had 7 of the 3D puzzles: T. Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Parasaurolophus. There were other ones made, but these were the only ones I could find in our one dino town.
My guys are obsessed with dinos right now, and it’s rubbed off a little. I’m not the only mom out there who is delighted by rainbows. Make sure to check out this cool paint and cottonball rainbow project from Not so Supermom vs. Society.
I decided on an ombre rainbow color scheme. I soothed myself and fed my soul with a collection of acrylic paints and evenings over the course of a week. Mommy Self Care doesn’t have to be “pampering.” I’m pretty bad at that kind of self-care.
I fall into the “productivity” trap. Feeling like, if I’m not “getting something done” I’m wasting my precious time. So this activity keyed into “allowing” myself to do something purely to make myself happy without feeling guilty about it. The same way coloring, doing puzzles, or other crafts are Self Care.
Mommy Self Care needs to be prioritized for mental health. It’s too easy to fall away from activities we love (for me, doing things with my hands) when we are depressed or stressed. Scheduling Daily, Weekly, or Monthly activities that refresh our souls is critical. Moms cannot pour from an empty cup. How could they possibly?
One of my goals for this year is prioritizing mommy self care.
What does caring for yourself look like?
I’m terrible at planning self care. Really terrible. So I make scheduling it step one. And tbh, I’m pretty horrible at doing that too. I’d rather feel like I’m “getting something done” so I have to trick my brain into thinking it’s being productive.
Mommy Self Care looks different for everyone
My baby sister is one of those deranged people who finds exercise restoring. Some people are restored by attending to their appearance. For me, “Making” something feeds my soul. So, when I sat down to figure out how I wanted my rainbow dinos to look, it was pure pleasure.
Rainbow Painting 3D Puzzles
Mixing the colors, applying the paints, tweaking, sanding, gilding the edges for that extra “pop” of details. All of it was exactly what I needed. I decided that I wanted to alternate the T. Rex in between the other dinos. And then I planned how to layout the traditional ROY G. BIV rainbow.
Using the assembly map I made some Guesses about how and where I wanted the colors of my Rainbow dino to morph. I worked from the ends towards the middle so that I could spend more time blending and keep my blending consistent.
I had to be very careful detaching the pieces from the matrix because of the many layers of paint. That meant using my handy x-acto knife along all the spots where the paint stuck. Then some of those spots needed a little sanding with some 400 grit sandpaper.
It sounds kinda silly that getting things JUST right counts as Mommy Self care. But taking the time to be really satisfied was important.
To get a nice ombre effect start with the lighter color and always work towards the darker color.
The instructions suggested that sanding the slots of the pieces might make assembly easier. I even had to cut some of them to get them to fit nice and tightly but still go all the way together.
We tend to sneak in moments of self care here and there. Taking some extra time to sit in the car isn’t really self care. It’s desperation. But there are a million things that need to get done. Adding another thing to the list sounds horrible, even if it’s something for myself.
So instead of avoiding meeting my needs I’m trying to prioritize them. Getting to bed on time. Managing my guilt about how I should be doing something with my kids and instead of telling them to go outside so I can sit down and bang out a blog post. Making my Rainbow dino arrangement.
Gratitude journaling is something I try to do – I don’t always manage to – but if I try to think about it as a self care. I make more of an effort to get it done that way. Allowing myself the room to make the list honest rather than “important” helps me stay with it. Some days I’m not grateful for much. But forcing myself to find the things that I feel grateful for helps my mental health.
I have no idea how to wrap this up in a way that makes sense. If any of you have gone ahead and read this far, cheers. Have a drink. Pick a project that is for making YOU happy. Be it a 3d puzzle or a warm bath. Take it easy, and share in the comments some of your favorite ways to care for yourself.
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