Playing with Toys

Another Christmas has come and gone.  Can you believe it?  I suppose the key to getting the most out of the season is to remember to enjoy the process, the preparations, and to live in the moment as much as possible.  Otherwise it seems that it's gone in a flash, and sometimes there is a little sense of let-down when everything comes to a halt.  Hopefully at this time of year our hearts are full, although I realize that not every celebration is like those depicted in the movies.  Believe me, I am all too familiar with this truth.  And for some, it can be hard to watch everyone else's festivities on social media.  But I do hope that anyone reading this found at least some amount of love, joy, and hope during this holiday season.

Are you one of the people, like I am, who enjoys the week between Christmas and New Year's Day?  I find this week before a new year begins to be very therapeutic, in that I allow myself to rest from all the hubbub and take time to reflect on what I want the next year to look like. 

Also, for the past few years, I've started a new tradition.  I gift myself a toy (yes, you read that right.)  It started two years ago when I bought myself a paint-by-number set of the Eiffel Tower, which I intended to apply to a piece of furniture to use or sell.

As it turned out, though, I became really immersed in the restorative process of doing something that I loved to do as a child.  Not only was it tranquil and meditative, it also reminded me of my intrinsic love of creating.

As you can see, I have yet to turn this canvas into any kind of purposeful project...

What it did do, though, was to plant a seed in my head.  Instead of trying to project my desire for artsy/crafty gifts onto my friends and family in what I selected for them
(i.e. - giving Legos to my adult son) a tradition began, and last year I gifted Legos to myself!

Apparently, the Eiffel Tower holds some unrealized dreams for me.  I have already visited there, but I guess the romance and the idea of travel is still what entices me.

This year I consciously searched for the gift I would give myself, and here it is...

Have you seen these?  There are a couple that are geared to children, and this one is for older children and kids-at-heart, like me I guess, haha.  This activity combines the idea of paint-by-number with no-mess stickers, and fine art masterpieces to expand the noggin.  To be honest, I've had a hard time getting anything else done this week.  All I want to do is sip on holiday-flavored coffees and play with my sticker book!

You can see a few of the pictures that I have completed already.  There are 12 total, and I'm zipping through them pretty quickly because I'm enjoying it so much!  They each have a printed background and then spaces for the stickers to go.  Some are quite detailed with tiny stickers, so I'm telling myself that this particular book is meant for adults (wink, wink.)

My daughter has noticed my newfound love of "playing" and gave me a Spirograph set for Christmas.  This toy is especially cool for designer-types, as it combines art with engineering.  Of course, my intellectual son pointed out that it is made by Hasbro, which employs engineers as toy designers.  His comment did prompt us to look at the design book included in the set, where we discovered some really cool ways to create with Spirograph!

Am I the only adult who buys toys for myself?  If you are out there and reading this, let me know that I'm not alone in my silliness, OK?  Please!

On another topic, are you cracking open your new planners in anticipation of everything you want to get done in 2017?  I'm considering trying bullet journaling.  Does anyone have tips to share?  In a way, I guess I've been using a few of the techniques without even knowing it...color-coding, combining journaling into my planner, etc.  But I'm hoping to kind-of take it to the next level (if I can figure it out!)  I'm hoping it's not just another way I divert my attention as a form of procrastination.  I tend to use procrastination as a stall tactic because of perfectionism.  If I can't do something perfectly, I just don't start.  Ugh :(  This is one of my biggest battles, and obviously one reason I'm currently so preoccupied with stickers......

But one thing I've learned is that overthinking leads to more procrastination, and the way to overcome that is to "DO."  Just getting in there and working on something without the fear of failure is the only way to move forward.  I guess Nike knows best, huh?  ;)

Happy New Year, Friends.  And thank you so much for sharing 2016 with me!

Julie


Sharing with:  Vintage Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, Inspire Me Tuesday, The Scoop, Inspire Me Monday