Fidget Activity Mat Ideas - Tutorial Tuesday

It’s tutorial Tuesday and today’s tutorial is a bit different. If you’ve been a long time reader you know sewing projects for charity has been a big part of how I’ve spent my days over the last several years. This past year I’ve veered away from my sewing-for-good projects. And I realized I missed it.

So when my husband mentioned our neighbor was looking for something for his wife who just recently went into a care center, I knew just what to do.

Looking for more sewing and crafting projects? 
Click here to see all my tutorials!

Today we are going to make a fidget mat. These mats help soothe the anxiousness that comes from patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They also are helpful for kids with autism.

Usually when I do these tutorials I give you directions on how to complete every single step. Today I’ve got a couple of specific measurements for you, but otherwise I’m mostly going to walk you through my process.

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the video directions for the homemade fidget activity mat right here:

Toulon, France Turned Sea Day

Hello from what would have been Toulon, France! Most excursions we were interested in had something in their description that deterred us from taking them. This tour involves extensive walking over uneven and cobblestoned surfaces. Not recommended for guests with limited mobility. So we were going to do what Pescado Amarillo did last week, which was to take the water taxi to Toulon and catch a trolley tour. (Read about her adventurous day in the middle of a flood here.) But as soon as we heard the announcement coming from the captain being broadcast into the cabins we knew what was going to be said. We wouldn’t be visiting France today. Even with the assistance of tugs, we weren’t able to dock in the 50 knot gale force winds. So we had a bonus sea day.

While many people may have been disappointed, we were actually okay with missing the port. While we’ve never been to Toulon before, we have been to LeHavre, France where I was able to head to Paris and see all a tourist would need to see and hubby was able to head to Normandy Beach and see all a history teacher would want to see. Plus he (well, we) needed a rest day. This past week has been physically hard for him a bit a stressful for me. While we hadn’t planned on staying in the cabin all day, that’s exactly what we did. We were so tired we didn’t even eat. Now that’s tired! There was a new Patter of activities distributed to keep these thousands of passengers busy today. And we didn’t even look at it.

We did drag ourselves out to the Promenade deck to get some fresh air before dinner. The seating on the Promenade deck on Crown Princess is mostly wooden chairs and benches with no cushions. There are a few cushioned seats but very few. While we don’t smoke, for those that use the Promenade smoking section, you’ll be happy to know there are actually a couple chairs there for seating.

Most chairs are like these.

A few are like these.

The seas look relatively calm tonight.

I’m pretty sure I heard the noontime navigational update mention we are expecting more 50 knot winds tomorrow in Barcelona. Now if we don’t dock there I might just be a bit disappointed.

See you tomorrow (hopefully) from Spain.

Looking for the entertainment for this cruise? It’s right here: