Tutorial: No-Sew Ring Sling

Sometimes this question will pop up: Ring sling or wrap? My answer to that question is BOTH. You can use two sling rings to turn your short wrap (size 2 or 3 for me…my base is an 8) to make a no-sew ring sling! Long explanation not needed here–a no-sew ring sling is just a ring sling  that isn’t sewn together. It is secured the same way that a regular ring sling is secured, with sling rings!

This photo tutorial is going to show how to make the no-sew, but not how to put the child in the sling. The video at the bottom will show how to put the baby in! The photo ring sling tutorial is right here-ring sling tutorial.

Here is how to make the no-sew ring sling:

First, get your two sling rings (I am using size large) and your wrap (I am using a size 3 Bijou Wear Blast Firecracker).

Measure out how long you want your tail to be by wrapping the wrap around you with one side over your shoulder and the other across the front to meet the shoulder.

Gather the fabric at your shoulder by your collarbone and that spot is where you want your rings to be.

Pull the fabric through the rings.

Once you pull the fabric through both of the rings, pull the short end back through one of the rings (just like regularly threading a ring sling). Here’s a gif to show what I mean:

Click here

 

Hopefully that helped explain what I meant!

Put the sling on your shoulder now with the short fabric tail under the long tail that you will be working with. Make sure that the top ring is further back than the bottom one. I’m pointing to it in that picture up there.

Now to thread the sling just like you normally do a ring sling! Gather the fabric in front of you (I pleat it). 

Pull the fabric through both rings.

Very pretty right? At this point I let it all hang down to make sure my fabric is not twisted.

Thread the fabric through the bottom ring.

Take your fingers through the threaded fabric to make sure that it is not twisted.

It should make a cute looking puff of untwisted fabric.

Pull the fabric back the same direction that it came from to get the sling all secured.

Tada! Sling!

Tuck the extra hanging fabric from the beginning of the no-sew part of the sling in the spread back pass and you are done! Now you are ready to put your baby in the sling!

Maxine always loves going uppy front.

Here is the video:

Review: Ankalia Mako Laguna

Recently I had the pleasure of hosting Ankalia Mako Laguna. Just from looking at the wrap I imagined it to be everything I wanted in a wrap because I really was digging the colors! That always  is the first thing I notice when I open the package.

Me teaching with Laguna! Thank you Paul Chin, Jr for this great picture!

Mako was a size 4 which is base -4 for me. I tested this wrap out with Minerva AND Maxine. Minerva is three months old and 11 pounds. Maxine is three years old and 35 pounds. What a difference, right?! This 100% fine cotton beauty was comfy for both of my girls! My go to carry with Minerva was a kangaroo carry  and with Maxine, I stayed at a ruck with candy cane chest belt.

Kangaroo carry at the bus stop

This wrap was solid! Solid wraps are perfect for shorty carries in my opinion. I used a sling ring for a couple of carries and the wrap stayed in place through the ring very well. With the short front cross carry, Laguna’s grip made the carry shine. This wrap also rocked a slipknot. This wrap is on the thicker side of medium and that helped make traditional sling carry super comfortable on my shoulder with my three year old as well as the little one. This wrap was solid on my shoulders and definitely is a great ruck candy cane chest belt wrap.

short front cross carry

The wrap did not glide easily so pulling it through the ring was a little tough in short front cross carry. The grip made it a little difficult to kangaroo carry in, but once I got it in place, the kangaroo carry went NOWHERE. This wrap was wide enough for my toddler but not so overwhelming that my infant disappeared.

I absolutely loved the colors!

This wrap is a great toddler wrap! Once broken in it will be amazing with little babies as well. The wrap that I borrowed was well on its way to being broken in. I recommend this wrap to caregivers with children in the bowling ball stage and beyond. This may be a little overwhelming for a newborn. I also would suggest this to a caregiver who is familiar with woven wraps.

Napping big girl

Be sure to check out Ankalia on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

cheese!!

Review: Baby-Doo Orchid Ring Sling

I recently had the privilege of hosting a Baby-Doo Orchidej ring sling from Marsupial Mamas. I absolutely LOVED the colors! When I opened the package the first thing I did was gasp at the colors.

Snoozing at Peppa Pig Live! Peppa’s Big Splash

This 100% cotton ring sling was a size medium which is juuust long enough for me to work with. I usually use a large or extra large sling. I used this exclusively with Minerva. She is 11 pounds, 21 inches, and 3 months old.

She fell asleep in this sling a lot.

I used this Baby-Doo ring sling for a few weeks. It was super soft! It was on the thin side of medium and was excellent in the hot weather we had. It was really comfortable on my shoulder. I really like how easy it was to get through the rings. I usually nurse while wearing so adjusting through the rings is incredibly important for me.

A milky nap at the doctor’s office. Necklace by The Vintage Honey Shop.

Ring slings are my go-to carrier especially when I need something quick to toss in my bag. This ring sling passed the fit-in-my-bag test! It isn’t bulky at all and did not take up much room in my diaper bag or my carry-all purse.

Bus stop napping

I would recommend this sling to wearers of all skill level. This would be so great for someone who is brand new to ring slings. It was so easy to get through the rings. I loved it with my baby! I would definitely recommend this ring sling to friends. Especially friends who look great in jewel tones!

kangaroo carry while we waited for window tinting

naptime while shopping

Check out Baby-Doo on Facebook and Instagram! Follow Marsupial Mamas on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to join Marsupial Mamas Neighborhood for all kinds of fun and to hear about sales first!

Baking with Mommy: Pumpkin Cheesecake Monkey Bread

I love to let Maxine help out around the house as much as possible. Her favorite thing to do (besides tossing stuff into the dryer) is bake! Anytime that I am in the kitchen making anything she is right there beside me. Yesterday, a friend shared an article with a bunch of pumpkin recipes and my pumpkin loving self instantly decided that I need to make it ALL. Today, Maxine and I tackled the pumpkin cheesecake monkey bread. I love monkey bread AND I love pumpkin so this was a must.

All of the ingredients, minus the butter.

Sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

ALL THE DOUGH

So when Maxine saw the kitchen setup she was so amazed by all the biscuit dough. She was SO READY  to cut things!

Bite sized dough :)

Sugar and pumpkin pie spice covered dough.

I told her the first job she had was to shake up the dough that I already had cut into quarters. She was excited to SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE and she kept repeating it while she shook up the bag.

“I shake shake shake?”

Filling up the cake pan.

I finally let her cut up the dough pieces with a butter knife and did pretty great with it!  She really enjoyed chopping it up. Her dough pieces were chopped up extra small.

Maxine cutting up the dough.

Once everything was chopped up and covered in the sugary pie spice mixture, we put all the other ingredients into the pot and whisked it together until everything was mostly smooth. I let Maxine stand at the stove to help whisk. She was so careful! She knows that the stove gets very hot and can burn her if she is not cautious.

Maxine whisking the pumpkin mixture.

Daddy helping us pour the mixture over the dough pieces.

When daddy came downstairs, he helped Maxine finish whisking! Then he carefully poured the mixture over the dough pieces. Maxine was sure to stand back so she would not get burned by the hot mixture.

The mixture poured over the dough pieces.

While the monkey bread was in the oven, Maxine asked no less than 15 times if it was done. I guess waiting for food to bake is the hardest part of recipe for her too! I wish you all could smell how wonderful my house smelled while this was baking!!

Pumpkin cheesecake monkey bread fresh out of the oven!

After it came out of the oven, I tried to flip it onto a plate but that didn’t work out too well. It fit better on the cookie sheet. It fell apart just a tad but that was absolutely perfect because that is the first part that we ate.

Flipped too soon!

Yummy!!

Delicious!! I can’t wait until the next time we bake something. This recipe was excellent and we probably will be making this again very soon.