Mini Bow and Arrow Set

I've seen many people post this little project to Pinterest, and I've been interested in giving it a try so the timing seemed perfect when I had my nephew, Gabriel, over for a visit.

To make a mini bow and arrow set, the directions are all in the pictures on Pinterest, but to give credit where credit is due, I will go to the source of the photo that I found on Pinterest. To see how to many your own mini bow and arrow set, check it out here.

Photo from Pinterest

I believe the popsicle stick that they used for this picture may be a smaller one than what my nephew and I used, but either way, it still worked out.

Word of caution about this project - it's a real bummer to do with kids until the very end, since to start you are whittling a popsicle stick and then letting said stick soak for an hour or more and then tying string to the stick - none of which is very fun, safe or necessarily doable...at least not for my 8-year-old nephew. So, he had a lot of time of just waiting around until the end when he got to design the bow once it was dry, and then of course shooting the "arrows" was fun as well. Some kids may enjoy the process though. My nephew is not one of those kids because he likes to help and be a part of all the action.

I call this picture...popsicle stick in water....

The hardest part of this project was getting the floss to bend the stick without making the stick also curve and curl in different directions a little bit.

In the pictures, it looks very easy to just tie the floss and have it sit nicely in the middle - I had no such luck. I tried superglue and then a glue gun, but they didn't seem to work. So, I ended up cutting a thin line in the top of the "bow" so that the floss would be taught without making the bow curve in more than one direction. I wish I had taken a picture of the curve so this made more sense, but I was far too frustrated to go to such lengths. Here is a picture of what I did do though.

Either way, the end result was fantastic with the bow being curved as it should and working very nicely with the arrows. The blog recommended cutting off the end of the Q-Tip with nail clippers, but I didn't have the wide clippers and scissors seemed to work just fine. It actually felt a little like I was using a "jack in the box" just waiting for the pressure of the scissors to clip the Q-Tip enough for the end to go flying. It was a highlight, I tell ya!

After it was all decorated by the amazing Gabriel, he went to town playing. He had trouble shooting the arrow, but I think that's part of the fun, right?? I think this would be a great idea of something to put in a kid's Easter basket. It's not that hard to make (once I sliced the tops of the stick) and they could decorate it after they've gotten it. What a treat!