Bright Forest: DIY Quiver

When Mouse decided she wanted to be an archer or ‘hunter’ as she calls it for the Ren Festival. I was both disappointed and proud of her. Disappointed because I wanted a reason to get a really fun fairy costume. But proud of her for choosing a costume that fits her not my expectations or societies for that matter.

In past years I have made her costume, (Harry Potter, Pirate, Gypsy) but this year I knew I would not have time to make one. So Amazon came to the rescue, her and I agreed on the silver huntress costume. The only bad part was that none of the costumes came with a bow and arrow. How can you be a archer/ hunter without a bow and arrow set. So, we are start a new search for a bow and arrow set. I, and Mouse, wanted one that would work with the costume and not be to kid-ish. And again Amazon doesn’t disappoint. We found this wooden toy set that actually works! Not only does it work but it looks cool and the arrow have tips. Most kid sets have suction cups at the ends instead of points. Yes, we had a long chat about safety, and she has had two weeks of archery courses. With that I was pretty sure she could handle this set, since it is toy quality. I would recommend it anyone. We just love it.

The only disappointment was that it comes with a tiny wooden quiver. Since, that wouldn’t work I made her one and here is how:

Take one Pringles can, empty it that is the fun part, then toss the plastic cap. Mouse picked out a black fur and silver patterned fabric I had on hand. Yes, this project is easier when you have a lot of fabric around the house.

First off the Pringles can was not tall enough for the arrows. So I wrapped the whole can in a stiff felt fabric that when over the top of the can by about 3 to 4 inches. I then cut the black fur to go around the Pringles can which I hot glued into place.

After the fur was in place I cut around piece of the silver fabric that fit over the top. I cut an X in the center of the circle and glued it around the top of the can. I would not recommend that for future. It didn’t sit right at all but she said it was fine. Then on the bottom I just cut a strip of the silver fabric and glued down the edges. I then took this fabric and glued it around the bottom edge of the can.

Once the main part was done I glued a strip of webbing to the bottom of the can. At this point I held it up to Mouse’s back and measured the length of the strip to hold up the quiver correctly. Then glue it to the inside of the top of the quiver. At the end I covered the base with a piece of black fabric cut into a circle.

Then as part of the Festival rules all weapons need to be peacified. I glued a piece of floral Styrofoam to the inside bottom of the quiver. Then I pushed the arrow tips into the foam. This worked great for two reasons the arrows where peacified and they stay in place while she ran around the grounds.