I made a couple of "marshmallow crossbows" for my daughter and me. I got the idea from one of Steve Ramsey's videos on YouTube (youtu.be/Ptt7SCPjcYA). I believe these are technically slingshots, but the name is more of a reference to the shape. Plus they're toys, so it really doesn't matter. They still shoot marshmallows just fine. I made one from some leftover mahogany from my coffee table project, and another from a spare piece of oak from some other project (I have no idea which one). After I cut and prepared all of the pieces, I swapped a few of them to give each crossbow some aesthetic contrasting elements. They are finished with a single coat of Watco Danish Oil just because I can. Steve Ramsey and other folks used medical tubing and paracord for the sling. I used a couple of small bungee cords. They were the perfect size, and required no modifications other than cutting off the hooks at each end. After shooting two marshmallows and immediately losing them to the dog, I starting thinking that the crossbows were the perfect size for Nerf darts. We picked up a pack of 12 glow-in-the-dark darts for $6 at the toy store and tested them out. Yup. The darts fit perfectly, and they shoot really well. I can stand against the front wall in my house and hit the back wall with enough force for the dart to bounce off a land a few feet away. The upside is that the dog doesn't eat these. The downside is that after a few days we've already lost two darts to the nether void located somewhere in my living room. They're probably under the missing socks from the dryer. My wife is getting tired of us shooting her in the bum, so I think I'm going to have to make some knock-down targets next.
Bad idea: Shooting your wife in the rear with toy crossbows... Making it worse: "but it's such a bit target, dear"
Me: "No no, dear, you've got it all wrong. I'm trying to increase my sharpshooting skills, and the only way I can do that is to aim for small targets." Wife: "Uh huh. Well, now this target is gonna be pretty hard to hit, if you know what I mean."
