My Harry Potter Party

Introduction

2009-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Edited 7/20/11: Due to increased interest in this blog and new features available through Blogger I have changed the blog design for MyHarryPotterParty.blogspot.com. Mostly so I could enlarge the photos in my posts so you can see them better. I hope you enjoy. For those of you who've been here before there isn't really any new content. I did add labels to my posts to help people find what they are looking for. Looking back I really think I must be crazy. The kids are now 10, 8 and (almost) 5. The 8 year old would love to have a HP party of his own and keeps asking but I'm not that crazy. Or am I? Time will tell. Never say never.
~ Minerva

On Saturday February 28, 2009 we had a Harry Potter birthday party for 16 children to celebrate our daughter's 8th birthday. While it started out like planning for any other birthday party it quickly began to take on a life of it's own. With the Christmas holiday right before we hadn't given a lot of thought to her party until we made the decision to go forward with it a few weeks into January. The following weeks were consumed with little else due to the limited time before the party. I found the Internet to be hugely helpful and so, by putting this blog together, I am hoping to share our ideas and experience with other party planners, amuse a few Harry Potter fans as well as share some of the photos with friends and family. I hope you enjoy it.

I tried to divide things up into sections. You can quickly navigate to the sections you are interested in by clicking on the links in the archives to the right. PLEASE NOTE: Blogger does not allow all posts to display at once on the main page. Continue clicking on the "Older Posts" button at the very bottom of the page to view ALL posts.

You may or may not be interested to know how we got to this point. If you are, see this blog entry about how it all began: http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-it-all-began.html

I also want to thank my friend Janet. You led the way before me and many of your decorations added the finishing touches that made this party so special. I can't thank you enough. (For more about Janet see this post: http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-friend-janet.html )

If you are planning a party of your own. Good luck! I hope you don't get as carried away as we did.

The Party Structure

2009-02-28T23:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted the party to feel like a real day at Hogwarts, not a birthday party with games and the like. So we picked the afternoon so that we could avoid serving a meal and the classes were the activities. The party was 3 hours long and in reality we could have used an additional hour. I really wanted a half hour or more of free play at the end so they could explore afterward but sadly we ran out of time and kids were still eating cake as their poor parents arrived to pick them up to a room full of kids chanting "Go away Muggles."

As it was, I had a hard time keeping the kids' attention at times. Luckily I had a big heavy bell that was perfect for getting their attention which fit nicely with the stern headmistress persona. Otherwise we'd have run an additional 45 minutes over schedule easy. I still almost lost my voice despite a lot of bell ringing. I highly recommend having some attention getting device with this many kids. Maybe a bullhorn would have been better.

THE ORDER OF THINGS
1) Kids arrived and entered into Hogwart's via Platform 9 3/4. Professor Dumbledore (my husband) and Professor McGonagall (me) escort them to Diagon Alley where kids that didn't bring their own borrowed robes and/or pets. We hand out school supplies: The wand, Hogwarts Charm Potion and Spell Book, and potion jar. Each child heads to the Common Room to label their Hogwarts bag and supplies. We all head out onto the porch and I took pictures of each child in front of the brick. We made another running entrance into Hogwarts via Platform 9 3/4 .
2) The sorting hat ceremony.
3) Divination Class
4) Potion Class
5) Transfiguration Class (only lasted a few minutes)
6) Search for the Golden Snitch
7) Handing Out the Reward Money
8) Trip to Honeyduke's Candy Shop
9) Hagrid Cake and Pumpkin Juice
10) Free Play - We ran out of time but thankfully I'd planned this into my schedule or we'd have been in big trouble.

The Invitation

2009-02-28T23:55:00.000-08:00

In doing research I saw frequently that a Hogwart's acceptance letter was used as the invitation. It seemed like the obvious choice since I could create it myself at home and it would be fun for kids to receive their own Hogwarts acceptance letter.

I found an example on this website: http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/prep/invitation.html

But ultimately since I like to write, I wrote my own letter. I hinted at activities that would be included at the party and used the letter from the book for some of the details so it would feel authentic. I even sealed them with sealing wax that was left over from my wedding invitations. From experience I knew they couldn't be mailed with the wax. Because most of the kids live close by or we see regularly we were able to hand deliver them. Evie thought it was better that they arrive by "owl post" anyway, without a postmark. A couple we handed out discreetly before school, but I don't recommend doing that. Because they were hand delivered I was able to use the Harry Potter address: Cupboard Under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive etc. which the kids thought was fun.

I used Microsoft Word to create the letter, the font I used was Blackadder ITC in a custom selected green and the crest image I got off the internet. I would have loved to have had an H for my wax seal but there wasn't enough time to order one and still get the invitation out when I wanted so I used the flower seal from our wedding invitations. I wanted to make sure the invitations went out in plenty of time because Evie's real birthday always falls during the week of mid-winter break and I wanted people to have plenty of notice before going out of town.

Platform 9 3/4 - The Sign

2009-02-28T23:50:00.000-08:00

I knew I wanted a Platform 9 3/4 sign so I found the one in the movie, paused it, took a digital picture with my camera and then printed it on paper. I actually used this technique a lot and found it extremely helpful even if the picture quality wasn't great.

The sign from the movie.

To make my sign I picked up a piece of plywood at Michael's that was about the dimensions I wanted, no cutting required. I had Steve drill holes for hanging it before I started painting, good thing since it tore the wood a bit. I painted the whole sign with house primer. It bowed the wood on the first coat but it bowed back in place when I painted the back. Over the primer I used acrylic craft paint for the entire thing. Because it is a thin paint it required several coats for each of the steps but I was able to get a fairly smooth finish that way.

Then I found a bowl that was about the size of circle I wanted and penciled it in place. I painted the circle white. Then I hand lettered the 9 3/4 with pencil on top of the dry white circle. I then painted that with black acrylic craft paint.

Next I used a yardstick and pencil to mark where my gold frame would be.

I painted the entire sign red up to the circle and the lines for the gold frame as well as the back of the sign.

After the red was dry I painted the gold frame.
The lettering was tricky. I knew I wouldn't get the spacing right if I did it by hand so I typed the words Hogwarts Express in Microsoft Word using Perpetua Titling MT font 180pt and formatted it as an outline. I then printed onto paper on landscape mode. I did a chalk line with the yardstick where I wanted the bottom of my lettered. Then I taped the lettering where I wanted it onto the sign. Then traced the outline firmly with ballpoint pen, elongating the R's to look more like the font from the movie. That left enough of a mark that I could then trace over with a Sharpie. Then I painted inside the lettering with a super fine brush and the gold acrylic craft paint.

I painted the black circle around the white circle freehand as there really is no other way.
When it was all dry I painted the entire sign with several coats of Varathane Waterbased Diamond Wood Floor Finish because I knew the sign would hang outside and it could rain.

I had some black curtain rings that I used to hang the sign with and purchase 1 1/2ft of black chain from Lowe's that I attached to those. This allowed me to hang the sign simply over a hook. Much simpler than the wall mount used in the move sign.

My sign being painted.

The finished sign.

*Edited 8/20/10 to say that for a period of time Warner Brothers had 9 3/4 signs for sale. If you can find one for sale, on E-bay maybe, save yourself the time and just buy one.

Platform 9 3/4 - The Brick Wall

2009-02-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

Getting started.

Half way finished.

The finished curtain hanging from a tension rod in the doorway.

My daughter as "Hermoine" posing at the "Platform".

How to:
I knew I had to do something special for the outside of our house and thought it would be cool to have our door actually be platform 9 3/4. Initially I'd planned on buying brick wallpaper but found it didn't come wide enough and it was somewhat expensive. Then I thought I'd make it myself on paper but I started to realize it was going to be a lot of work. I thought if I was going to go to all that trouble I should make it reuseable. Especially since there was a chance I would want it for party for my son, Adrian. I was also excited about the idea that the kids could actually run through it like they do in the movie so I had the idea to paint onto fabric. I headed to my favorite place, the Goodwill on Dearborn, to see if I could find a cheap sheet. I was surprised to discover that people's old icky sheets actually fetched a bit of money but in my search for just the right colored sheet I came across a brown linen curtain. It happened to be the perfect size and color and it cost me $3.99. Actually less than some of the sheets. No cutting or hemming required. I was very thrilled! The Goodwill comes through again!

I picked up a big sponge from the Color Store on Madison and cut it to be the size of the brick that I wanted with my electric knife.

Thankfully I happened to have some brick colored house paint that was perfect.

I started out sponging the bricks starting at the top in the center. I had to focus carefully to make sure my "grout" size remained consistent or my pattern would have shifted and become crooked. I found the technic that worked best was to paint the paint onto the sponge with a brush so it was even and not too thick.

It is supremely important to use a drop cloth underneath as the house paint did seep through and would have destroyed my slate patio. I put newspaper around the sides so when I sponged the brick it would keep it from getting on the dropcloth.

After the house paint dried I went over it with a darker brown in places to give it an aged appearance and break up the uniformity. I used a brush and a paper towel to rub it into the cracks and off the top. I happen to have painted some in my life so I felt somewhat confident I could do it. But this step could have easily ruined the wall and it took a lot of time. If you try this, I warn, be careful during this step.

It took the better part of a day to do this project. Allowing time for making lunch, putting toddlers down to nap etc.

Once it was done I sewed the tab tops to the back of the panel by hand so that the "wall" would go all the way to the top of the door and provide a secure way to hang it as I knew kids would be running through it. I used a 1" tension rod that I purchased from the bath department at Lowes to hang it. It was very secure and did not fall down despite all the activity.

I love to take pictures. One of my signatures is that that I always take individual pictures of each kid at our birthday parties. Part of the reason I did all this work was that I knew it would make a really cool backdrop for my pictures. It also set the tone for the party as the kids passed through the brick wall into the world of "Hogwarts".

Diagon Alley

2009-02-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

Originally I planned to close the door to my son's bedroom which is off the main living area but as I started thinking things through I realized how great it would be to have the kids come in and go straight to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. This was really fun but a total pain to pull off because all his things had to be boxed up in order for the room to really look like a shop.

He already had shelving so we removed the toys that were on them and put up the potion jars that each child would receive. I used his dresser to hold the wands and spellbooks (also party favors). To fill up the shelves we added stuffed cats, owls, toads and rats. It turned out some kids wanted to borrow. So that worked out great.

I got a Hedwig from Alivan's http://www.alivans.com/?gclid=CIiEq_vcmZkCFRk_awodHQw-DQ for $6.50 that I put in a bird cage we already had. We hung a bat from the ceiling. Janet had brought some brooms so we hung one from the ceiling using fishing line with a Nimbus 2000 sign. She also brought cauldrons which helped make it look like a real witch and wizard store.

My sister lent us a really cool brass coat rack. I picked up wire hangers from the dry cleaner that I hung the robes my friend Janet had lent us on. Kids that didn't bring their own robes were able to borrow and all kids were "in costume". Using the coat rack was perfect because it left enough floor space to squeeze all the kids in the room.

Each child received a black Hogwarts bag to put their things in. I made these by printing the Hogwarts crest (from the internet) onto full sheet stickers I got from Office Depot and cut with a paper cutter. The labels were then attached to the black paper bags I'd purchased from a paper store.

Warning: Don't bother trying to make this Nimbus 2000 sign unless you happen to have a graphic design background like my husband.

The Wands

2009-02-28T23:35:00.000-08:00

The party favors: Wands and Spellbooks

Steve had made the kids some wands out of bamboo earlier in the year. Then at Halloween he made some more and we discovered that even the small Bamboo is sometimes hollow in the center, making it not always ideal for wands. The bamboo wands were pretty quick and easy to make but we were concerned that bamboo might break.

So in the end we opted to buy oak dowels from the lumber store.

Steve then made a lathe out of his drill and carved each of the 16 wands individually by hand so each was a little different. WARNING: THIS IS DANGEROUS. They were then stained using wood stains we already had. And clear coated with Rustoleum clear spray paint so the stain wouldn't rub off on the kids' hands.

I'd read on one of the party sites that a woman had put the wands in a light up cup so I thought I'd give that a try. We used a cup from The Rainforest Cafe (I got a 24 oz electric lemonade out of the deal.) and I covered the logo with an Ollivander's label I made by using a picture I found on the internet. The button is on the bottom of the cup. I had each child select a wand but if the magic cup did not light up it was "not the wand for them" and they had to select another. It was fun.

Sometimes they'd get the right one the first time sometimes it seemed like they had to try every wand in the cup. It's hard to see in the pictures but it was a cool effect and the kids loved it. Of course they eventually caught on but were still good sports as they selected their wands.

The Hogwarts Charms, Spells and Potions Book

2009-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

I really wanted the kids to have Spellbooks as party favors. I looked for some to buy with no luck so we decided to make our own. I wish I could say this was easy. I found the information on the internet and thought oh this will be easy enough to copy into Word, change the font and print at home. I didn't count on Word having some major formatting and spacing issues that took hours to fix. I assume this is because I was copying web content.

I thought I'd be able to print them at home but then realized that a 50 page booklet isn't easy to print if you don't have a duplexing printer. So I thought I'd have it done at Fedex Kinko's. But they didn't have the paper I wanted so I bought that from the Paper Zone and brought my custom stock with me. The black cardstock was thick and with 12 pages of paper the booklets had to be trimmed to look their best. After the hours I'd put into them I figured $5 extra was worth it.

Then I had my husband design the labels using a Hogwarts crest image I found on the internet. We made some modifications in Photoshop and printed them onto full sheet (8 1/2 x 11") labels I purchased at Office Depot. I then cut them with a paper cutter and applied them to my booklets.

I was surprised at the amount of time and money these booklets took but in the end it was worth it. The kids loved them. I anticipate my kids will use them for years. There are references to the books which I hope are accurate but figure if they aren't it'll give the kids something to do to check them.

The finished cover.

The title page. Obviously we aren't real publishers this was just to make them look authentic.

There were three sections: Charms

Spells

Potion Ingredients

Potions

Each section had a place to take notes at the end.

The Spellbooks on display in "Diagon Alley".

*Edited on 8/20/10. As I said above I got the information for my booklet off the internet. It would be illegal for me to sell the booklets and I don't feel comfortable giving them to others. If you want to make them yourself that is your choice but as I warn, it was a LOT of work and they are expensive to print. How I did it is explained above. For those whove been unable to find the spell information themselves you can find a list of the spells on Wikipedia and the potions and ingredients at The Harry Potter Lexicon. There are probably other sources for this information as well.

The Paintings - The Fat Lady & Eye

2009-02-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

My father is a painter and I hit him up to help with some art for the party. Initially we planned on doing a lot of quick paintings to reproduce the fantastic paintings you see in the halls all throughout the movies. As I started thinking about all the work involved and how best to be able to reuse it, I decided on canvas board and artist grade acrylics which I got from Utrecht on Capitol Hill.

The most notable portrait in the movies is "the fat lady" so we started with that. She guards the Gryffindor common rooms and the students must give the password before she will allow entrance. Since in the movies the portraits are moving and played by actors they are not the same in all the movies. We opted for using "the fat lady" from the 3rd movie and the scene where she asked the students to wait while she attempted to break a glass with the "mere sound of her voice".

A scene from the 3rd movie showing the paintings in the halls. Again I used the technique of pausing the movie and taking a photo which I then printed on my home printer to use for inspiration. "The Fat Lady" is at the top of the stairs and "The Eye" is on the right.

While he painted I worked on the Hogwarts Express sign and made lunch.

We chatted while we worked and it was really fun. Evie and Adrian were on break and kept coming in to watch us.

Nearing completion.

Although he finished this piece in 3 hours (which in the painter world is extremely fast) and I'm sure he would consider it rough, he did a fabulous job as you can see. Everyone who sees it is stunned. What a great thing to do for your granddaughter.

It turned out so well that I had to find an amazing way to display it. Incredibly it was a perfect fit inside my friend Janet's antique ornate gold frame. We were able to attach some blocks of wood to the back and strap the frame onto a door that we already had. The door was then strapped to a TV cabinet so it wouldn't fall over and crush a kid during the party.

It was the perfect touch for the "Gryffindor Common Room".

He also painted the eye which can be seen in the 3rd movie.

I got a frame for it, from the Goodwill, that I painted with gold paint. I already had Victorian style pictures hanging in our dining room so I simply removed the pictures of our family and replaced them with the eye and a holographic picture of Shakespeare we were lucky enough to find at the Goodwill for a few dollars.

Since the paintings are alive in the movies having a holograph was a great small touch and was fun for the kids.

The Sorting Hat Ceremony

2009-02-28T23:20:00.000-08:00

I'd considered skipping this part of the party (I didn't want to buy the hat) but am glad that I didn't. Evie really thought it would be fun and it turned out to be one of the easier activities to pull off. We bought a sorting hat at Izilla's Toy Store on Capitol Hill. I read the poem from the book and then sorted each child into their houses.

I was going to put them all in Gryffindor to avoid any hurt feelings but it became clear that a few of them wanted to be in a different house. (I would quietly whisper asking each kid their preference as I leaned down to put the hat on their head.) Although by far the majority chose Gryffindor because it is Harry, Ron and Hermione's house. Evie's cousin wanted Hufflepuff but then was sad that she was the only one who chose it so we then had to resort her into Ravenclaw. It was fun to vary what I said with each kid and use the voice of the hat from the movie.

Divination Class

2009-02-28T23:18:00.000-08:00

My long time friend Kelly agreed to come be Professor Trelawney the Divination teacher. We removed the sorting hat from the table and placed a tray full of Divination items including a candle a crystal ball with a picture of Voldemort in it (that was really a picture frame), a set of runes and tarot cards that I already had, and a tea cup.

She sat in a chair on one side and had a student sit in a chair on the other side. She then asked the students what they knew about any of the Divination arts. They raised their hands and gave answers. The items on the tray clued them in.

She then read many of their palms giving cute fortunes such as "I seeeeeeee cake in your future." Or "You will live a long life with much laughter and good friends." "I see many birthday parties in your future." etc. etc. She was GREAT! She totally looked and acted the part. Thank you Kelly for being such a good friend!!!

Then we did tea leaf readings for the kids that didn't have their palms read. Same idea as with the fortune telling, simple easy to tell fortunes.

Oooh, I think she sees "The Grim". Actually we didn't do that, but that would have been good.

Then she pretended to see a scary vision in the crystal ball and that was the end of the class as we moved on to Potions class with Professor Dumbledore.

A closer look at the Divination tray.

Potions Class - The Fun

2009-02-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately my Professor Snape wouldn't agree to come (You know who you are.) so Dumbledore taught Potions Class. The kids really had a blast. We had a few do-overs and a couple spills but that was to be expected.

The kids were pretty good about sharing the ingredients but I made sure to have lots so kids weren't standing around waiting.

On second thought perhaps test tubes full of concentrated food coloring wasn't such a good idea.

Some kids even dared drink their potions. For that reason I only used edible ingredients. That's not to say it tasted good.

"Hermione" consulting the potion book to make Polyjuice Potion.

This is how gross they got.

Instruct the kids to dump any rejects in the toilet (and yes they did dump and start over) NOT the sink unless you happen to be a plumber.

The aftermath. I was really glad I used a plastic tablecloth.

Sadly I was so busy the day of the party that I forgot to get any good shots of the potions table beforehand. But I did take some pictures of the ingredients afterward, they are in another post. It really did look cool.

Potions Class - The Decorations

2009-02-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

I had to take the liberty of combining elements of different rooms into one. Obviously we didn't have enough space to have a Great Hall, hallways with art, and a potions classroom. I knew Potions class could make quite a mess. I considered the kitchen but I didn't think I could pull off the decorating. So we decided to use our dining room but to remove all the chairs to make it easier for the kids to move around. I hung the 4 house banners from the ceiling. We added to the gallery style artwork that I already had by removing family portraits and hanging the painted eye my father painted and the Shakespeare holograph.

I took a picture of the blackboard from the movie and replicated that as best I could using artists black mat board that I got from Utrecht on Capitol Hill. I did the lettering in real chalk. Steve made a very simple frame that we then stapled the mat board to (using a construction staple gun)and hung screw eyes from to hang it.

The specimen jars and staging area for potions class.

The inspiration for our blackboard - from the movie.

A very handsome toad I got from the toy store.

Some funky pods my friend Janet brought.

A plastic creature from the toy store, in colored water.

A finger ball I got at the Goodwill for $.99. It really is about being resourceful and using what you can find creatively. This was one of my favorite finds.

A crowded glimpse of the potion classroom.

I covered the table with a protector pad, a black sheet and a black plastic tablecloth on top (from the party store). That worked great to protect against spills. I put three metal trays (that I already had) in the center of the table, full of ingredients. It looked really cool. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures before the party started because I was so busy.

I used the same metal trays, that I already had, to protect my sideboard from spills. I set some specimen jars on one of them for something interesting to look at and to help make my dining room look less like a dining room and more like a potions room.

Potions Class - The Potion Jars

2009-02-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

My kids had so much fun making potions in a cauldron with their friends earlier in the year. I knew this could be one of the best parts of the party. I had been wanting to create potion bottles for Halloween anyway so I was excited about this because I knew I could reuse them for that purpose after the party. That part was easy.

But what to mix the potion in. I knew one big cauldron would be a disaster as I'd already witnessed the arguments about who gets to add what ingredients to the potion. Each child needed their own container to mix in. Preferably something that was water tight so the kids could take their potions home with them. Fortunately I'd been saving large jam jars so I had a good start but with 16 kids I was going to need a few more so I saved jars for a month prior to the party. Just cleaning the labels off was a job.

I had done some research on the internet and found a few antique English chemist labels. We used those for ideas and then designed our own in Photoshop including the Hogwarts crest our own Chemist logo with a place for the student's name. I printed them onto full sheet (8 1/2 x 11") labels and cut them with a paper cutter, then applied them to the jars.

They turned out cool and I know my kids will continue to make potions in theirs for a long time.

Potions Class - The Ingredients

2009-02-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

Making potion ingredients was one of the funner parts of planning this party. I collected cool bottles and jars from the Goodwill for $.69-$2.99 ea. I knew I would reuse them for Halloween so I felt I could justify the time and expense (it adds up) because I knew we'd get use out of them in the future. We made a list of ingredients we needed to make particular potions. We made a potions book as a party favor and many of the kids referenced specific potions from the spellbook during "potions class". I loved trying to create authentic looking ingredients in the kitchen. Maybe I missed my calling as a chemist. A lot of the spices were purchased in the bulk foods department for very little money.

Acid - Jarritos Lime Soda

Mandrake Juice - unsweetened cranberry juice with black food coloring
Swamp Water- water, asafoetida (a super stinky spice), brown & green food coloring

Boomslang Skin - Hyley's loose whole leaf tea soaked in water

Dragon's Blood- Rasberry cocktail mixer

Spider Legs - Black sprinkles from the cake decorating store

Fluxweed - Dill

Knotgrass - Catnip

Lacewing Fly - Plastic flies from the party store

Sal Amoniac - salt
Crocodile Heart - candy hearts
Asphodel Powder - ground mustard seed
Gingerroot - powdered ginger
Salpeter Filings & Rasplings - coarse shaved garlic (Safeway bulk foods)
Daisy Root - Wondra flour

Pufferfish Eyes - boiled large pearl tapioca with a touch of pink and water

The kids LOVED the pufferfish eyes even though many were afraid to touch them.

Flue Powder - Grey colored sugar from the cake decorating store

Beetle Eyes - black sprinkles from the cake decorating store

Armadillo Bile - corn chowder (from a box) with green food coloring

Toad Slime - corn syrup, molasses & food coloring simmered together on the stovetop with a whisk to prevent scorching

The bottled toad slime.

Ashwinder Eggs - dried soybeans

Test Tubes - water, almond extract & food colorings

Water - the most basic of potion ingredients but a necessary one

Transfiguration Class

2009-02-28T22:55:00.000-08:00

Transfiguration class was really just a ruse. We put it in the invitation so I wanted to incorporate it somehow. We gathered back in the main room and I put a stuffed toad on the velvet covered table and pretended to turn it into a rat (which I'd hid up my sleeve).

As I did that Professor Dumbledore walked in with a scroll that announced class was cancelled so students could help look for the missing Golden Snitch.

The Search for the Golden Snitch

2009-02-28T22:50:00.000-08:00

After Potions Class I, Professor MacGonagall, helped the kids clean up their potion stained hands and started "Transfiguration class" during which time Professor Dumbledore quickly hid the paper clues for the "Golden Snitch Hunt". We did it at the last minute so there was no chance a kid would notice a clue hidden in the bathroom or somewhere else before the search started and spoil the whole thing.

I had just transformed a toad into a rat when Professor Dumbledore hands me a scroll announcing the Golden Snitch is missing.

It says Transfiguration class is cancelled so students can help aid in the recovery. A reward of 1 Galleon, 1 Sickle and 1 Knut will be paid to each student that helps. A suspicious person was spotted by Prof. Snape near the girls lavatory. That clue starts the search in the bathroom..

Squeezing this many kids into our bathroom was quite a feat.

We hid a decoy clue in the bathroom just for fun.

The real clue found behind Moaning Myrtle.

Searching Diagon Alley.

Evie put it together and found the clue in the skull. She did not know any of the locations or clues. She wanted it all to be a surprise.

This was a Halloween decoration.

Craziness on the stairs as we headed up to the "restricted section library". I think it was hardest for me in my full length skirt. I wanted to be right there to make sure nobody fell down the stairs.

Again cramped spaces made for a frenzied search.

We had to help them make the connection between the Golden Snitch and the Golden Book by asking "What color is the Golden Snitch?" Amazingly I found this book a few days before the party for sale at a Safeway for $1 donation. (It's called Surgeon by Frank Slaughter and was not originally gold. I wish I knew why they painted it. If you want a gold book you'll probably have to paint one yourself but I didn't have to so I don't have instructions.)

The clue inside the book leads us back down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room.

They know they are looking for a musical instrument.

See the green tip of the flute on the right? It was easier to see in person.

They head back to where Fluffy was.

Evie plays music to Fluffy and we unlock the basement door.

The clue under Fluffy's paw.

They slide through the Devil's Snare.

Into the room with the flying keys.

The big key "unlocks" the "door".

Which is really a curtain with a paper lock Evie made.

The kids each take a turn looking into the mirror of Erised to see if their heart's desire will reveal the location of the missing Golden Snitch. After they've all had a turn they say to me "YOU do it."

I pretend to look hard into the mirror and then say "Ahhhhhhhh. I seeeeeeeee... it is....(long pause)...in a drawer nearby."

After a quick look around it is found!

The chest was slid pretty far back to make it a little harder to find.

This is what we were searching for. Yay! We recovered the missing Golden Snitch so the Quiddich tournament is saved. (I bought the Golden Snitch from Alivan's for $3.59. The Harry Potter chest is from the Harry Potter Uno game.) We headed upstairs to dole out the reward money.

The Reward - 1 Galleon, 1 Sickle & 1 Knut Each

2009-02-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

We decided to keep the Golden Snitch reward payout simple, one of each coin. I purchased pirate doubloon from Great American Coin Company. I was a bit disappointed to find they were all one size but at least they were old looking and made of a nice heavy metal so they felt real. We used gold for Galleons, silver for Sickles and bronze for Knuts.

After each child received their reward coins I surprised them by saying I was taking them to Honeydukes to spend it.

Honeydukes - The Trip to Honeydukes Candy Store

2009-02-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

I could have simply set the candy out on a table but we knew it had better be somewhere that the kids wouldn't get into it if they happened to find it. This cabinet is actually my home office in my kitchen. I also really wanted the candy store to be a surprise so I was pleased that we were able to keep the kids out of the kitchen until the surprise trip to Honeydukes.

After the party I heard from many kids this was their favorite part of the party (That and potions class.) I guess that's no surprise. They got to take their selections home with them as party favors. Details explained in the Honeydukes - Creating the Store post.

Honeydukes - Creating the Store

2009-02-28T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the completed store. I had gone to a lot of trouble collecting the candy for the store. I knew this had the potential to be really amazing if we did it right. This is really my home office in my kitchen. It was Evie's idea to use it for the candy store. Brilliant. Except that we had to remove a lot of books and binders to make space for the candy. And then what to do with the computer?

I used some purple fabric with stars and moons that my friend Janet brought over to make curtains. This way I only had to remove the books from some of the shelves. Luckily we were making a restricted library so I had a place to stack all the books from my office. I pinned the fabric over some tension curtain rods we already had and placed them inside the upper shelves. We then tucked the curtains onto the shelves to give the impression that perhaps this is where we kept our candy backstock.

When the cabinets were built the cabinet maker made a back panel to go in the middle. We ended up not using it but had stored it in the basement. We realized it would be the perfect way to hide the monitor, lamp and phone etc. I painted it with primer intending to turn it into a chalkboard. When I discovered the black chalkboard paint had to cure for three days I decided to simply use the sidewalk chalk directly on the primer. We needed a sign that explained there was a limit of one per "customer" anyway so the kids in the front of the line didn't take all the chocolate frogs or whatever. So the sign served two purposes. We printed the Honeydukes logo on 8 1/2" x 11" sticker paper that I adhered to the sign. My husband screwed a piece of hardware to the back which then went under the lip of the overhead cabinet to secure the sign in place.

The day of the party we removed the printer, covered the computer with some fabric and moved the final candy jars into place.

I happened to have a lot of glass jars with clamping lids that I thought would work okay. But I didn't have enough and some of the candy would be too big. So I headed to my favorite place, the Goodwill on Dearborn. For a few dollars a piece I found large glass candy jars that were missing their lids. I was able to use some vases I already had for the Cow Tales and Gummy Worms. I already had the icy looking candy dish that was perfect for the Ice Mice.

Originally I thought I'd make labels for each jar. My husband had the idea to make fold over cards to place in front of the jars. In the end it was a lot easier and made it really look professional. We designed the cards together in Photoshop using a Honeydukes logo image we got off the Internet. We printed them 4 up onto matte photo paper and used a paper cutter to cut them.

A big challenge with the Honeydukes concept was how to price the candy and structure that activity to keep it somewhat simple. I didn't want the kids to get one of every kind because I knew their parents would kill me if they came home with that much candy. I also wanted those expensive pirate doubloons back so I could reuse them. We decided that each child would get only 1 of each type of coin. Then it made sense to "price" the candy from the most expensive to least expensive. I wanted every child to get a chocolate frog, ice mice and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. So like at the grocery store I made them 3 for 1 Galleon since the Galleon is the most valuable coin. Since there was a limit of one per "customer" each child simply turned in their gold Galleon and got one of each. Then we let them pick 4 of the candies on the left for their silver Sickle. And pick 5 of the candies on the lower right in exchange for their bronze Knut. The signs were labeled with the "prices".

Still the whole candy picking was chaotic. Understandably they were very excited. We had to have them make single file lines on each side. Professor Dumbledore helped the kids with the candies on the right while I helped the kids on the left side.

I didn't account for the fact that it would be hard for the kids to decide. But maybe that was part of the fun.

Candies on the left side.

Candies on the right side.

The sign. If I'd had more time perhaps I would have written something about the pricing but this was the best I could do at the time. The wood thing was used to collect the coins. We got it at Christmas gift exchange this year. At the time we had no idea what we would do with it.

The fold over candy labels up close.

Honeydukes - The Candy

2009-02-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone who's seen the movies or read the books knows about some of the most famous Harry Potter candies. The chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Ice Mice, Droobles, Acid Pops, Blood Pops as well as Albus Dumbledore's favorite muggle candy, Lemon Drops.

For some reason these candies are impossible to find locally. I just might have to contact J.K. Rowling about her merchandising. I think there is a bundle of money to be made selling party supplies that are now impossible to find. Even if they are only available to purchase on-line.

I was fortunate to find perfect candy at DollarTree on Aurora. I was THRILLED! At $1 a bag it made recreating Honeydukes considerably less expensive. There I found candy that was unusual or interesting that one could imagine might be found at a magical candy store like Honeydukes.

WHAT I GOT FOR $1 A BAG
Eyeball Suckers
Pop Rocks
Daffy Taffy
Fizz Pops (which I used as Acid Pops)
Cow Tails
Twist Pops (Unicorn Pops, these were a HUGE hit with the kids)
Super Duper Gummy Worms
Gummy Mice/Rats (Which I used as Ice Mice)
Double Bubble (Which I used as Droobles)
Atomic Fireballs (The kids were scared of these)
Pixie Sticks

The chocolate frogs I ordered from http://www.alivans.com/?gclid=CNzFiuHpmJkCFRBbagodxhFTZg for $3.49 each but at the time they were offering 20% off so I saved about $10. I'd seen molds to make your own but I just didn't have the time. Plus I wanted the cool cards. As Ron says that's what you really want anyway, the frogs only have one good jump in them. Sorry, couldn't get a picture before Adrian bit the head off. I think it looked just like the frog on the wrapper. I had been curious if it would be worth it. I think it was. The kids loved them and were SO excited.

This is what the cards look like. We got Voldemort. Ooooh scary.

I didn't want to pay $7 + a bag for Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans but I knew that we had to have them for Honeydukes. I loved that the fabric bags were refillable. Amazingly I found a seller on E-bay that was selling the bags only for $20 for 100. I knew I could use them for Evie's party, Adrian's party (IF he has one) and sell the rest for probably more than I paid.

The story with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans is that they were made by Jelly Belly. I don't know what happened but they stopped making them. You can find old bags of Bertie Bott's on the Internet but who knows how fresh they are. Jelly Belly now sells them under the name Bean Boozled Beans. They are only available in small boxes and they contain both regular flavors and gross flavors that look identical. See the back of the box.

We decided after much discussion to fill our empty bags with Jelly Bellys 49 flavor beans I bought at Costco and add a few of the Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Beans to each bag. I figure that the risk of getting a gross flavored bean is what is fun for the kids not actually eating the gross beans.

...Unless you are Evie. Miss daredevil. We had so much fun testing them out. We tried about 10 and every single one was gross. So even though they say they contain regular flavors we didn't get any. They are randomly selected so you don't know how much of each flavor you'll get.

Surprisingly I thought black pepper flavor was the worst. It stuck with me for hours. Toothpaste flavor was grosser than I thought mint could be. Vomit wasn't as bad as I thought. Moldy Cheese about made Evie throw up. Pencil Shavings was spot on. Skunk Spray was not as disgusting as it sounds. Thankfully I didn't taste Rotten Egg, Ear Wax, Booger. And we're not sure if we tasted Baby Wipes. That one must not be too bad.

The official Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans contain the following additional flavors that Bean Boozled Beans do not: Sardine, Earthworm, Dirt, Bacon, Grass, and Soap (which I think is now Diaper Wipes)

Even Adrian, who is a picky eater, had claimed he would never eat them just for fear that he MIGHT get a gross one, eventually gave them a try and then ate the whole bag before the night was out.

I think this was vomit flavored and he spit it out. Ha, ha.

I removed the official Harry Potter flavor guides since the flavors and images didn't correspond to what was actually in the bags. We made this guide on the computer, using images from the Jelly Belly site but removed their logo, so the kids would be warned that they could get the gross flavors in their bag. (I didn't want any parent getting mad if their child got sick after eating a disgusting flavor.) I printed them onto Matte photo paper, cut them with the paper cutter and placed one inside each bag. This one got a lot of use. The kids really did look at it to see what their risk was when eating each jelly bean.

Adrian stuffing the toffee popcorn flavored candy corn into bags for Werewolf Fangs. I bought those at Grocery Outlet.

The label was made in Photoshop. I printed 4 - 4" x 5" labels per page onto matte photo paper, used a paper cutter to cut them, then folded them in half and stapled them to the plastic bags (which I already had, you can get them at Cash and Carry).

Lemon Drops were easy to find. We made the label in Photoshop and used the same bagging technique as for Werewolf Fangs. The Dumbledore graffic we found on the Internet but changed it slightly in Photoshop.

I got this cool container at the Goodwill a few years ago. I thought it looked icy so it was perfect for the Ice Mice.

These are the individually wrapped gummy mice I used for Ice Mice that I got at the dollar store.

Amazingly I found individually wrapped Cotton Candy flavored Dubble Bubble at the dollar store too. The gum wasn't labeled so it was easy enough to pretend they were Droobles which are also hard to find these days. They do sell Droobles cotton candy gum on the internet but I believe the gumballs are discontinued, except for a few locations that still have some old stock.

We used the lemon Fizzy Pops as Acid Pops. Which you may still be able to get off the Internet in packages of 3. I thought it was a bit much to get 3 pops each. I wanted everything to be individually wrapped because the kids would be taking them home as party favors. So for $2 (2 bags) I thought these would work. I had Adrian unwrap and help rewrap in clear cellophane. I was surprised that few children chose these. I think they really thought they'd burn their mouths. We did the same thing with Cherry flavored DumDums as Blood Pops.

*As of Oct. 5th 2011 you can now again purchase Bertie Botts Everyflavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs from Jelly Belly. Hooray!

Hagrid's Cake and Pumpkin Juice

2009-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

I happened to have canned pumpkin pie mix which was just canned pumpkin with spices. I added the whole can of pumpkin to 1 can frozen apple juice plus 2 cans water and quickly blended it with my stick blender with a touch of red and yellow food coloring. The day of the party I added another can of frozen apple juice, ice and a bit of water to taste. I left it a bit sweet to allow for the melting ice. I had planned to use dry ice to give the bubbling caudron effect but we didn't have time to get it that day in part due to to an uninvited surprise visitor (who should have offered to go get the ice instead of expecting us to chit-chat with him when we were obviously very busy setting up the party of a lifetime and believe me I hinted). You can add more or less apple juice to taste. Surprisingly it was not bad. Apple juice with a hint of pumpkin pie flavor. However I really served it for the novelty. I wouldn't expect it to be any kid's favorite drink. But they did drink some.

I already had the cauldron (I got at the Goodwill.) I washed it really well beforehand.

It was Evie's idea to make a Hagrid cake. When he comes to get Harry and take him to Hogwart's it is Harry's 11th birthday and Hagrid brings Harry a chocolate cake that he made himself. I liked this idea because I could hardly screw up a messy looking cake. I bought a cake box from the Home Cake Decorating store on Roosevelt. They had tubes of Wilton ready made Kelly green icing. For $.25 I bought a ring that would attach a cake tip directly to the tube no piping bag required.

I admit I went for easy and used Pillsbury Devil's food cake mix. To get height for each layer, I used an entire cake mix for each of the two 9" pans.

I iced it with canned frosting as sloppily as I could and then piped the lettering using my left hand to make it look a little shaky. I used a picture I took of Hagrid's cake on the screen from the Sorcerer's Stone as a guide for the lettering.

The cakes side-by-side. The photo on the left was taken by pausing the movie on the scene. I think it looked pretty close. You can see there is a line that kind of cuts through movie cake which I was able to duplicate with a knife.

When I brought out the cake I told the kids Hagrid dropped the cake off earlier. I left it in the box so it would be just the same. They were all like, "Reeeaaalllllly?" It was too cute!!!

Fluffy

2009-02-28T21:30:00.001-08:00

My daughter Evie is amazingly creative. Since she was practically a baby I have been torn between wanting to let her explore her creativity by providing paper and art supplies and hating the constant mess of half doodled pieces of paper, colored pencils and markers everywhere. And then there was the excessive consumption of paper and tape that still drives the environmentalist in me crazy. I guess it was worth it. I am amazed with some of the things she can come up with. I'm still in awe over the life sized Hermoine and bed. She was 7 and did it all by herself by taping multiple pieces of paper together and cutting them out. To see a picture click on this blog entry. http://myharrypotterparty.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-it-all-began.html She recently entered an art contest at school and her entry has made it to the state level and is being judged.

She had made so many Harry Potter decorations in the past I really wanted to be able to include some of her pieces in the party. She made Fluffy, the three headed dog, complete with the trap door and paws using brown construction paper and crayon. I think she did a good job.

The Flying Keys

2009-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

I was able to get a bunch of cool old keys off E-bay for a few dollars. My husband then made a Photoshop document with the shape of wings. I printed it onto "antique parchment" paper and had my son Adrian cut them out. We then taped the wings on (tedious), tied nylon thread to the key and taped the thread to the ceiling using clear packing tape.

I think he was nearly ready to kill me over this one. But he helped.

Taping wings on keys has to be one of the weirder things we've done in our life.

I got the large key off E-bay as well for $10. It was perfect and was used to unlock the door during the Golden Snitch hunt. I know the kids will continue to use it for imaginitive play. At least that's how I justified the expense. It took a little extra tape to secure.

It turned out to be a cool effect and helped make our boring basement hallway feel a little more magical for the kids.

The Devil's Snare

2009-02-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

It was Evie's idea to do a trap door and Devil's Snare (a monsterish clinging vine) into the basement. Originally she wanted to make a real trap door that the kids had to open, go through and then pass through the Devil's Snare. I would have loved to have been able to pull that off but with 16 kids going down this narrow stairway it would have torn anyway. The effect was still there, especially given how crowded it was and the dim lighting. We made it with brown packing paper that comes in my youngest daughter's medical supply boxes. The kids twisted it up and then I taped it to the walls and together with clear packing tape. I looped a strand of silk ivy through to give it some leaves. Perhaps I should have left that touch off as it tended to make it look more like the Whomping Willow.

The Restricted Library

2009-02-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

I made the sign on the computer using Microsoft Excel and printed it onto the "parchment" paper and simply hung it to the baby gate using string. I couldn't tape it or the gate wouldn't open.

We covered the kids' play kitchen with some of Janet's red velvet and piled books from the kitchen desk on top to create an instant library.

We covered the kids' play table too so that it would look more like a library.

How It All Began

2009-02-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Last May (2008) my son was invited to a Harry Potter birthday party. He was not quite 5 and had no idea who Harry Potter was. We happened to have the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone so we told him we'd watch it prior to the party so he would have some idea of what it was about. We picked it for Friday Family Movie Night but Evie, she was 7, REFUSED to watch it and wouldn't even stay in the room. Somehow she had it in her head that it was way too scary.

She watched a different movie alone upstairs but came downstairs after her movie was over. She caught a glimpse of Harry Potter, asked a series of annoying questions while we attempted to watch the rest of the movie and was hooked. Instantly. She went from a Harry Potter hater to a Harry Potter lover in minutes.

That's when the obsession started. She would BEG many times a day to watch the movies. The first the second the third....it didn't matter. And if we did agree to watch one of the HP movies it still didn't stop the begging and pleading for more than the few hours the movie was on.

She started making decorations out of paper and putting them all over the house (see pictures below). The Goblet of Fire, Moaning Myrtle, even making a life size petrified Hermione in a bed. Over the summer I remember her standing on the grass with the broom on the ground and commanding it "Up!" "UP! "UP!!!" over and over again just like Hermione does in the movie. She was a new reader and had been really into the American Girl books. Now she was begging to read Harry Potter and I had to force her to finish the American Girl books we'd already bought that she'd previously begged for. That was probably a mistake as it made Harry Potter even more desirable.

The Harry Potter birthday party talk started but her birthday was a LONG way off. "We'll see" I'd say all non-committal like. "I'm not sure about that Evie." "Let's talk about it when your birthday gets closer". I thought there was no way she's STILL want a Harry Potter party come February. After all, her last birthday party was Fairy Paper Dolls. Her favorite color is pink. And only a few months ago she'd been terrified by Harry Potter. Sometimes in life things change fast.

She also started talking about Harry Potter costumes for Halloween. She of course would be Hermione, Adrian would be Harry Potter (he even got a scar on his forehead later in Kindergarten just like HP). She needled us so incessantly that after many months we finally agreed and my husband Steve dressed up as Professor Dumbledore and I dressed up as Professor MacGonagall. Even the baby of the family, Ainsley, who had just turned 2, was Hedwig, Harry Potter's owl. I knew it was a little crazy but it was kind of fun.

Evie checked Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone out from the library at school and started reading it during their reading time. She finished her American Girl books and asked for the Harry Potter books for Christmas. By January had started reading the 3rd book. And by this point she'd begged and pleaded and seen all of the movies so she knew the storylines so well that she could work Harry Potter into the dinner conversation EVERY single night. It became a joke. Harry Potter became known as HP for short and I must have said "No more HP talk!" a thousand times.

But the rest of us do also like Harry Potter. Have enjoyed the movies. Are excited about reading the books together and so we eventually agreed that okay, Evie could have her Harry Potter Birthday Party. I would just try not to get carried away as I had in years past. We were going to keep it simple. Ha!

But as the creative juices flowed we started come up with more and more cool ideas and soon I recognized that things had the potential to get WAY out of control. Yet at some point there is no turning back.

So that is the story of how How It All Began and how we ended up throwing this crazy party.

Evie's Paper Decorations From That Summer (She was a little obsessed.)

A crest for the front door.

The Goblet of Fire

The sorting hat.

A cauldron and potion jars.

A Must Have- Hogwart's H's for the Dining Chairs

The restricted library.

But you can't see the play kitchen in the library. That would never do.

The Mirror of Erised

The girl's lavatory.

Moaning Myrtle

The snake and Tom Riddle diary.

A giant spider and the Weasley car.

Harry Potter glasses.

A life-sized petrified Hermione in the infirmary bed.

And, of course, her flowers.

And my favorite- Ink and quill made with a real pencil lead so it really writes.

And yes this was all her idea, and I did not help at all. And all this was long before the party, just because she's Evie and this is what she does for fun.

My Friend Janet

2009-02-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Years ago when Evie was not even 2 years old, I met Janet. She had a son about Evie's age and organized a weekly playgroup that we attended. She also had an older daughter who much to my dismay was reading Harry Potter at age 7. I thought that was unbelievable. I also thought it was a little crazy when my friend threw her daughter a huge over the top Harry Potter birthday party. Little did I know I would be following in her footsteps a few years later when my daughter was her daughter's age. Life can be funny that way.

I knew she'd kept a lot of her decorations. I asked to borrow her sorting hat and she came to my house with a van-load full of stuff including Gryffindor robes, cauldrons, a huge gold antique picture frame, fabric yardage, a cardboard stone wall and much more. Some of those items really made the details of the party. It wouldn't have been the same without it. Thanks Janet!

Gathering Ideas

2009-02-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

I started by doing a small amount of research on the internet. I was surprised by the amount of information available. Since I was planning a kids party I found this site to be helpful for gathering ideas. http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter.html As I saw ideas I liked I copied them into Word. I saved webpages in a Harry Potter Party Folder so I could return to later as I quickly found it was easy to lose information, in the vast plethora of what was available, that seemed easy to find at the time. I also saved images into a separate folder that I thought could be useful down the road.

I also found it helpful to see pictures from this woman's website and that in part inspired me to create a blog to share ideas with others. http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/index.html

Would I Do It Again? & Answers to Other Questions

2009-02-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of parents wanted to know. Was it worth it? Well I don't know. It WAS amazing if I do say so myself. One of those once in a lifetime things. It did consume my life for a full month. And then the cleanup. That is going to take awhile. At the time of this writing it's still all over the house. The money.....I'm not sure how much it cost. If you add up all those trips to the Goodwill and miscellaneous expenses I'm sure it would add up. But did it cost more than renting out the local swimming pool, roller-skating rink, bowling alley or bouncy house? Probably about the same. But obviously the time commitment was huge. How did I do it? Those who know me personally know that in addition to my 8 and 5 year old, I also have a 2 year old daughter with many medical issues and special needs. I don't really have the time to do this. Who does? Seriously.Yet somehow we pulled it off. I spent less time on the computer, didn't watch TV, basically didn't do anything else for the month before the party and everyone in the family helped. I also was awake until 3:30 in the morning many nights the week of the party. It was a LOT of energy for 3 hours of fun but the memories will last a lifetime.

If I did it again would I have this many kids? YES! It would have been easier to manage with fewer children but the fact that it was crowded made it feel real. If I had a bigger house I'd have invited more kids.

To all the people in other countries who may be viewing this: NO. This is not a typical American kid's birthday party.