Platform 9 3/4 - The Sign

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

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

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 Paintings - The Fat Lady & Eye

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.

Potions Class - The Decorations

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.

Fluffy

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

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

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

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.