Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Harry Potter Prep

So on that last post: when you have as many kids coming to this party as we do, even paying just a dollar a cauldron adds WAY up, so we're trying to be FRUGAL. ugh, I definitely need help with the application of that word when it comes to these parties. ;)


Thus, instead of buying cauldrons, I bought plastic bowls (4 for $1) and spray painted them. Same with the hats. I bought party hats (8 for $1) and used spray paint I already had.


These sweet Diagon Alley shopping bags with handles? Free from Sun Harvest- Tres Merci Beaucoup!


And these AWESOME wands Hubby Hotness is making? Free branches from my backyard. Dowel ends gorilla glued on. Spray painting happening tonight. Thanks HH! You're the best!

Also tonight: store front signs and potion experiments.

Cristina

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Remember this fellow?


He made his appearance a few years ago for C's 1st b-day. It was my first Harry Potter themed party and a lot of fun to do. Our little Hedwig is made of a furry fabric and stuffed with bead pellets. I made a bunch of Hedwigs for the invites because we all know this sort of thing is done by owl post! The best part of him though? I ordered several of those sound recording module things, like you get at Build-A-Bear, and put one in his front "claw." He had an invite scroll tied with red ribbon to that same claw with a note attached that said "Press here." When you did out came the HP theme song. I LOVE doing invitations!

Because this was a 1 year-old party I mostly concentrated on the invites and food, but we did attempt the floating candles. Here's with the flash:


And without:



It actually looked really great when you were sitting under it, BUT two small problems: whoops! forgot to get DRIPLESS candles. Hmmm, probably no one wants wax falling on them! And problem number two: we put them up too close to the canopy ceiling. In the flash shot you can see HH watching the candles nervously.  Needless to say we had to get another canopy eventually. The canvas got a bunch of small holes in it from this little project. Ahhh, live and learn.

Here's the fun cake and gorgeous, fairy, birthday girl. I tried to replicate the cake you see during the Halloween feast in The Chamber of Secrets.



It's not the greatest shot, but it's in the very front, and you can only see the top half. It was surprisingly easy to make and had a grandiose effect. Good for me because I like grandiose, but I'm no baker. Although I LOVE baked goods!

Here are some of the fun muggles who made an appearance:



 

So why bring this all up now? Because in about a week I'm doing my NEXT HP party, and I'm so excited for it! Now it's for B-day number 7, and games are WAY important. Can't wait to share all of the fun details. Here's a sneaky peek:





Cristina