When the guests first arrived they went to "Diagon Alley" to gather their supplies. I hung the sign with fishing line to make it look like it was floating in mid-air.
I made wands for them to pick up at Ollivanders. (Tutorial coming soon!)
I put together spell books for Flourish & Blotts that I saw on my friend Polly's blog. But, I just used cardstock for the covers. I stamped the word "spells" on the front and stapled the covers on.
The kids made a little owl craft at Eeylops Owl Emporium. I made owl bodies out of cardstock and had the kids glue on feathers, googly eyes, and little beaks.
We also had a "photo booth" where the kids could have their own Wizard Most Wanted mug shot taken. My friend took the pics for me so I could worry about other party stuff. (She's an amazing photographer, btw. She will be moving to Virginia Beach soon, so if you're in the area you should check her out!)
After everyone finished in Diagon Alley, I gave them Hogwarts Express tickets and they ran around outside holding onto each others' shoulders like a 'train'.
While they were on the 'train' I transformed the room into "Hogwarts". Basically I just took the Diagon Alley stuff off the tables, replaced the tablecloths, and moved the tables. I wanted to do four House tables, but didn't have enough tables. Oh, well.
When the kids came back inside I lined them all up and told the story of the Sorting Hat, then sorted them into their Houses.
The Sorting Hat listened to the kids' desires, so we ended up with a lot of Gryffindors, of course. I gave them bookmarks in their House colors.
Then, we sang Happy Birthday and the kids feasted on Golden Snitch cupcakes and Butterbeer.
I got the cupcake idea from my friend Polly, also. I think her wings turned out a lot better, but the kids still thought they were awesome. For the Butterbeer I mixed cream soda with vanilla ice cream and some caramel Torani syrup.
After the cupcakes and butterbeer, the kids put together their favor bags full of magical treats. We had Acid Pops, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (really just regular Jelly Bellies), licorice wands (Twizzlers), lemon drops (Dumbledore's favorite) and chocolate frogs. I made the chocolate frogs using a candy mold from the craft store. They are super easy to make! My kids actually made most of them.
We were quickly running out of time, so the kids opened their presents, then we did a couple at-home science experiments for our Potions class and a couple games riding on kitchen brooms for our Flying Lessons.
All the kids had a great time at the party. They all said it was one of the best parties ever! I must admit, I had a lot of fun getting ready for the party. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to see all the kids having such a great time and my vision coming to life!
In celebration of Harry's upcoming birthday on July 31st, Rae Gun Ramblings is hosting a Happy Harry Potter Series. The next two weeks will be filled with fun Harry-rific posts on her blog and a bunch of other participating blogs, plus an Instagram photo challenge.
AND, there is also a *huge* Harry Potter prize pack up for grabs!
DETAILS: One lucky winner will get a fantastic Harry Potter prize pack including a Make Love Not Horcruxes shirt and Hogwarts House Tie Necklace from Rae Gun, A Geeky Pillow from Heart Felt Designs, Death Eater Stamp from Viky, A pair of Harry Potter Shoes from Hogswarts Unlimited, An Accio Book Bag and Potter Necklace from Pieces by Polly, a Mischief Managed Thought Bubble from Green Girl Art, and a 50$ Amazon.com gift card! Also 4 others will get a Death Eater stamp.
Enter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
