More Party Prep

Okay, so I'm slightly under the impression that I may have gone a bit overboard with the Harry Potter party.  Between my husband's head shaking and my son's bug-eyed looks of disbelief... I've come to the conclusion that I may have just stepped a tad bit over the line of "normal".

Oh well, it's a project.  I love projects.  :)

So here is where we are... get ready for a photo bomb.

Using artwork from the online Silhouette store, I was able to print off a few "Wanted" posters.

   These will be stuck up all over the house.

Next, I'm working on a Harry Potter information "book".  I was able to find this free map and so I printed that to go in the middle of the book.  More information on the book as I complete it.  (Possibly next blog entry.)

     After going to a bunch of different stores, I was able to find the majority of my party supplies.  Big "thank you" to the folks at Party City who didn't even bat an eye when they had to climb the gigantic ladder to get down the witch hat from the tippy top shelf.  The brooms are future Nimbus 2000's.

     Hobby Lobby had all their glassware on sale for 50% off, so I picked up some tiny bottles with cork stoppers for the "Liquid Luck".  Still need to make the labels.

   Then I found a giant paper mache egg in the wood department that will work great as Harry Potter's gold dragon egg. 

   I purchased some wooden dowels and wooden "knob ends" to make magic wands.  Glued them together and painted them.

I thought about shaping the dowels to be more pointy, but the I remembered that I have a 2-year old and didn't want to tempt fate.  Blunt wands it is!

    Also in the wood section, I was hunting down some wooden balls to work as snitches.  All of the ones I found that were already drilled had flat planes on the drilled side.  Me being the way I am, I just decided to purchase plain round ones and drill the holes myself.

Drilling

 

Painting.  (Insert toothpick into one end, spin and paint, switch ends and repeat)



Dry on toothpicks so the paint doesn't smudge.



Glue feathers in holes using E6000.  Feathers equal in size.

Snitches Complete!  We've had horrible weather here lately, so I had to come up with an idea other than outside Quidditch.  Don't want the kids getting hit by lightning!  Perhaps a game of "Find the Snitch". 

   Finally, the last thing I've been working on was the Hogwarts Express sign.  This was mostly made using my Silhouette Machine.

    Found a piece of wood in the wood section, painted the top, side lip, and bottom a dark red color. 

Then, I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the "Hogwarts Express" lettering.

Sponged on the gold paint.....

Then I used the Silhouette's "Print and Cut" feature to make the "9 3/4" circle and the crest.  Put those on with Mod Podge, and then sealed with a clear coat of Krylon.

Still drying.



    Still have to make the potion labels, finish the golden dragon egg, and a lot more.  As before, I will keep you posted and will definitely post pictures when everything is up and decorated. 

Getting Ready for a Magical Party

My oldest son just turned 9.  He is totally into Harry Potter and reads the books constantly, over and over again; so when I asked him what kind of party he wanted.... no surprise.  "Harry Potter, Mom!"

     I've seen bits and pieces of the movies.  Never been able to catch one all the way through, but I think I have the general gist of it.  Plus, with a H.P. obsessed kid, it's not hard to pick up extra tidbits here and there.

     My first venture into this magical party prep had to start at the beginning... with invitations.

     Finished these today using the Silhouette's "Print and Cut" feature.  The Harry Potter font for the invites was found here at DaFont.com.  It was free to download and worked perfectly.  All of the clipart was purchased from the Silhouette Online Store.

     The ticket at the bottom of the invitation is cut with a perforated cut to make for easy removal from the invite.  The registration marks that were on the page were cut off by making a large rectangle cut around the entire page, just inside the marks.  That way, they show up to align the image (for perforation around the ticket), but aren't in the completed project.

    Roll up, tape closed with clear tape, and finish with a bright red ribbon.

    Now to make the "magical prize", potion drinks, and other random magical goodies.  Will keep you all posted.