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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Harry Potter Birthday Party



This year Arabella turned nine and just like every other year she knew well in advance exactly what type of party she wanted to have. 

Turning nine was only ever going to be about a Harry Potter Party.

We all had such a good time getting ready for this party and while it looks like a huge amount of effort was required, most things were really basic, simple to arrange and cheap. 

Photos are probably the best way to share the fun of the day, so here goes.


Invitations.

Printed up in two sections. First the A5 owl and then the scroll. I simply used an embroidery needle and sting to attach the scroll to make it secure. 



The entrance. 

We focussed on the first three books/movies as they are the ones most of our guests would have watched/read. 

Remember when Harry receives lots and lots of mail to invite him to Hogwarts? Well we started with recreating that moment in the front lounge area of our home.  I simply added a couple of pictures of owls to the wall and then used invisible sting to hang the letters from the ceiling and the fire place. 

I had soaked the envelopes in tea leaves for a day earlier on to give them an oldish feel. 







Add a few candles to the mantlepiece and you have the look you are after to get things moving. 


Moving straight past that we had the entrance into the main party area. 

To get through to this area everyone knows that you need to walk through the  brick wall of Platform 9 3/4!





You could easily make your own entrance from an old sheet, some red paint and then draw on the bricks, however this backdrop was just blue tacked to our wall. We placed a split up the middle for people to sneak through.

Immy even grabbed her toy shopping trolley, an owl toy and ran through just like Harry.





Inside the party area we had Honey Duke's Store where the table was filled with all sorts of edible options.

Bertie Botts Beans were a big feature.

















Other foodie items we had to feast on included Potter Pies, Blood Clot Sandwiches, Ghostly Cheeses and Cauldron Cupcakes.


We got crafty with some paper and crayons and had candles floating above the table.





We have a large mirror on the wall, so it was easy to grab a lipstick and write this on it. Afterwards it removes with plain old window cleaner.





Next up were the dementers hanging in the back room. 

These are just cheese cloth spray painted black over black balloons and hung with invisible string. 

We had four of them hanging about.





We played a game of pass the Potter Parcel. 

Our blackboard wall was perfect to use for a game of draw the scar on the Wizard. 

Mr H drew a basic image of Harry's face with a big scar. We then blindfolded each of the kids and gave them a piece of chalk. The child who drew a scar the closest to Harry's scar was the winner. 

You could use poster paper and texta's if you don't have a board.





For anyone who wanted to send a letter via the Owl Post I had a simple table with black paper and white pens set up. A covered box and an Owl Post Service poster finished it off. 



Anyone needing a trip to the bathroom also got to meet Moaning Myrtle. (She was a big hit)









Next we all headed outside to play a game of Quidditch. 
Mr H made our Quidditch goals, painted them gold and placed them in the yard. We had a medium sized ball to use and simply had two teams who needed to try and get the ball through one of the goals. 


While each team tried to get goals, the seeker from each team searched the garden for the snitch (a ferrero rocher chocolate). 


It was so much fun. Mr H and I had a team each. It's possible we became a bit competitive.










 After Quidditch, we needed cake, so out came the birthday cake.

A Quidditch cake of course.





To make this one I used sparklers. Burn the sparklers the day before and spray paint them gold and that is the hardest part of this cake.


I didn't make up lolly bags, instead, the trolley from the train to Hogwarts was wheeled out. The trolley is of course filled with lollies galore and we had a lolly box for everyone to fill with their favourite sweets.

Chocolate frogs were added to each box too.



Around the house and yard I had posters that I had printed out. I grabbed most of them from an etsy store for just a couple of dollars.




Removing a few things from a shelf and placing our Potter books around was a final decoration for the day.




The rest was the kids just playing, hanging out, having fun and being kids.


If you are having a Harry Potter Party, it's going to be heaps of fun. Enjoy!







8 comments:

  1. Well done Claire - looks amazing! Can't believe how much the girls are growing up too!

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  2. I so have to do this with my adult daughters. One who rereads the books every Christmas x

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    1. Wouldn't it be cool to surprise them one day when they came home, and the house had been turned Potter!

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  3. Oh my goodness Claire you have outdone yourself! This is fantastic. I want to start reading to my oldest, what age do you think it appropriate to start? xx

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    1. Mr H told the story (rather then read it from the book) to Immy at age 5, it was her love of the story that made Arabella begin reading them at age 8. She is a competent reader and just found herself engrossed in the books. I am still to read one.

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  4. I'm reading Harry Potter to the kids, as I want them to love it as much as I did, and hey I read it as an adult not a kid.
    I totally love this theme idea, way totally cool, and you went all out, love love love it.

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  5. Oh my goodness, this harry potter birthday party is just too cute!! That invitation card is really very interesting. My sister celebrated his son’s first birthday at the best birthday restaurants NYC. The party was stunning!!

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  6. Stunning harry potter birthday party! Impressed with these party ideas. Seems like kids enjoyed a lot there. I have an invitation to attend a harry potter party at a local event space NYC. Hoping, it’ll be equally enjoyable.

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