Harry Potter Halloween: Honeyduke's Sweet Shoppe

Honeyduke's Candy Shop is THE place to get all sorts of magical treats. I had a fun time in the bulk candy section at the store and when I set it all up, the Harry Potter Wiki was a tremendous help. 

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

I set up a list of the possible flavors you might get if you dare to serve yourself some beans.

Yes, I made the chocolate frogs

I used these little cauldrons for the kids. They each had a few pieces of each of the candies, so the moms could better control the amount of sugar they wanted their children to consume...

I also found this recipe for frozen butterbeer. It was the highlight (in my book) of the food table. I was tempted not to share it... Somehow, I failed to get a picture... 

Harry Potter Halloween: Quidditch

I did a little research and found that there is an International Quidditch Association. There are over 300 teams worldwide who play this co-ed contact sport... for real! I kinda want to go to a match! Well, if you are interested, I based my game off the official IQA rulebook, found on their website. Who knew?!

The biggest project of the party was the 6 Quidditch hoops. The adventure started at the home improvement store. The associates there are trained on all sorts of things... I do not think Quidditch hoops was on our particular helper's list of questions he'd been asked... His face was rather priceless.

Well, 2 1/2 hours later, we came out of the Depot with tubing, electrical tubing, rebar, and gold spray paint. Our hoops measure 6 ft, 4.5 ft, and 4 ft tall. The actual hoop is 33 inches wide.

They are kinda hard to see in the picture but they turned out awesome!

 The rest of the supplies needed are 14 brooms, a sock, and 5 balls: the Quaffle (ours was a deflated red dodge ball), 3 Bludgers (I found some smaller balls at WalMart for cheap), and the Golden Snitch (I spray painted a giant bouncy ball gold).

The rules are fairly simple. Each team has 7 players. Each of the players has a broom to "ride." There is a Keeper who mans the hoops, two Beaters who use the Bludgers to "knock out" the other players, three Chasers who try to score a goal through the hoop with the Quaffle, and the Seeker who tries to catch the Snitch. You will need at least one other person to be the Snitch. It is this players job to attach the snitch to the back of his pants with the sock and do anything and everything to avoid getting caught.

Each time a ball goes through the hoop it is counted as 10 points. The Seeker that catches the Snitch earns an extra 30 points and the game ends. If you are hit with a Bludger, you are considered "knocked out." If you are knocked out then you must touch your team's hoops to return to play. If you score a goal after you are knocked out, it doesn't count. The game continues until the Snitch is caught.

I have wondered what the neighbors thought of us playing in the neighborhood park... Everyone was dressed to the hilt in wizarding garb running around with brooms between their legs... But it was a blast!

The guy on the left is the Snitch. He was amazing! 

Despite not being able to see through his hair, Hagrid was rather good at this!

As it happens, the Bogart was the winning Seeker! She was the winning play in both games we played!

Harry Potter Halloween: Wands and a Wizard's Duel

Every party needs a favor. I was crazy enough to think that everyone should have a wand! This was my labor of love this year. I think everyone had a fun time with them as well...

Professor Sprout and Mad-eye Moody's Wands

I found this wand making tutorial online. These are made out of paper and hot glue (aka. super cheap), but they took a lot of time to assemble and design. I was originally going to finish them all and set up an Olivander's shop for each guest to find the wand that had chosen them... It would have been a cleaner way to do it... but not nearly as much fun as having them choose a base wand and painting their wand to fit their style! When my guests arrived we directed them to Olivander's Wand table where they could paint and decorate their wands.

After they dried some, a few of the wizards tested them out in a duel. The wizards start with their backs together. They then take three steps away from each other and quickly strike their best "spell casting" pose. I wish I had better pictures as these don't do it full justice. But it was a lot of fun!

Harry Potter Halloween: Decorations

Our new house turned into a version of Hogwarts for the month of October. The thing about Harry Potter decorations is that they can be as simple or as complicated as your time and imagination will allow. This year, budget and time (something about having a newborn baby...) did not allow for decor as extravagant as my imagination allowed... But I gave it some effort and I had a lot of fun getting things ready for my guests. Most of my "decorations" this year consisted of signs...

The first thing my guests got to see the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. I wanted them to go through the "platform" so I put up the sign Hogwarts has on its front door should any un-suspecting Muggle walk up to it.

I purchased a brick wall photo backdrop from Amazon. I took a part of it and hung it over our gate and cut a slit to create a way through the "barrier".

I printed my signs on parchment paper and hung them in various places around my house. The bathroom of Moaning Myrtle. The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

Hermione has been up to something sneaky with the Polyjuice potion in progress...

The family room became the Gryffindor common room complete with Christmas tree! (Yes, I did.)

Its a terrible picture... but there are presents for Harry under the tree and Crookshanks is keeping watching.

A few Educational Decrees from Delores Umbridge plaster the walls.

I put this on our bedroom door to keep the crowds where I didn't want them to venture...

The final (and major) bit of decorating is my Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe. More on that later. 

Harry Potter Halloween: Party Invitations

This year's Halloween Party has a Harry Potter Theme. I have had so much fun that I may want to throw another one in the future... My guests are adults and small children, so it has proven to be a little challenging to plan an event to apply to everyone. Today's post will cover the first and most important piece of the party, the invitation. An invitation can make or break a party as it can give your potential guests a taste of what they can expect at the party. It can make them excited to come, and gives all the information you might want them to know.

I tend to be a little particular when it comes to my Halloween parties and I this year is a tight budget... so there was quite a bit of information I needed to convey to my guests. I decided the best way to accomplish all of these requirements was to send my guests a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts.

There are four parts to this year's invitation. A letter, a supply list/course outline, the Marauder's Map, and the Hogwarts Express tickets. Each letter was addressed to each member of the family in the order of age. The letter stated their acceptance to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and included the information I needed to communicate. I tried my best to word it as officially "Harry Potter" as I could without making it too confusing.

The tricky bit was explaining that I needed this year's party to be more of a potluck experience. So the House Elves went on strike and this required the students coming to bring a soup or dessert.

Here is the letter and wording I used:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mister Harry Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The term celebration will be held this year on October 26 at 4:30pm. We do hope you will be able to join us for the celebration as we expect a good time will be had by all in attendance. As the surrounding area is well-protected by Memory Charms, it will be safe to wear your regular wizard attire, however should you deem another character’s costume more fitting, feel free to arrive dressed accordingly. Should you miss the Hogwarts Express we have also enclosed a map for your convenience.

As a result of the Hogwart’s House Elf Strike, it is necessary to request that each attendant bring a favorite soup/chili dish or a magical dessert to add to the feast. For additional festivity, your selection may be entered into a contest (upon your request) to be considered for a prize. Please include your food selection and its entry in your reply.

We await your reply by owl no later than October 13. If you are unable to reply through regular owl post, please reply with your RSVP and any questions to [email address goes here] or via the Muggle telephony system at [phone number goes here].

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. We are looking forward to your arrival at Hogwarts.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall 

This (of course) was printed in green ink, on parchment paper as per the letter Harry received in the series.

Part 2: the required supply list and course outline. This is where I explained everything that would be required. There is a required uniform (that of a character likeness), the potluck item, and I told them to bring their tickets along with them...

I wanted to give them a heads up for the general activities to expect so they could plan accordingly so I gave them a little "Course Schedule" that included Student Orientation, Feast, Quidditch Tournament, and the "House Points Ceremony".

The text for this part:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

UNIFORM 

All  students will require: 

A costume likeness of a Harry Potter character of their choice.

Please note that any other Halloween character costumes will be admitted, however may not be eligible for the costume contest prize.

Course Outline

4:30- Student Orientation

5:00- Feast in the Great Hall

6:00- Class activities & Quidditch Tournament

8:00- House Points Ceremony

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand (provided)

1 Hogwarts Express ticket (per student) 

1 soup/chili dish or a magical dessert or both if desired

Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Part 3: The Marauder's Map
Our house tends to be a little difficult to find if you haven't been here before... I had some guests who fit that category. And although some of my guests know how to get here, I included a map for everyone. The cover is a free printable I fond here. In word I wrote up my directions to find our house. I then created a map in Google maps and flagged my house. In paint, I created a dotted line to look (at least a little bit like) the path the map would show...

 Part 4: The Hogwarts Express Tickets
Nothing terribly special here... I found a free printable here and included one for each of the invitees on the letters. My original intent was to have a raffle or something for those who brought them. As it turned out, almost everyone left them at home. It was fine, I hadn't planned the details of that completely... but they were still a great addition to the invite!

All of the pieces were folded in the letter and they created their own envelope. Each was addressed to the invitees in a manner much like the address Harry got his first year. For example:
Mr. and Mrs. B. LeBaron
House on the corner
[Address goes here]
[City, State]

Finally, the detail that never fails to impress... Sealed with wax and delivered to their destinations.

General Notes:
I considered tea dying the paper I would need, but for sake of time and sanity, I purchased a box of parchment paper and the effect was amazing. I printed all parts on the parchment paper for the same effect. For $8, it was worth it for the 20 invitations I made.

For anyone who knows me, I LOVE fonts... and (at least for me) Harry Potter seems to demand special font attention. These are the fonts I used... I was pleased with the end result.
For the Letter and Class Schedule-(printed in green ink)
Letterhead and Section Headings- Lumos
Body of Letter- Magik
Signature- Windsong
Address Label- HogwartsWizard (green ink)

Map Directions- HogwartsWizard (dark brown to match the cover of the map)
Map Heading- Aquiline

I found a roundup of some awesome magical fonts here!

These invitations were the crowning jewel of everything I did for the party. I am so pleased with how they turned out. My friend even requested I make her another one to show off at work (hers was misplaced).

Special note: This particular project was not printer friendly... I certainly put ours to the test!

Harry Potter Halloween Party

I have been hosting a Halloween party for years now. It tends to be the highlight of my year and I usually begin planning and plotting by the end of June... at least it was the case this year... and the exciting decision that I would be throwing a themed party made it all the more fun for me.

Theme for Halloween 2013: Harry Potter

I admit, I'm a bit of a Potter-head and this party was as much fun to plan as it was to throw it. It is amazing how many resources and tips you can find throughout the world wide web. I kept tabs on the things I could find and diligently pinned all the ideas and pages that I used and may use in the future. (You'd better believe I want to do another one of these!) You can find all my inspiration in one place here.

Another major resource I found in my extensive research is the Harry Potter Wiki. A HUGE database of all things relating to Harry Potter. Seriously.

Included in this party:
Hogwarts Acceptance Letter Invitation: Complete with Marauder's Map and Hogwarts Express Tickets. These were my crown jewel of the party this time!
Hogwarts Decorations: Its amazing how a few simple decorations can give a sense of magic to a party.
Quidditch: Really.
Wands and the Wizard's Duel: This was my labor of love for the party this year. No party is complete without a favor, right?
The Costumes: I had the best guests attend this year! I loved all the costumes! There's some great inspiration here!
Honeyduke's Sweet Shoppe: What Harry Potter is complete without a candy shop to sample from?!
House Points Ceremony: Every year I hold a costume contest and a contest for those who bring things to eat. This year was no exception.

P.S. check back here as I add links to the posts for all the parts of this party.

DIY Laundry Soap

With the economy the way it is everyone is trying to find all the ways they can save that are possible. At least me and my hubby are. We have done some research to figure out how to maybe shrink the expenses related to our grocery bill as this is naturally the second largest piece of our budget (after rent). There are plenty of programs, theories, and strategies that work for a lot of people but it can get a little overwhelming.

Aside from our little garden plot, we try our best to shop the deals, but always spend more than is comfortable... one of the biggest expenses for us is cleaning supplies. More specifically laundry detergent. I came across this tutorial on how to make your own laundry soap and was inspired to give it a shot. What would it hurt to give it a shot right? Turns out, it works great and it doesn't take much. I found a few tutorials via Pinterest and decided I'd try this one here.

3 Simple ingredients:
1 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap

Grate soap in a bowl, add soda and Borax and mix well. It only takes about a tablespoon of this stuff for a rather large load. (If the load is really big I lean more toward the "heaping" tablespoon... just to be safe... not that I ever let my laundry pile up...)

Yes, I thought it looked like cheddar cheese too... but it smells great! 

We've been using it for a while now and we feel like it really works. There is a nice lemon-ey sent as it is put into the wash but it disappears before the rinse cycles. Clothes come out clean and NOT smelly. It has lasted us quite a while and we still have quite a bit left. The other bonus? The price for all three things is less than $10 and it makes like a trillion loads with the whole box of soda/borax. AND... we are helping the environment by not consuming as much chemically stuff... wow, I feel pretty green. 

Update Feb. 2013: Pregnancy sends my nose into disarray early in my first trimester. The smells make me nauseous, and they can stay around for days... I found with my first pregnancy that an unscented detergent worked pretty well. I could at least wear my clothes... but as the smells have returned (with a vengeance) , I can smell the detergent on my bedding (even though I have washed it several times since using it...) This soap is a miracle. My laundry smells clean without actually having a smell. This is a pretty big deal for me...  Success for DIY Laundry soap!