There’s some serious Harry Potter fever going on at our house these days and I can’t even tell you how much I love it. I have loved HP since the very beginning and have read the entire series multiple times (actually crying like a baby, sitting by myself in a corner of the Salt Lake City airport, while finishing book 6….I’m sure that didn’t look dorky or pathetic at all.). When my biggest kid started reading them I was over the moon. The rule at our house though, was that you had to finish all 7 books before you could watch any of the movies. Pretty much the minute he finished the last book we invited the girls over to their grandparents’ house for an overnight, rented the first 3 (maybe 4?) movies, bought us each our own pint of Ben & Jerry’s (plus assorted other favorite snacks), settled in on the couch, and had a movie marathon. Since then, we have seen each of the subsequent movies in the theater as a special date. (Love). In the meantime, I tried multiple different methods to get my girls interested. No luck. Then, by some kind of miracle, my middle decided she wanted to read them. And of course, anything she can do, so can the youngest. Let the reading marathon begin. They were getting up early just to read, getting caught reading after lights out, reading in the car, while they were camping, hauling those monster books to school in their backpacks so they could read at school and during recess. It makes me giddy just thinking about all that reading. One of the added bonuses? There is now a group of about 10 of their friends who are equally obsessed. We had a spontaneous wand making party a few weeks ago that came with a spell book and now they spend quite a bit of time hexing and charming each other.
All that rambling on and on is just to help you understand the level of obsession over here, and just so you know, I don’t think I’ve done it justice. The other important detail to note here is that notoriously, in the past, the youngest kiddo has been ripped off in the birthday party department. Sadly, her birthday falls in the middle of busy, holiday photo season, soccer season, and birthday season at our house. Therefore, she usually gets the “minimum effort” kind of party. Well, NOT THIS YEAR! I’m sure you can guess where this is going and let me tell you, I am having so much fun planning all the details that I thought I would share them with you all.
Let the magic begin…..
The invitation takes the form of a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Got a little carried away and it turned into a four page invitation including a suplpy list and class schedule. I found lots of the ideas here, a completely amazing and detailed blog completely devoted to all the details that went into planning an over the top Harry Potter birthday party. I also used the first book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, as a reference for an authentic supply list. The crest…just google Hogwarts crest, images, and you’ll have your choice of about a million.
The parchment paper, green ink and font = critical for authenticity.
Also critical for admittance onto Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4. Must have a ticket. (Image also found by googling Hogwarts Express ticket…thank you google!) We did also seal the envelopes with red wax.
BUT what is the most critical detail for authentic Hogwarts experience?
Must be delivered by owl post! (Found the inspiration for our owl post here, as well as more invitation inspiration.) Clearly, I am not the artiste that I wish I were, but the effect is pretty much the same whether your owls are fabulous or just moderately owlish.
More magical work in process over here and I will share as it gets completed. The party’s not for a few weeks so the details will be forthcoming slowly as they get finished, but just to hold you over….think: potions class, a little “unfogging the future”, golden snitches, textbooks, and a stop at Honeydukes too.
We are so excited about the magical happenings around our neighborhood these days!