Harry Potter Party (Part Two)

Invites

The invitations were loved by everyone! I originally got the idea here, at Girlydohairstyles.com. I think even before Pinterest was big. I love her blog for fancy and cute hair do's, and remembered this post, because it was awesome! But I know she got the idea somewhere else, and it is all over Pinterest. I was worried about this one, because of the helium shortage at the time, but we found some. It was pricey for invites, at over a dollar per invite, but was so fun!

My daughter and I drew the owls on with sharpies. I searched all over for wording for our invites, and was having a difficult time finding what I thought sounded good. I loved the invite at The Brilliant Crafty Type, especially for it's RSVP wording, so cute! We rolled them up into a scroll and attached the balloons.

Our's said:

Dear _______,
 We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Wizardry for a short term.

The term begins with a sorting ceremony on Friday, September 26, at six o'clock sharp.Classes will end the same evening at nine o'clock.

Please come prepared with your own broom for a quidditch match. All other necessary wizardry items will be provided to you.

Sincerely,
Miss B.  (head girl and birthday girl)
Razzle Dazzle Mom (Head Master of our temporary location)

Please respond by owl e-post, expecto textum, or muggle mobile
(email and phone numbers listed)

(Miss B. drew the owl above!)

It was fun watching the kids' faces as they were delivered, who doesn't love a balloon! I would have loved to seal it with wax, but I couldn't find a wax seal for a cheap enough price to justify the cost. But I did like Blue Cricket Design's idea for a very cute way to get the same look for cheaper.

For all the signs, invites, and labels I was able to find many free cute fonts, Here is one site (I can't remember which we actually used)

A time consuming, but well worth the effort project was our 9 3/4 platform.

I made a simple sign in my ancient PrintShop program for the 9 3/4 , and then I made a sheet into the brick wall. I bought a used sheet at a thrift store and dyed it tan (so I could use the other half for our sorting hat, but I could have dyed it darker). I was worried about using the RIT dye in my nice newer front loading washing machine, so I sink dyed it, and did not follow their instructions exactly, and it still turned out just fine (mainly, I did not stir constantly in the sink for 30+ minutes, and I used the entire bottle).

Then I bought a large rectangular-ish sponge and some barn red acrylic paint 

(I mixed more colors in to get it darker). 

And then I sponge painted bricks onto the sheet, leaving the space in between where mortar would be. I had to do this in small sections, and hang it up/out to dry after.

I once tried doing a larger section, so I could get it done faster, and in the process got paint down my hallway walls, on the shower curtain, shower head, shower curtain rod, and bathroom ceiling! But I got a new shower curtain out of it, so all was not lost. ha ha!

Its a good idea to not saturate the sponge, because your bricks look more textured if you have the spongy look.

After the red was finished I did a much lighter coat of gray, and as my husband suggested, not on every brick. I think it turned out great! We attached it on the inside of our door frame with painter's tape, which held up through almost the whole birthday party. Once it was hung, I cut a slit in it, for the kids to fit through. I think it was the perfect introduction to our party, and get everyone in Potter-mode!

The sorting hat took some work, but so worth it!

I did so much searching for how to make my own, and found very little. But this was the best site I found.
I found a witch hat at a thrift store, and it was not in perfect repair, but since the sorting hat is worn looking, that is just fine.

I used half of the sheet from the brick wall, and cut it into 2 inch (or so) wide strips. 

I was making the pinata at the the same time, 

so I tried to papier mache the strips onto the hat, but that was a flop.

(while wet)

                                                    (dry papier mache', did not stick at all!)

 I was thinking I was going to have to sew it on, which would be so much more work, but thankfully I remembered the trusty hot glue gun! I just randomly placed and glued the strips in a very sloppy manner. It might have turned out even better had I used bigger chunks and less strips.

I made a pocket on the inside, just large enough to hold my cell phone, and then added some sticky back velcro dots (I did hot glue them on for extra strength) at the bottom of the pocket to hold the phone in. )Apparently I did not take a photo of this.)

During the party my husband went downstairs with a list and sorted the kids into their houses (my daughter chose their house assignments, and chose a few characteristics of each child for the "sorting hat" to describe them.) I just called my husband and then placed the phone on speaker, and would call out each child's name loudly so that he could hear and find their name on the list. The kids LOVED this! The excitement and surprise on their faces was so worth all the burned fingers from the glue gun!

(Be sure to check out the other Harry Potter Birthday posts for more ideas!