This is a sponsored post written by me and I have received trade, products and/or payment from Oriental Trading in exchange for promotion. All opinions and text are my own.
Magic is in the air! Wizards, witches, and even muggles were invited to cast a spell, enjoy a feast, and celebrate the 9th birthday of my little guy. Harry Potter has cast his spell over our household and I could not have been more excited to turn our home into parts of the Wizarding World for him and his friends. He asked for a birthday like no other. He didn't want to just celebrate with an ordinary birthday party, he wanted to be transported to his own version of King's Cross station, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, as well as Hogwarts itself.
It took a lot of time and dedication to recreate these places in our home, about 6 months to be exact. I was quite weary about putting in so much time for this theme because he is notorious for changing his mind, all the time. But, I made sure he knew that once we started there was no going back. So, with that, I searched the internet, websites, Pinterest, and even fan pages for inspiration along the way. It was very surprising how little Harry Potter world items were available out there. Now, don't get me wrong, there are tons of items out there but I am planning a 9th birthday party, not a theme park, so the choices to purchase were actually pretty slim. However, the one saving grace was Oriental Trading. I was able to find the majority of the core items for the party and I cannot tell you how excited I was.
Most of the decor items were hand-made my myself, with a bit of help from family members. But, my son had a vision and we had to stick to that. After a lot of hard work and time and a lot of glue, it was time to welcome all our little wizards and witches to the celebration. I am very excited to take you on this journey! Plus, I'll be sharing a ton of DIY's on how we completed some of these projects, so stay tuned for those! Now, it's time to head to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings cross station. So, what are you waiting for, grab your cloak and owl and lets get going. We don't want to be late.
ENTRANCE TO THE MAGIC:
Our journey began with a trip to King's Cross Station and Diagon Alley. We had to make sure all wizards, and muggles, were on the right path with our DIY directional sign. The sign was so easy to make and probably one of my favorite projects. Using just some 2 x 4's and 2 x 6's, wood stain, and my Cricut machine, it was really simple to put together and I am sharing all the details on my blog HERE.
To create the Platform 9 3/4 entrance, I had used vintage brick patterned paper from Amazon and a pre-cut wood round piece from Lowe's and some matching stain. Plus, using my Cricut machine and some vinyl, I found the image on a fan page on facebook and asked to use it. Once it was completed I added a hook on the back and hung on the door.
I did have a grand plan to add hard sided suitcases and some owls on the porch as well, but we had some winter weather come through unexpectedly right before the party started and I didn't want anything to get ruined or wet, so I had to scrap that idea.
THE OWL POST:
Once arrived at Diagon Alley, our little wizards happened upon the Owl Post. Complete with Owls, some caged and some not, headlines from the Daily Prophet lined the walls, wrapped packages stacked on top of each other ready to be delivered and socks for guests to take to help free a House Elf. The Nimbus 2000, which was so graciously provided by Oriental Trading, anchored the Owl Post station. Wizards were encouraged to snap a picture behind the "Have You Seen This Wizard" poster. Hopefully, none will end up on the wall of the Owl Post.
Small canvas bags with the Gringott's bank seal held magical coins, (chocolate Euros) for little wizards to spend or save or eat while at Hogwarts. Plus, dementor chocolate bars were included in the bags as favors to take home just in case they encountered this foul spirit on their journey home.
I hand crafted this Owl Post sign using a canvas, stain, and my cricut machine. This DIY was very simple and look how great it turned out. I simply removed the canvas from the frame and re-attached to the back. I will be sharing the step-by-step tutorial soon on this project.
OLLIVANDERS WAND SHOP:
A wizard is not complete without their wand. Wizards made their way to Ollivanders wand shop to chose their wands. I found all the wands I needed at Oriental Trading. I ordered a variety of styles to ensure everyone got something different and had a choice. Ollivanders table was decorated with wizard and potion books including the amazing hand-made mini Monster Book of Monsters and the regular Monster book of Monsters.
Black owls and spider decorated candles set upon these books and trunks. Along with wands, students grabbed a leather bound book of spells to begin practicing. Ollivander's wood sign was made the same way as the Platform sign with the pre-cut wood round, stain, and vinyl cut from my cricut.
To keep guests on track and not wander off, we ensured they knew to stay near the great hall at Hogwarts. We didn't want anything terrible to happen to our wizard guests.
THE SORTING CEREMONY:
Armed with wands and spell books in hand, it was time to begin the sorting ceremony. Custom scarves awaited each of our little wizards. I commisioned a good friend of mine, who owns Bella Kay Boutique, to craft these scarves to represent each of the four Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The center Gryffindor scarf with Hogwarts emblem was a special purchase off of Amazon.
Wizards would step up to the chair and have a seat. I would place the sorting hat atop each wizards head. To make it fair as to which house they were sorted into, I placed strips of paper with a house name on it. They were to draw out a paper and that was the house they were sorted into. What ever house they chose, they claimed a matching scarf. Once they have their scarf they were now part of that Hogwarts house and it was time to get to work.
CHARMS LESSONS AND HERBOLOGY CLASS:
Now that we were all sorted into our respective houses and sporting our scarves, we headed straight to class. First up was Herbology class. Traditionally taught by Pomona Sprout at Hogwarts, her schedule was to packed to fit in this condensed class, so we had to recruit Professor Tonks (aka Uncle Chris) who gladly accepted the role. Our Herbology lesson had lots of Mandrakes on hand. But, of course, we had our protective ear wear. We didn't want anyone passing out because of the Mandrake screams.
The professor used the Mandrakes as a game for the lesson. The wizards placed the DIY ear muffs over their ears and grabbed a Mandrake pot at random. Following the professors instructions, everyone pulled their Mandrakes out of the pot revealing baby Mandrakes. But, only one lucky wizard pulled out twin Mandrakes. The wizard with the twin won the game and got a prize. Which was Harry Potter blind bag key chain.
After the Herbology class, wizards headed to a Charms lesson where Professor Tonks (aka Uncle Chris) taught the importance of learning proper wand movement when casting spells. We wanted to make sure all wizards knew at least one spell before heading home, so he taught them Wingardium Leviosa or how to levitate objects.
After proper technique was taught wizards tested this charm out on objects. House colored balloons were givin to each student. A game was played between each house student. Who ever kept their balloon off the ground, using only their wand while standing in place, they moved on to the final round against all the top students in each house. The top wizards competed against each other for the top prize, a Harry Potter Blind bag key chain.
THE GREAT HALL AND FEAST:
Now that all our wizards had their wands and knew how to use them, it was time to feast! We welcomed all our wizards and muggles to dine at the great hall and enjoy a feast of all the birthday boy favorites. Rotissere chicken, roasted corn, and homemade mac-n-cheese, with delicious fresh from the oven rolls completed the menu. Wizards were greeted with a place setting worthy of a great feast. With plates and napkins provided by Oriental Trading and a chocolate frog perfect for a sweet treat, each place setting was complete with a copper Hogwarts mug for drinking Butterbeer, or root beer, if they choose.
House banners, from Oriental Trading, hung over head welcoming all to the grand feast. The table was complete with an oversized Gryffindor house decal in the center to honor the birthday boy and his Hogwarts house. Dessert was ready for the taking after the feast and placed front and center. A strawberry shortcake triffle, mini apple crisps in mason jars, and mini fruit tarts completed the dessert offerings and everyone gobbled everything up.
As the feast came to an end, every one packed up their wands and scarves, spell books and Gringott's money bag and headed back to the train station to head home. But, not before making another stop at the Owl Post to make sure their pictures didn't end up on the Owl Post wall.
What an amazing adventure these kiddos went on and I am so happy to have been able to guide them through and to see my son's vision come to life. He was thrilled beyond belief with how everything came about and now he is trying to fit all the decor and items into his bedroom.
If you're planning a Harry Potter themed party, be sure to head to Oriental Trading now to get started.
Affiliate links are included in this post, which means if you make a purchase using one of the links, I will earn a small commission, however it will not cost you one penny. But it does help to keep my blog running. Thank you!
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