It all started with the invitations. I bought this great translucent paper and went through about a million different fonts to find the perfect one. I used all the best Hogwarts language that I could. I then rolled up the paper like a scroll and tied it off and we delivered them all by hand. The next week I made up directions to our home that resembled The Marauder's Map (that took a chunk of time out of my day!) but they were cool to look at! All the moms were VERY impressed!
The day of the party we hung up this huge black, plastic tablecloth that we had shredded and painted to say "Platform 9 3/4" in front of our door. Once the children arrived and gave the proper password they were given student robes (which I made out of LARGE black t-shirts that I decorated with a glue and glitter Hogwarts emblem). I looked for the stupid gold, sparkly "puffy paint" at Hobby Lobby as that stuff is washable, but I didn't find any, that sucked. They were each allowed to pick a wand (dowels that we cut into 12" pieces, sanded down and painted with metallic colors and dusted with glitter). Each child was also allowed to pick out their own "Sorcerer's Stone" (smooth rocks that I painted with all sorts of wild stuff and dusted with glitter of course). Are you getting the picture that my house was FILLED with glitter?
Once the children were robed and given wands, we went outside for potions class. Each child was given a little plastic goblet. I provided them with loads of "magic powder" aka baking soda and they also were given "enchanted water" aka vinegar. They put a couple of spoonfuls of powder into their goblets then were asked to pour in the vinegar. The reaction was a great, bubbling, foaming mess and they all had to do it again and again! Now I actually had planned on doing invisible ink, but in all honesty, it was such an unexpectedly beautiful day that I sent them all off to the trampoline for "flying lessons". This of course was a huge hit! While they were "flying" my hubby and brother-in-law decided that foaming vinegar and baking soda was not at all good enough, so they bowed out and ran to Walgreens to get Mentos and Diet Coke. Now THAT is a volatile reaction! And of course anything that involves liquids spewing at high speeds out of coke bottles is BIG FUN! After all the potions and flying, we opted to come in for cupcakes, which I decorated with sugar cones that I dipped in chocolate and decorated with white icing. Once massive amounts of cupcakes were consumed it was back outside for more games. We played "Dementors and Werewolves" a game where I allowed the older children (and the adults on occasion) to chase the littles around the yard. They had to "defend" themselves by casting charms such as "Immobulus" or "Expecto patronum" which rendered the werewolf or dementor motionless for a count of five or so. It was fun, although a couple of us got accidentally whacked by the wands and they smart! Sadly, the Sorcerer's Stones ended up just being party favors. The intent was to hide the stones and allow the children to seek them out, but it got just too late and the kids were fading fast after 2 hours of potions and charms and flying! It was a brilliant success! I took a "class photo" of the kids in their robes and included the photo with the thank you notes I had the MM hand make. One more party down and one stressed out Mama who has no clue how I'll top this next year!
Invitation and Marauder's Map
Marauder's Map First Opening
Marauder's Map Second Opening
The "Great Hall"
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