Frozen! (the Prequel)

Kitty is in love with the movie Frozen. I can't blame her, I love it too! (As does the rest of the world). She has already picked it as her birthday party theme- in October. Since October is a long time away, and there are so many wonderful ideas available online, when the movie came out, I decided to surprise her with a Frozen Movie night. It started out with a scavenger hunt to find the movie. Once the movie was found we went outside for some pizza and snacks.

 For drinks, I mixed Hawaiian Punch with sprite. I saw it posted on several Frozen Parties. When I went to the store there were two different shades of blue, so I got one of each. I printed off backdrops from the Official Movie Page to decorate the dispensers.

 There were so many ideas for snacks- I may have gone a little overboard.

 The ice shards were leftover from the cake (pictured below).

 Kristoff's Ice Cubes

 True Love Kisses

 Marshmallow's Pops- just marshmallows dipped in white candy melts, some of them also dipped in blue sprinkles.

 Frozen Popcorn

 Snowman Snack Mix

 Elsa's Whiteout Pizza and Anna's Peppy Pepperoni Pizza with Breadsticks. (Name ideas from here)

And the cake. I had to keep reminding Kitty that it wasn't her birthday yet. I attached my characters to candy melt wafers to keep them from sinking in the frosting- it worked great.

Bonus: a friend created this water bottle label. I wrapped it around Crayola Berry Flavored water (and then spray painted the lid blue cause the yellow was standing out a bit much for me). It was a lot less ink intensive than some of the other labels you can find online. Like it? Download it here.

Welcome to Hogwarts (Part 1)

I just got back a couple of days ago from my stint as Rita Skeeter covering the first Hogwarts House Tournament for a Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet (that is sort of like the Tri-Wizard Tournament, just with the four different houses competing). It was a fun event to be a part of. I got a few pictures while things were being set up on my camera (the rest of the time I had my mother-in-law's camera so I will have to get those pictures).

The students arrived at Diagon Alley.

 Recognize Isis from our Batman pictures? I believe in reusing things:)

 After they went through the wall at Diagon Alley, they were sorted and then went to Gringott's Bank to pick up some Galleons. From there they could look at the owls at Eelops Owl Emporium. This was a last minute addition- basically I had all sorts of lofty plans, but didn't plan on getting sick. I was useless for the week proceeding the festivities.

 This was the other last minute addition- the Apothecary. 

 Basically it ended up being jars filled with fun things with potion labels attached. The water marbles (blue, green, and clear in the pitchers) were fun for the boys to touch.

 Madam Malkin's was the next official stop. The boys got their house ties and dressed up and got their pictures taken. The pictures were printed and passed out before the end of the evening.

 Then they went to Flourish & Blotts where they got their spell books. If they completed a rune inside the book before dinner they could earn an extra point for their house.

 Then through the Platform for the Hogwart's Express.

 I know, slightly out of order- some liberties had to be taken to keep food items out of the carpeted areas. At the Leaky Cauldron there was Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice.

 Here it is before the beverages were brought out.

 At Olivanders the boys got their pretzel wands (dipped in chocolate and covered with sprinkles).

 This was the great hall. That ceiling was quite the engineering feat. It took the longest to set up, but added some nice atmosphere.

 These were the house point containers. They worked perfectly.

 On of the activities was Care of Magical Creatures. The boys were blindfolded and had to pick up as many creatures as they could in a short time. If they got a snake it counted as negative two.

 The Slytherin House table

 This was the head table

After all the games (I believe Slytherin won the House Cup, but it was pretty close, as in paper-rock-scissors close), the boys went to potions to make their ice cream concoctions.

It was a well attended event, and I believe everyone had a great time. I will try and get the other pictures to post.