Hogwarts (part 2)

I finally got more of the pictures from the Hogwarts Blue & Gold.

It is always difficult to know what is appropriate to post for the public to view. I tried to find pictures that the boys were either blurry or not showing their faces. If I have posted your child, and you would prefer I didn't, please let me know and I will remove the picture.

My own children I have no problems posting. Just don't mess with Hermione Kitty there. She looks like she knows a few spells and won't hesitate to use them.

 These are the ties that the boys got at Madam Malkin's. They got their pictures taken, and those pictures were printed and posted on the papers you see off to the side there.

 This is the Goblet of Fire. My mother-in-law was the creative genius behind this one. The boys wrote their names on slips of paper in their house colors so that a name could be drawn from each house for each tournament, and so every boy could have a chance to participate.

 The lady who designed the Honeydukes Sweet Shop is a professional graphic designer. She did an amazing job.

    In case you were wondering if I was ever going to post a picture of me as Rita Skeeter, your waiting has come to an end. What you can't see are the fishnet stockings I was wearing. Ludo would not give me an interview (something about being burned by my acid pen years before). Ludo may also be my brother-in-law.

 Professor Trelawney was telling fortunes.

This is what the great hall looked like. The boys were doing their opening flag ceremony. The flag was in the bubbling cauldron in the center there.

 Professor Dumbledore with the Goblet of Fire. Can I just say that I have amazing in-laws?

 The Care of Magical Creatures hunt, in action. Points for every creature picked up, negative points if that creature was a snake.

 Ollivander was passing out wands- the wand chose the wizard (it may have had something to do with which house they were in).

 Tom took the day off at the Leaky Cauldron, but his assistant did an excellent job making sure everyone's thirst was quenched.

 

 Dragon Slaying with javelins. Throw the pool noodle to see how many dragons you can knock over. The pvc on the bottom makes it easy to set them all up again.

 This activity required the boys to catch the golden snitch with their mouths, just like Harry caught his first snitch. The wings are candy melts that have been inserted into vanilla sandwich cookies.

The final results- Gryfindor and Slytherin tied. (I think they did a paper rock scissors contest to determine Slytherin the winner). Behind you can see part of the obstacle course.

Professor Trelawney, Ludo Bagman, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Rita Skeeter.

It was a fun and memorable Pack Meeting. I am glad that I got to participate.

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.

A Bit of Catch-Up: Princesses and Hogwarts

I know, I have been a slacker lately. Actually, I have been quite busy. And I keep losing my camera. Here are a couple of things I have done recently.

 OK, I confess- I painted this backdrop a while ago. The princesses were just too cute not to share:)

 This is what I really did. A friend was hosting a princess tea party for her daughter's birthday and asked if I could make the cupcakes. I suggested the idea of making individual doll cakes for each girl and she loved the idea. Polly Pockets were in surprisingly short supply. Fortunately Walmart had these little dolls that worked perfectly in a jumbo cupcake.

The next project is one I have been quite excited about for the last month. My in-laws are in charge of their Blue & Gold Cub Scout Pack Meeting, and they picked a Harry Potter theme. It was the perfect excuse to work on some projects that I have wanted to do for Harry Potter parties, but always ran out of time.

 I started by making some signs. I used some assorted wood scraps that were lying around the garage, and my trusty Silhouette, and lots of paint and mod podge. They are an assortment of styles- some are vinyl, some I used the vinyl as a stencil, some I printed and mod podged paper on. The Platform 9 3/4 actually involved all three methods.

You will have to accept my incomplete picture here- I have already sent the finished product off, and don't love the camera capabilities of my phone to want to take more than this. This would be my version of the House Points (also ignore the yellow balls in the Gryffindor container- they were what I grabbed first when making sure my idea would work). I went to Walmart and purchased the thickest plastic they had (in their fabric section). I got 1 1/2 yards, and cut it in fourths. Then I took and wrapped it around #10 cans, added sticky-back velcro, and trimmed the excess plastic off. What isn't pictured is the bias tape I sewed on the top and bottom to give it a finished edge. The cans I just wrapped with black paper and printed out the house crests and stuck on there. It worked perfectly.

The other day, I realized that Dobby has very similar ears to Yoda. I had already made a cute Yoda, and had the right color yarn on hand, so yesterday, I made a Dobby hat. She had fun running around with her ears. I just need to make her a pillowcase dress now.

And so I don't forget if I need to do this again (and cause I keep losing the scraps of paper I jot things down on)- the instructions for how I made the ears:

I started out by crocheting a basic hat (I used the I hook for all of this). Then I did two ears and stitched them on the sides. I started my long tail for sewing on the bottom of each side, and turned down the top- like pictured.

The Ears:

To Beg: leaving a long tail for sewing, chain 21- last ch counts as turning ch

Row 1: sc in second ch from hook; 1 sc in each ch across; turn

Row 2-5: ch 1; sc in each ch across; turn

Row 6-15: ch 1; sc in first st; sc2tog; sc in each ch across; turn

Row 16: ch 1; sc 7; sc2tog; sc; turn

Row 17: ch 1; sc, sc2tog; sc next 6; turn

Row 18: ch 1; sc 5, sc2tog, sc

Row 19: ch 1; sc, sc2tog, sc; sc2tog, sc; turn

Row 20: ch 1; sc in each ch across; turn

Row 21: ch 1; sc; sc2tog; sc; turn

Row 22: ch 1; sc; sc2tog; sc; turn

Row 23: ch1 sc; sc2tog; finish off

Harry Potter Party

I was asked to make the cake for my friend's birthday party. We all dressed up and had a great time!

Pumpkin Juice

(I made this recipe up myself, based on the ingredients list on the back of the Pumpkin Juice bottle that my in-laws brought back from the park in Orlando. I have never actually tried the "real" pumpkin juice myself, so I cannot say how similar it is. That is my disclaimer.)

Pumpkin Juice

1 29oz. can pumpkin

1 can apricot nectar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 cup sugar (optional)

approx. 3 quarts apple juice

Combine first six ingredients in a gallon size picture until well mixed. Add apple juice to make 1 gallon. Best served chilled. 

It separates, so I picked up two 1/2 gallon flagon things at, where else, Walmart. That way they can be shaken as needed. I used my Cricut and some brown vinyl to label them. The apricot nectar is simply there because apricot was on the ingredients list. I have also blended up canned apricots and added them in when I couldn't find the nectar (I discovered the nectar at Target the other day). You can also use canned pumpkin pie filling, just omit the sugar and spices. I have also made this the night before, but brought it to a boil to help dissolve the sugar and spices better, before chilling. My tasters thought it tasted just fine warm, but I preferred it cold.

Why couldn't he have said "Follow the Butterflies"?

Inexpensive Halloween decorating idea #1:This cheap crafting idea came from here. I like the Harry Potter version of spiders all walking in a row, but it works well with random spiders everywhere. I happened to have plastic spider rings, magnets, and a hot glue gun on hand. A few minutes later I had an impressive collection of magnets. The small fry really like them as well. Needless to say they have changed paths quite a few times already, and taken over my fridge, dishwasher, and any other magnetic surface my children can find.
Basic instructions if you don't want to follow the link: take spider rings (mine I had purchased last year on 75% off Halloween clearance, but for a buck or two you could buy some before the season is over if you want. I understand the dollar store probably has some), magnets (these are craft room staples- for less than $1 at Walmart you can get them in the kids craft section. I like the strip ones because they actually have a stronger magnet than the round ones), and a hot glue gun. Cut the ring part off the spider. Cut the magnet into little pieces (I did mine about the size of my spiders' body and that was sufficient to hold them up- test one first if you are not sure about your magnet strength). Hot glue together. Play. It is as simple as that.

Harry Potter Fun

A good friend was hosting a Harry Potter themed birthday for her son. I begged to help and she let me. The guest list included a range of children so we started off by sewing cloaks for all the kids.Years ago I found a pattern on-line for a chocolate frog box (google it today and there are even more options)

Amazon provided me with the perfect chocolate frog mold (it is the CK 2" toad). Isn't he cute. Somewhere I had also picked up various chocolate frog cards, so I printed off some and folded them and put them under the frogs.

I also got to help set up for the party. I used a lot of the props that I had collected for my husband's Harry Potter birthday party months earlier (I was busy getting things ready that day so I didn't take any pictures. Sorry)

The day before the party I discovered the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Bean Boxes (also a google search) and just had to make some. On the bottom there you can see the pumpkin pasties. (For most inspiration, google Britta Blvd Harry Potter and check out her party. It includes recipes and way more fun than one should be allowed. If I had more time and wasn't so cheap, I probably would have used her etsy site)

What Harry Potter party would be complete without Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice. The butterbeer is a combination of the AP recipe and my mother-in-law's version. The pumpkin juice I made up from the ingredient list on the back of a pumpkin juice bottle from the park in Orlando (did I mention that my in-laws went and I am so very jealous?) Potions class was an ice cream sundae bar where the kids got to concoct their own ice cream potion using exciting ingredients like flobber worms and beozar stones. Salsa bowls that I found at Food City 3/$1 made the perfect "cauldrons".

When I get more time to do it properly, I will add the links and recipes. Until then, you can enjoy the few pictures. Most importantly, I think we accomplished the objective, which was to make a little boy feel very special on his birthday. Secondly, I got to have a lot of fun. I do love a Harry Potter party.

(Another blog with lots of Harry Potter stuff)
(Britta Blvd)
(yet another link)

Some more fun sites I have found since:
Spell Books (she also has several other HP posts)
Platform 9 3/4 idea plus more (love the pics)