I did not plan this very well at all, and so from September onwards I am very very busy with parties, at least one per month.
The big twins birthday come first.
As they are Girl/Boy twins, we have the same dilemma each year. What theme are we going to go with?
Last year we had a carnival theme. I turned my front yard into a carnival which included stalls with pluck-a-duck, tin can alley and hoopla. The kids had lots of fun and they had a Merry go round carnival birthday cake and dessert table too. Sadly we were burgled not long after and my camera was stolen along with ALL of the photos from their birthday.
This year the twins decide on a Harry Potter theme party. We are massive Harry Potter fans in our house. We have been lucky enough to visit The Wizarding World in Universal Studios and my eldest even got chosen for the Wand Experience in Olivanders which really made her holiday magical.
So for the past few weeks I have been sourcing my Harry Potter props in order to transform my home into Hogwarts for the day.
I have grand plans for the party including a Sorting Hat Ceremony, in which each child will be sorted in to their houses. Then on to the Triwizard cup. This will involve the houses taking part in Harry Potter based games to score points. I am transforming my living room into the Gryffindor common Room. This is where the children will get to visit the dessert table. I was going to go for the obvious HoneyDukes style, but after some thought, I decided I wanted it fit in with the setting in the Common Room.
I have been making Hogwarts hanging banners to decorate with, and intend on having the children enter through platform 9 3/4. We will see how that one turns out.
The invitations took a while too. I spent hours in the craft shop on my hands and knees trying to find the right kind of paper. Then I spent hours searching the internet for the best font to match that on the actual envelope Harry receives. I ended up using a combination of five fonts.
I included a replica acceptance letter for Hogwarts, but included some details about the party. I also inserted a map of Diagon Alley with our home address on it.
The bit I struggled with the most was the sealing wax on the back of the envelope. Let me just tell you, using a regular candle does not really work. Find a shop that sells proper sealing wax.
Right well here are some photos of the Hogwarts invitations. hope you like them, the kids sure did.
Love Natty xxxx
It's brilliant!! Can't wait to see pictures of the party!
ReplyDeleteOh, how totally wonderful, I am doing exactly the same thing! I've just finished making the 'Platform 9/3' sign, painstakingly painting the letters in gold paint - JUST like yours, except we decided to add a gold frame around it. My daughter told me that it needs to be hung with black chain from the side of our house, so I'll need to action that!
ReplyDeleteMy dessert table is going to be a Honeydukes theme - we actually own many antique bottles and jars that I'll use as props and I'll also use lots of my EPNS silverware and brass, etc to decorate a huge antique bookcase - planning to drape the sides in gold and maroon-coloured fabric and have large boxes and suitcases as more props, as well as old antique cooking pots and pans, etc. I've even turned my old clock into Molly Weasley's clock, with my children's faces on images of spoons as clock hands!
We've planning a Horcrux scavenger hunt as well as having classes like your party; we've decided on Potions, Divination, Muggle Studies and Herbology. We'll have a feast in the Great Hall, a Sorting (with my iPhone hidden into a pocket I've sewn into the Sorting Hat, so it will speak!) and a choosing of wands (I've recorded a sound effect onto a mini tape recorder button device and will play it when each young witch chooses her 'right' wand).
On Saturday, I bought the red wax from a stationery shop and the stamp to use on the back of the envelope. Good to know that yours worked out. I know what you mean about having to play around with the font - I feel your pain! Last fortnight, I finished embossing (in gold) 14 Hogwarts Express tickets. I also did 14 Chocolate Frog boxes and I've cut the 'Wizard' cards that I made to go inside of them. This meant some serious research of the seven books, as well as various websites, so that I have accurate information about the witches and wizards for the cards. I'm sure you can recognise the slight Potter obsession?!?!?! I could talk about this theme alllllll night....
LOVED your photos on Facebook! It's so exciting doing this theme, especially when my children and I (and Daddy, a little!) are such huge Pottermaniacs. So glad that your darlings enjoyed their amazing party!