So we all know that the last Harry Potter film was released this past July (a sad day for all Potter fans). To celebrate the final film, Cody and I hosted a Potter Party with some of our close friends every night for 7 days leading up the last movie. Each party we watched a Potter movie, starting with the 1st one and making our way in order to the 7th movie part 1. I thought it would be fun to "theme" each party and transform our apartment into an experience nothing short of a fabulous Hogwarts celebration!
Potter Party 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Because we learn so much in the first movie, obviously the decor for this party was the most extravagant. I found a large piece of black fabric that we randomly had and draped it across our dining room table. I then tossed on some pretty fabrics and a two-toned scarf to represent each house at Hogwarts. Taper candles in earth tones were stratigically placed around the table. I also found some old silver Christmas tree decorations that I wrapped around a few of the candle sticks holders. We had a ton of black cauldrons from Halloween in storage, so I used those to put chips and dips in. We decided to serve hot dogs and hamburgers with fries for dinner <easy and inexpensive.
Hedwig sits perched on top of a votive candle holder, which stands on top of a brown travel trunk.
Hedwig, of course, was featured on our table, carrying the infamous letter from Hogwarts to Mr. Harry Potter. For the letter, I downloaded the free Harry Potter font and typed up this replica of the letter on card stock that resembled parchment paper. I made a quick and easy Hedwig by cutting out an owl shape out of cardboard, painted it white, and trimmed it with a white marabou feather boa.
I found printable crests for each house online, printed them, cut them out, and glued them to these flags I made from construction paper. I also painted an Ollivander's Wand Shop sign similar to the one in the movie. That sign now resides in Cody's office, because he loved it so much!
A few years ago for Halloween, I got some old wine and liquor bottles and printed off "scary" labels to replace the original ones. I then mixed up some cherry and blue raspberry kool-aid (a favorite among our friends) and filled the bottles with it. I love the way the blue raspberry looks in the bottles! So mystical!
**I was running short on time, so I printed the labels off on regular card stock and taped them to the bottles. Next time, I think I'll print them off on adhesive paper to they'll just stick to the bottles.
And of course, we had to have a golden snitch. This was actually easy to make. I took an old (really old) Christmas tree ornament that was made of some sort of thick thread. I then stuck 2 craft feathers into the side of the styrofoam ornament. After a quick shot of gold spray paint, the golden snitch was placed onto a round votive candle holder. A "magic" broom was also placed beside the snitch.
Potter Party 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The next night was pasta night! Pasta is always a crowd pleaser and it's so easy to make. The tablecloth was changed to a bright sequined purple fabric we had in our costume room (theatre people always have great party decor). I chose the purple sequins in honor of Professor Lockhart. For this movie, I was able to come up with tons of new items to add to the overall look of the party.
We even had a light-up spider from Halloween that we used to represent "Aragog."
I found a big piece of cardboard and cut out the flying car. I left the windshield out so we could make it a photo prop.
I found a picture of the cornish pixies online and printed them on blue violet paper. After hours of cutting out their meticulous little bodies, I hung then from the ceiling with fishing wire.
And of course, we HAD to have a copy of Magical Me!
Potter Party 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
For the 3rd party, we didn't change the table decor, but we did add a few more decorations to the room.
I grabbed a piece of cardboard and made this really cute buckbeak! We had some faux pumpkins stored away with our fall decor that I set out around him. He was a big hit at this party!
I set up a "Divination class" in the corner. We were all hoping we wouldn't the "grim" in our tea!
The Three Broomsticks scene was probably one of my favorites in this movie. The Prisoner of Azkaban also holds a special place with me too, considering that this was the first Potter film I ever saw. My high school best friend, Lori, went to see this with me and introduced me to the world of Harry Potter! It was a great day!
The broomsticks were easy to make. I went ouside and gathered 3 large sticks and several smaller sticks. I wrapped the smaller sticks around the bigger ones with twine, then formed a triangle with them and wrapped them together. Painted the sign and wah lah! Instant Three Broomsticks sign!
And last but not least, the Marauders Map! I found a printable map online from Britta.com and followed the instructions for folding. It was so neat! I made one for everyone at the party and they all loved it!
** Here is a link to the map and instuctions > http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/year6/prep/map/MapWithInstructions.pdf
Potter Parties 4 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) & 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix):
By this time, I was so exhausted! Rehearsals and cakes were kicking my butt! Plus trying to do 7 parties?! I really wanted to make an actual goblet of fire. But I didn't know where to get dry ice around here. So, I just decided to hang another 2 signs that I hadn't made yet.
The Hogwarts Express hung above the counter. Made from cardboard.
And the Diagon Alley sign hung in the hallway. Also made from cardboard.
For the 5th movie, I found some printable Quibbler magazine covers. Since we didn't have a color printer at the time, I printed them on various colored paper, then taped them to old magazines.
We also wrote "I must not tell lies" on our hands in red ink, just like Harry's scar!
Potter Parties 6 (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) & 7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1):
Again, we were ALL exhausted by this point. We were also working on costumes for the premiere of the last movie too. So, more work? Not going to happen! We did, however, play a challenging game of Potter Trivia! All of our friends were told to pay close attention to all of the movies throughout the week and we would challenge each other at the end of our "party parade." We started with easy questions and worked our way up to the hard ones. Who won? The awesome Randa! Can you name every member of Dumbledore's Army and their house? Randa can!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2:
And atlast, we come to a bittersweet goodbye. We all dressed up as characters from the movies were grandly escorted into the theatre (ok maybe not.) It was pouring rain that night and Evan dropped us off at the front of the theatre (infront of like, a million people!) But hey, we were dressed up and we already had seats in a private theatre. Once the doors opened and everyone went in, we were attacked with fans and their cameras! Ah, the life of a local celebrity! Haha! Ok, again, maybe not exactly celebrities, but everyone really liked our costumes! We were definitely the biggest group of crazy-potter-loving-costume-wearing-theatre-weirdos there!
