Harry Potter Birthday Party – South Jordan Lifestyle Photographer

My 9 year old couldn’t be more excited for a birthday party.  She has read the books and seen the movies and loves all things Hogwarts.  So this years birthday party was sure to please.  We started with a list of ideas she had for the party and then I added a few more.

DECOR:

I really got lucky with the decor when I found a local ad for Harry Potter decorations used by a college student for her party.  However, I know where many of them came from so here’s the scoop… See Ebay to buy a set of four of these banners pictured below (one from each house).  You can also find them HERE along with all things Harry Potter.

The “room divider chandeliers” were a clearance item at Hobby Lobby after Halloween.  They were particularly fun because they actually light up.  Most stores have Halloween clearance items up to 80-90% off a week after Halloween.  So I highly recommend shopping the sales and stocking up.  Many clearance items would be perfect for Hogwarts.

The Petronus is just a wood deer cut-out (check Christmas clearance) painted glitter white and lit up with a night light behind it.  I think those holiday clearance sales are a must.

The Daily Prophet is a large printable (found on many blogs/sites online) wrapped around a newspaper and tied with string.

 FOOD:

I really wanted to keep the food simple and put my energy into making it “feel” like Hogwarts.  So I didn’t make chocolate frogs (though that would have been fun).  I simply bought pretzels and string cheese to make these little “broom sticks.”  Start by cutting the string cheese into thirds.  Then insert the pretzel.  Use a fork to fray the ends and viola! I’ve also seen people wrap chives around the top of the broom but like I said – better to keep it simple.

I also put some chips and left over pretzels in a bowl.  And I used these pretty tall glass hurricanes to brighten the table with licorice and Jelly Belly’s (both from Costco).  Then I purchased a few packages of Bertie Bott’s Beans and Bean Boozled from a local party store.  They are pricey so I decided to use them for a “game.”  Each kid had to close their eyes to sample one and tell us the flavor.  This was a real party hit.  They kids were houling and laughing about the disgusting flavors they had.  And everyone couldn’t wait to go back to the food table for something a little more palatable.

PARTY FAVOR:

I just saw 5 pairs of stainless steel chopsticks on Amazon for $5.99 with free shipping.  Those would make for really cool wands.  We used the wood twisted chopsticks also on Amazon but it looks like the price has gone up today.

Hanging candles:

Save toilet paper and paper towel rolls,  add drips of hot glue, and spray paint them white.  Next wrap tea light candles with masking tape until they fit snug inside of each roll.  Finally cut out white paper to line the bottoms.

I used the same idea found in THIS tutorial to create this cake topper.  The only difference is that I printed a photograph instead of a coloring book page.  And stuck a wand in it 🙂

We used plastic brick to cover the front door leading into Hogwarts through the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 3/4.

The Moaning Myrtle printable makes for a nice surprise in the bathroom. 🙂

This Harry Potter Party was so much fun.  I’m not sure who enjoyed it more me or the kids!