A Fan Family
Our family loves the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling, but our oldest son, Brock, is one of the biggest fans you’ll ever meet! His entire bedroom is themed with features right out of the movies. So when it came time to start planning his 21st birthday, there was only one theme I knew was an option. I had a blast planning and decorating for this party. I want to give you a close up look at the details so this is just part 1 of “A Little Birthday Magic”. Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss the behind the scenes, and how to’s like this DIY Dementor!
The Magic Begins
I began planning his party about a month ago and as soon as he said “We should do a Harry Potter themed party”, the ideas began to flow. One by one, layer upon layer, the entire event unfolded in my mind. From the front porch masquerading as Platform 9 3/4 to the Dinning Room dripping with scrumptious desserts that would rival only that in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, every detail came into focus and we quickly got to work.
The Dinning Room as the Great Hall was the first thing to unfold in my mind’s eye. Our large wood dinning table adorned with candy coated cones, scrumptious baked desserts, cleverly recreated Chocolate Frogs, and the elusive Fizzy Whizz Bees would be a tempting to delight to every witch or wizards tastebuds! Dozens of floating candles would be needed to complete the magic in the room, and The Great Hall would not be complete without house banners so I headed off to the Fabric District in Los Angeles to get my hands on a lot of fabric.
the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
Designing Other Rooms
When it came time to start decorating the front rooms of our house,
I decided it would be great to not only create Platform 9 3/4 on our front porch, but also a pair of vignettes in our living room for guests to take pictures.
We have two fantastic, antique, costume trunks I’ve inherited, that would be ideal for any witch or wizard to take aboard the Hogwarts Express, and I found the perfect vintage suitcase at the Barnhouse Chicks Vintage Market. I had the idea to add cardboard “wheels” to our coffee table to help disguise it as a luggage trolley and Brock’s best friend, Arthur, who lives in Scotland contacted me about a gift he was having shipped to Brock. The perfect sign to crown our station, but when we ran into a complication with “Norbert”, we had to make a few changes (You’ll read more about him later).
Wizard Portraits
I scored a great deal on a remnant roll of red fabric during my trip to the Fabric District. It made an excellent backdrop for our guests to stop and take their own Wizard portraits using an oversized gilded frame I picked up a few years ago for $2 at a garage sale. This was the prefect setting for our second Selfie Vignette in the front room. Like magic we could be cast into our own Wizard portraits.
Brock’s 21st birthday!
A Village Comes to Life
Once I had the front rooms planned, I turned my focus to the back rooms of the house. The next room off our dinning room is the kitchen. My large kitchen island lends itself perfectly for buffets so I crafted a party menu and decided to turn the kitchen into Hogsmead Village. I printed Honeydukes labels for the candy buffet, and created a Three Broomsticks sign using three small brooms I found in the Target Bargin Bins (those awesome bins they have when you first walk in the at Target), and a small battery operated lantern I picked up from the 99 Cent Store. Fishing line helped me create the magic illusion that it was floating. But, no Harry Potter themed party is complete without Butterbeer! I set aside a portion of my kitchen for the beverage station for our parched guests.
the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
A Place to Gather
Finally, I came to the last room of the house, the family room. But what to do? Since we’d just gotten a movie projector, I decided to have one of the movies playing throughout the night. I originally dubbed this room the “Hogwarts Theater”, but as the decorating plan began to unfold for that room, I realized our fireplace made a suitable situation for turning this room into the Gryffindor Common Room. Since Brock is of the Gryffindor House (as dubbed by the Sorting Hat in the museum at the WB Studios, and confirmed on Pottermore.com), it was the perfect fit!
Two years prior, a friend of mine, Joan, crafted a fantastic “Broomstick” to hang in Brock’s bedroom. I decided to mount it on a piece of wood I covered with ArtMinds Antiquing Wax, and brought the Potions Bottles I’d made for Brock’s room down to the fireplace mantle. A replica of some Quidditch Trophies, and an urn of Floo Powder completed the room….or so I thought!
the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
I love having crafty friends!
Once I was done planning, I walked Brock through the entire set up. We went room by room, talking about each of the ideas I’d come up with. He loved everything, but then he said, “There’s a couple things you forgot mom.”
Say WHAT?
The Finishing Touches
My little Potterhead proceeded to walk ME through each room as he pointed out more details I hadn’t thought of creating the perfect finishing touch of magic in each room. First up was my tree hall. We used red paint to write the message to students about the Chamber of Secrets, and brought down his Gryffindor scarf, Hogwarts students cap, and Time Turner to finish off the living room.
the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
In the Dinning Room, we hid our Wave Player behind the House Banners and purchased the movie soundtrack to play during the party. With the CD player hidden, guests wouldn’t know where the music was magically coming from.
He thought the kitchen was perfect, but the Family Room needed spiders escaping along the wall to find Hagrid in the Forbbin Forest. Each of these details really brought the theme of the rooms into focus.
the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Making Magic
The fun thing about decorating for this party was that I either already had, borrowed, or made everything we used to decorate. As I sat back and went over my list, I realized the only money I was really spending was on food (aside from a couple craft supplies), so when I went to Home Depot to purchase some screws, I was giddy with joy when I came across a Dragon! I immediately made my case with my hubby about my inexpensive party budget, and he chuckled as he said “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go”, and “Norbert” the dragon joined the family! He became the focal point of the front porch, welcoming guests to the party with a roar in his smokey breath, and glowing eyes.
Party Time!
The day of the party arrived and everyone had a magical time! Our guests loved discovering all the details, and filled the Gryffindor Common Room to watch Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Everyone dressed up and I loved seeing the gleam in their eyes as they entered the Great Hall with the dessert buffet and floating candles. It felt like we really were welcoming the new students to Hogwarts and made the night magical!
I’m excited to bring to you several new posts over the next few weeks with behind the scenes, and how to posts to help you create a little magic of your own. I hope you find some creative inspiration. In the meantime, enjoy a few more photos of the magical details that brought the theme to life.
Antique Shop, Florish & Blots Book Store, and Gringott’s Bank all
inspired by the Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling.
Happy 21st birthday Brock!