If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am obsessed with all things Harry Potter. So it only makes sense to throw a Harry Potter party. I have been tossing around this idea for the past couple years. A few years ago, I made some floating candles, chocolate frogs, fizzing whizzbees, warm butter beer and bought some Jelly Belly jelly beans aka Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. I set this up for Halloween night when my niece and nephews came over to eat dinner and trick or treat with us. Jena, Doug and I were the only ones that truly understood the meaning behind it. But it made me happy so it was worth it. I knew someday they would understand and love the magic of it as much as I do.

 

The key words here are this makes me happy. Are there other more productive things that I could spend my time doing…yes. But sometimes you need to push all that aside and fill your heart and soul with happiness. I did not complain nor do I regret the time I spent prepping for this party. I enjoyed being creative. My mind needed this outlet. It’s amazing what a hot glue gun, some fishing line and a trip down the rabbit hole of Pinterest can do.

My first floating candles were made with card stock, hot glue, white paint, tea lights and fishing line. Pinterest said they were easy and I wouldn’t say they were hard to make just time consuming. Now I have gone an easier route. It is a little more money but the time savings is worth it. I buy battery operated taper candles. I tie the fishing line on the flame part. “Wingardium Leviosa”…I have floating candles. Since these candles are heavier than the tea light version, I use the Command Outdoor Light Clips. These clips hold them perfectly and do not ruin your ceiling.

A few new decorations were the golden Snitch and the flying keys. These were easier than I thought they would be. I bought gold plastic Christmas bulbs and gold poinsettias from the Dollar Store. A bulb, a little hot glue and the larger Poinsettia leaves…tada a golden Snitch.

 

Next up…the flying keys. I bought the keys on Amazon. At first I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to make the wings. I thought about cutting wings out of paper but that was too time consuming. Then I saw on Pinterest someone used ribbon. That was the path I was going to take but then as I was cleaning up the leftover Poinsettia leaves I had an aha moment. The smaller leaves were the perfect size and color for the keys. A little hot glue and I had flying keys. The best was when JD saw them, he asked “Where is the broken key?” I asked him what he meant. He said “Where is the key that Harry Potter knew to catch to open the door?” What a fantastic idea! I love the way you think JD…proud Momma moment there! So thanks to JD we have a broken key. Since the keys and snitches are lighter, I was able to use the really small Command hooks.

 

 

Now to the fun part…Honeydukes! I needed a few drinks so of course Butter Beer was on the list. I’m not kidding when I say I have 20+ Butter Beer recipes pinned. Most are a tad complicated and I needed simple…really simple. So I found a frozen one that was super easy. It was 1/2 quart Vanilla Ice Cream, 1/4 cup of ice, 12 oz of Cream Soda & 2 Tbsp of Butterscotch Syrup. Blend until smooth. Drizzle mugs with Butterscotch Syrup before pouring Butter Beer. Top with Whipped cream and a little drizzle of Butterscotch. The kids loved it! Simple and fun!

The Polyjuice Potion was another easy one and a big hit. It was a 1/2 gallon of Lime Sherbet and 2 Liters of Sprite. You can add green food coloring but I like the light green color and it was one more step so I passed on it. You could easily add a little Vodka to make a fun adult drink.

I also bought some fun Halloween candy along with making a few chocolate treats…Chocolate Frogs (Frog shaped mold with melting chocolates), Fizzing Whizzbees (Bee mold with melting chocolates and pop rocks), Cockroach Clusters (Chocolate and Butterscotch chips with dry chow mein noodles) and Chocolate dipped Pretzel Wands (green melting chocolate with fun Halloween sprinkles). Plus a Cauldron of Microwave Popcorn because you can’t watch a movie without popcorn.

 

In my past life I was an event planner. I love to plan parties! I just don’t have the time to do it the way I want to aka perfect. So often I just don’t do it. I decided that I need to let things go. I needed to find a way to make it happen without adding stress. That is why, I found easy drinks and treats. Also why I only added a few new decorations this year. I will create some more next year (I already have several ideas). Each year I will slowly add to my Harry Potter decorations. I realized that things do not have to be complicated to be fun. Some things were as simple as googling Moaning Mrytle and printing a picture to put behind the toilet. That simple decoration is one of my favorites now.

This truly was so much fun for me. Yes I did this for the kids. Yes I did this to make memories. But the main reason I did this was for me. It made me so happy. I have been feeling very overwhelmed and down lately. I could feel myself falling into that dark place. I needed this to lift me out of that place. And it did exactly that! It fills my heart to share my love of Harry Potter with others. To give someone an opportunity to fall in love with it too. To see my kids getting into it…I mean JD was a perfect Harry Potter all he needed was darker hair. To see the excitement in their eyes as they look at the decorations and all the fun treats. To help be part of the magic is what I needed. It has lit something inside of me that has been diminished lately. I needed this party more than I realized. It was the best last minute decision ever!