Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Gather up your wands, potions, spells, brooms and books and join us on a magical wizarding adventure! This Harry Potter birthday party has everything your little witch or wizard adores about the books, from real Quidditch and Honeydukes sweets to an Owlery and Butterbeer! So hop on the Hogwarts Express and let's go!
The Table:
We wanted to create the look and feel of the Great Hall for our little wizards so we begin with out dining table.
Our wood plank table was dressed in a black starred gossamer runner topped with a cream and gold glittering table runner for a magical detail.
The Place Settings:
Each place setting consisted of a gold charger plate topped with a Mischief Managed Napkin and coordinating Mischief Managed Dinner Plate.
Between the layers of the place setting, each wizard had a coordinating house tie for their favorite Hogwarts house.
Resting to the right of each place setting was a Mischief Managed Luncheon Napkin topped with glittering gold cutlery for a mystical and magical look.
It's no secret that everyone's drink of choice in the wizarding world is of course, butterbeer! Our guests sipped their butterbeer out of customized beer steins that were personalized with their names using a Cricut machine. Gold straws accentuated the other gold details in the party perfectly. Get our recipe for delicious butterbeer here!
To fill up their personalized cups with butterbeer, they headed over to Three Broomsticks for the tasty and bubbly beverage. Guests knew just where to go by looking out for our DIY Three Broomsticks Butterbeer Tray which we crafted using a gray plank tray, chalk and a Sharpie Marker.
The Centerpiece:
In the center of our table sat a gold candelabra with tall tapered candles. To each side of the candelabra sat a stack of Hogwarts textbooks which displayed a Quidditch inspired centerpiece detail. This Quidditch decor was a cinch to create using some wooden dowels, vintage style soda bottles, an embroidery hoop and spray paint.
Next to the Quidditch centerpieces sat gold mercury glass candle holders and skeleton style keys.
At each end of the centerpiece sat a golden owl cage perfect for transporting Hedwig or your favorite owl as needed!
The Backdrop and Buffet:
We wanted to set the tone of being within the grounds of Hogwarts, so choosing a faux stone backdrop to line our wall was an easy solution. We found house flags and pinned them to our faux stone backdrop for an authentic Hogwarts detail. We kept our side table simple and displayed additional coordinating candelabras.
As we planned to play a tough match of Quidditch during the party, we created DIY Tri-Wizard Cup Trophies using awards, ping pong balls, a little gold spray paint and white scrapbook paper. These trophies looked perfect displayed on a Quidditch set along with a golden snitch.
We also displayed our Free Printable Quidditch Scoreboard, which came in handy during our Quidditch match later during the party!
Ollivanders Wand Shop:
What's a wizard without a wand? Once our students enjoyed dining in the Great Hall, they headed directly to Ollivanders Fine Wand Shop for wand selection.
We used a faux brick backdrop to recreate the scenery and added some necessary details such as brooms, owl cages and candles. We love how authentic this wand shop felt! Additional details were displayed on wooden risers for an added touch.
The Wands:
We saved money by creating DIY wands ourselves! This inexpensive craft meant our wands were one-of-a-kind and the kids just loved them!
Each individual wand was hand crafted using wooden dowels, peg people, hot glue and spray paint.
Every wand was unlike any other and came in its own Ollivanders box for safe keeping.
The wands were also labeled with a tag stating the type of wood and what the core of the wand was made of.
The Owlery:
Upon completion of wand selection, students headed directly to the owlery to chose their fine feathered companion.
Stuffed owls were displayed on branches, supported by 3M hooks, as well as in owl cages for easy transport.
Students loved choosing and naming their very own owl and received their own copy of The Daily Prophet so they could keep up with the breaking news of the wizarding world!
The Apothecary:
After wand and owl selection was complete, our wizards headed over to the Apothecary to gather up supplies for potions class. A similar backdrop and a Free Printable Apothecary Sign helped the kids know where to go to find what they needed.
In potions class, the students would be assembling Polyjuice Potion Slime. They had to make sure they'd gathered all the correct ingredients from the Apothecary before starting their potion. Small round jars were labeled to store DIY slime.
To the right a wooden candle holder displayed glass potion bottles filled with potion ingredients.
To the left sat a cauldron filled with more supplies, including green glitter glue.
The kids couldn't wait to mix up their own simple Polyjuice Potion Slime.
Gringotts Bank:
Before heading to Honeydukes for some sweets, our wizards needed to visit Gringotts Bank for some knuts, galleons and sickles.
Each guest had their own DIY canvas pouch of money which was the perfect size for toting around their coins.
Each guest also received their very own vault key, bank ledger and withdrawal slips. Our wizards loved weighing their coins on the scale and filling out their bank information using a large quill pen.
Honeydukes:
Honeydukes is the ultimate sweet shop, full of every kind of candy you could imagine and more! After visiting the bank, students headed to this sweet shop to feast on everything from chocolate frogs to fizzing whizzbees and acid pops. Each sweet treat was labeled in coordinating Free Printable Food Tent Cards.
We created a backdrop and used some Free Printables designed in the classic Honeydukes colors. The striped pink and white table cloth roll was the perfect backdrop for our table clad in teal and mint coverings. A DIY Free Printable Honeydukes Banner was strung across the backdrop.
In the center of our Honeydukes dessert buffet sat Hagrid's famous birthday cake, which the kids loved getting into.
One of our favorite desserts on the table was the amazing Marauder's Map and Owl Post cookies created for us by our dear friends at Katie's Creative Baking.
These cookies tied into the theme perfectly and our wizards couldn't wait to taste them!
The Quidditch Match:
Before the students could play a rousing game of Quidditch, they needed to gear up with home-made jerseys and of course, an authentic Nimbus 2000.
We set up a small area to pick up quality Quidditch supplies and the kids loved choosing their broom and picking out their jersey.
We created these jerseys using a basic pinny and added yellow ribbon, iron on numbers and hot glue. Each player felt properly prepared before stepping out for the match.
We wanted our Quidditch pitch to not only be useful but also authentic! We created these DIY Quidditch Hoops using a few simple supplies (such as hula hoops!), some imagination and a little elbow grease. The kids loved bringing this imaginary game to life in our backyard and played for hours!
Getting Crafty:
Aside from the Quidditch match and potions class, we wanted to make sure our wizards kept busy!
Guests enjoyed Herbology class by donning hearing safety gear (earmuffs) while potting their own immature mandrakes. These mandrakes were crafted out of crayola clay, eucalyptus stems and painted white miniature pots.
Guests also created their own patronus jewelry using a myriad of supplies including animal, feather and wizard hat charms, leather cording, bracelets, various jewelry clasps and more.
Heading Back to the Dormitories:
After a long day of potions, classes, Quidditch and more, our wizards were ready to head back to their dorm for a restful evening. We wanted our Hogwarts dorms to feel just as authentic as the rest of the details.
The walls were clad in antique frame cutouts framing out moving and speaking portraits as well as the Mirror of Erised.
Of course, there were mischievous footprints throughout and a spot with a Free Printable Sign to hang up one's invisibility cloak if needed.
Heading Back to the Hogwarts Express:
After a fun filled school year at Hogwarts, one must return back to platform 9 3/4 and head back to London. After walking through a sea of flying keys and more mischievous footprints, guests arrived back at the platform.
There they found an abundance of owl cages, packages, luggage and more ready to be transported to the train after a magical party! Make sure to see how we made our own Quidditch Field, crafted a DIY Butterbeer Serving Tray and planned a Mandrake Potting Activity.
