Harry Potter Crafts

Trying to do a bit of cleanup today around the house...no I haven't moved yet and it looks as though the snow is going to beat me. Oh well, it will get figured out! I wanted to share a few 'before' shots for you today with the Harry Potter crafts I did for the party the other day.

Also this is all evidence that you can do some really cool things with little to no money. Work with what you have, be creative and have fun with it!

 First up: Wands! The party was supposed to be BYOW (Bring your own wand) but being the nerd that I am I decided to make some after finding a super cool tutorial online. Sticks from the yard plus hot glue and paint that I already had= the most awesome Harry Potter wands ever! They seriously rivaled the one 'real wand' from Harry Potter World.  Cost: $0

While google-ing  'Harry Potter Parties' I found lots of kids parties. Go figure. But an idea I did really like was the platform 9 3/4 bit. So I went to a fabric store and found this in the remnant bin.

Tip- don't try to paint straight lines on grass! Dumb idea...I moved to some concrete to get the job done. I had to bust out one of those little knee saver pads to work on this project but it was worth it.

 I used a board in my garage to make the horizontal lines. I poured out a TON of paint...you actually don't need very much at all. To make the 'bricks' I found a smaller board about the right size and just staggered the bricks.

At the party it was taped right to the door so when guests entered the party they had to 'go through it'. Project cost: $3

 Of course I needed a sign for platform 9 3/4 ! Some people would say I am a hoarder..but I say I am useful. I rummaged around the garage again and found these old cabinet doors from when our kitchen was redone years ago. These have come in handy in many a craft project! I busted out a drill and put two small holes in the 'upper' corners to hang it from.

Then I busted out some red spray paint I already had and gave it a coat front and back. I traced a plate to get the circle and free handed the lettering and numbers (sketched it out a bit in pencil first). All the paint I already had and then We just used some cord I had to string it up. It looked pretty cool lit by the outdoor light as guests arrived. Project cost: $0

 For my Bellatrix costume I had this black costume-y 'basic' shift in my costume closet. I first cut the sleeves off and then 'sewed' them back on with a thick black cord. It was a bit skinny towards the  bottom so I slit up the sides to the hips, layered it over a black poofy prom dress and then used my mock black corset I made for the cemetery walk and layered that on top. I also added some gold paint swirls to the shift around the neckline and on the sleeves.  I don't have a good 'after' shot but for no money it was a pretty sweet costume. Costume cost: $0

 The day of we were still crafting, decorating, and cooking like mad. The birthday girl was going as Hermione and wanted a time turner. She is holding it in this picture. The hourglass is two mini bottles filled with a bit of salt and hot glued shut. Then we found two craft frames (the little plastic kind for needlework) so I hot glued those back to back and then built up some hot glue to put the hourglass. Once it set up I painted the glue with a bit of gold paint so it gave it a little shimmer and didn't look so much like glue! Found an old vintage chain in my jewelry making box and done! Might be my favorite craft of the day because it came together really randomly just grabbing things from around my craft room. Cost: $0!