Harry Potter Party Invites Tutorial

Today kicks off all things Harry Potter.

I thought I would start the week by sharing the Invite tutorial post

I did on Blue Cricket Design a couple of weeks ago as part

of my Party Styling Contributor.

ENJOY!

I love a good party. Okay I am obsessed with good parties.

The next party in our house...you guessed it a Harry Potter party. A party perfect for any Witch or Wizard.

Before any party though has to come a fun party invite!

Today I am sharing with you a how-to on making this Harry Potter party invite.

What you need:

off-white cardstock

vellum paper

envelope template (found here)
you can use any template you want...this one opened like I wanted
and fit on a regular size of cardstock

brown ink

red clay

First you need to print off the names of your guest on the off-white cardstock. This will take some adjusting, finagling, some chocolate (for your patience), and some trial and error...so do some test runs on regular paper. I addressed mine like Harry's letter to go to Hogwarts but I changed it to use each guests' name (see below).

Then you will print your invitations, 2 per page in landscape. Be creative on the wording...I tried to sound as Hogwarts official as I could. Another way too look official is to make sure to use Harry Potter fonts. These are the fonts I used and/or am using at the party.

all of the fonts can be downloaded HERE for free

After everything is printed out, it is time to cut out the envelope. Use the template. Make sure the envelope template is facing the right way to ensure the name will be the facing the right way on the back. My template was actually upside down.

Set the template over the name, aligning it in the center box. Trace around the outside. Then cut out.

Next, go crazy with the ink. Make it look old and all antique. When you are done, fold the envelope according to the directions on the template.

Almost done! Cut the invitations. Fold in half and make sure they fit inside the envelope.

Place the invite inside the envelope.

Now it is time to make your fake wax seal.

Take your red clay, break off a tiny bit and roll into a ball. Then smoosh...yes that is an official crafting term...the clay onto the point on the top flap of the envelope. Make is look like a melted circle. Then take a coin, any coin, and press it in the middle of the clay circle. This will help it look like a seal.

If you press hard enough, the clay should hold in place. However, if you find the clay seal lifting, you can hot glue it in place.

Now you have all of your official looking Harry Potter invitations.

Any Witch or Wizard would be thrilled to see his/her name on the invitation.

In true Potter fashion, of course the invitation will be delivered by OWL.

If you have a Harry Potter fan in your family and are planning any kind of Harry Potter party, these invites will be a sure hit!

I can't wait to share with you the whole wizarding celebration!

See ya tomorrow for more Harry Potter Party fun!

Today He is 8

I am now a mom to an eight-year-old.

Wow.

Today will be spent celebrating him. We will have some family time. There will be some birthday boy specific meals. Bowling might also be in the evening's plans. Then tomorrow we spend the afternoon celebrating Harry Potter style thanks to his love of the Harry Potter books.

So today we wish a Happy Birthday to our always smarter than his age, oh-so-wise, sometimes too mature, occasionally over-dramatic, sensitive, handsome not-so-little Little Man.

We sure love him lots!

Blame Harry Potter and Bean

Sorry for the absence this week. This Harry Potter party is all I have been up to this week.

Okay well I have also been up to this...

I wake up early, use all my it's-a-brand-new-day energy to bust out some party projects. I never accomplish as many as I have planned. Booo!

Then I spend the rest of the day making it up to this ginormous little Bean in my belly.

The party is Saturday so I am running out of time. I just put a serene smile on my face while screaming like a lune inside and convince myself that what gets done will get done and what doesn't...well that is just fine and dandy!

Next week I hope to have some Harry Potter Party tutorials for you, including my interpretation of the Spell Book which idea I originally found HERE.

Thanks guys for stopping by!

10 Points to Gryffindor

I have just over a week until Oldest's Harry Potter party. Yikes! I am slowly plugging along with some small projects for the Wizarding fest we will be having. SLOWLY. Like S-L-O-W-L-Y.

This weeks agenda had the gathering of supplies, the final lists, the making of robes (which have turned out more like vests...I will show you later and explain), and the making of these patches for the front of the robe/vest...aka robest or vestobe is you prefer.

This is a WAY simplified version of the actual patch that was on the robes, but let's face it these were WAY easier to make and cheaper than ordering patches. So with that being said, I am thrilled with how they turned out AND I only lost some of my hair and eye sight cutting out and sewing on the tiny lions!

Now all I have to do is finish the rest of the robes (I only have 3 completely done...there might be a few more) and attach the Gryffindor patches.

Did I say that was all I had to do? Hahaha...wishful thinking I guess!

Continue the Harry Potter mania by heading over to Blue Cricket Design. I have a contributing post over there today for a how-to on this fun invite.

See ya tomorrow everyone for another Pinteresting Saturday!

Party Styling Contributor

You guys know I love a good party, right? I am always going from one party to ideas for the next. My head is always hoping with what I can do to throw the next fun party for my Little Men.

Well I am lucky enough to have been chosen to be the Party Styling Contributor for the awesome blog Blue Cricket Designs. She has gathered together a bunch of really talented girls, all gifted in different areas, to make one pretty fabulous team of contributors.

I am beyond excited to be a part of this blog and Becca's team. I have some parties coming up and I can't wait to share some of my ideas over there and of course right here too. Head on over to Blue Cricket Designs and check out the other contributors.

AND since I was in the party reflecting kind of mood I thought I would go over some of my past parties and the little addiction love that I have of birthday parties and entertaining. 

Superman Party

Puppy Party

Pirate Party....arrgggh.

A Little Carnival 1st Birthday

Wii Bowling Party

I also love myself a good creative party invite.

Robot Party Invites

Pirate Party Invites

Superman Party Invites

We can't forget the cakes, cupcakes, and goodies.

Dinosaur Party Cake

Robot Party Cake

Superman Party Cake

Golfing Party Cake

Little Carnival 1st Birthday Cake

Whew. I really do like a good party. I actually feel a little overwhelmed and a whole lot of pressure for this new contributor position. There are so many amazing parties out there and some pretty amazing women throwing these parties. Ulcer! BUT, I am excited to share some of my ideas and to be all legit with my new Party Styling title. Hahaha.

See ya tomorrow everyone. I am SUPER excited to show you my Pinterest project for A Pinteresting Saturday.

Superman Party: Play Dough Recipe

Homemade play dough is always a good idea. So cheap to make and it is totally worth it if you can find a homemade recipe that can last and matches the consistency of store bought play dough.

I used the perfect play dough recipe to make coordinating gifts to give our invited Supers in their goody bags.
Thank heavens I had some left over for my own Supers to play with.

I was lucky enough that my play dough colors matched perfectly with the party. Then I managed to find these disposable plastic ramekins at The Mart, which were the perfect size for holding individual amounts of play dough.

Add to that a couple of other gifts and our goody bags were complete.

I know almost everyone has tried some kind of play dough recipe at least once. I have tried MANY. This one is by far my favorite. I know similar recipes are used by several other bloggers too. So you know its gotsta be a good one, right?

So today my recipe is for this simple and easy homemade play dough.

Homemade Play Dough

You will need:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 Tablespoon oil (canola-vegetable, whatever)
food coloring *I use food coloring gel, that is what I have on hand, but is also gives a much better color, but you can use whatever food coloring you have on hand.


First: Dump everything into a medium sized sauce pan.

Second: Place pan over medium heat and stir constantly...I mean CONSTANTLY. Keep stirring until everything starts to form into a ball, like so--

Third: Dump the dough ball onto the counter.

Fourth: Knead your ugly dough ball until it forms a prettier dough ball. Be careful, the dough will be a little hot straight from the pan.

Fifth: Store your play dough in a container and lid of your choice (even a plastic bag would work).

Sixth: Give away, play with right away, or store for later.

Such a super easy and fun thing to do for your kids and their friends.

I will say that I tried making the first three batches of play dough all at the same time...Hubby had to jump in and help and it still was almost a disaster...so word to the wise, make one batch at a time...just sayin'.


Have fun!