Potter Party Pals: The Event

I had some friends over this weekend for my Harry Potter party, which turned out to be a lot of fun. We did trivia, enjoyed some Potter-themed food, and watched Harry Potter 7 part 1. Because I shared my initial party preparations and my awesome invitations in a previous post, I'm now sharing all of the final party details in case you also want to host a Potter party before the release of the final movie.

My friends got a big kick out of the entrance to platform 9 3/4, aka my kitchen. (This photo is also a reminder to 'measure twice, cut once.') I made the curtain out of some spare red fabric and painted on the brick pattern with white fabric paint. I made blue signs to point the way toward platforms 9 and 10 using construction paper and a sharpie. It took a little time to put everything together, but it was inexpensive and totally worth the effort when I saw people's faces light up with recognition.

I served a bunch of Potter-themed candy at the party including: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (Jelly Belly beans), sherbet lemons (lemon drops), and licorice wands (Twizzlers). I found the apothecary jars at Anchor Hocking and labeled everything with little orange tags. Also notice in the background that I used the Potter books as simple and inexpensive decorations around the house.

I invited everyone to come in costume, should they like. I personally threw together a simple Ravenclaw student costume using items from my wardrobe and a tie belonging to my husband. The hat can be seen in all its needle-felted glory in this post.

Most of my planning efforts went into preparation and purchasing of food. I made chocolate frogs on a stick using 2/3 semi-sweet and 1/3 dark chocolate and supplies from Bake It Pretty. I also whipped up some 'cauldron cakes', which were really molasses and ginger cupcakes (recipe from this book) with vanilla icing. I topped the cakes off with spider and black cat picks, again from Bake It Pretty.

And if the sugar overload wasn't enough from the food, I served butterbeer. My version involved cream soda with a shot of butterscotch schnapps (from a bottle labeled 'Felix Felicis'), which was just as delicious and buttery as it sounds. Also in this photo: my Hogwarts bunting (described in a previous post) and the 'Lumos' and 'Nox' labels on the light switch.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable event to plan as well as to host. I could see an event like this working well for children and not just my 20-something friends. In any case, it's made me more excited to see the final movie when it comes out next month. I can't wait!