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In the magical world of planning, this DIY Harry potter theme was one of my favorites. From the themed snacks, to the DIY crafts and the harry potter gifts, to the floating letters and chocolate frogs, I felt like even Dumbledore would be proud. Turning 11 is important when you're ready for Hogwarts so whether you're a Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw, this magical party is sure to be a hit with witches, wizards, and muggles! This blog has everything from the wizard invitations to the harry potter themed food, the Hogwarts party decor, to Harry Potter themed gifts!
Making the muggles wanted poster was a fun touch! We added these to the bathroom mirrors and the front door. Everyone got a kick out of them. I ordered a vintage paper package from amazon to print them on! It was super easy and turned out great.
Almost everything you see in this blog can be found here! Rachel's Amazon List.
The floating letters were my favorite thing about this party. I looked everywhere on Pinterest for Harry Potter photo backdrops and when I saw what people did with the floating letters, I got an idea. They took a little bit of time but I just sat down and watched a movie one night while I got these completed so absolutely something you can have fun doing and not take up a lot of time.
Heres what you need:
- clear elastic string or fishing string
I wanted to mix and match some of these envelopes so I switched up the address on them. Some of them I left blank, some I added the Hogwarts logo, and the rest I randomly added the kids names that were guests at party (they loved this). Then I folded the pieces of paper to be in the shape of an envelope and used a dab of hot glue to keep the pieces together. I found it the best way to do it was just a dot on all the corners to keep it together. You'll get the swing of it after a few.
Be sure not to seal the whole thing because you are going to want to leave a space to put the clear string through when they are all done.
After all of the envelopes are folded and hot glued, its time to put the red seal on it. Amazon has these cool wax seals stickers however I was on a budget so I went with a red marker and they still turned out great. I made a circle with the hot glue gun and colored over with the red marker as the seal on the envelope. You can also buy these Hogwarts letter kits if you are out of time or don't feel like DIYing it.
To create the backdrop: Measure how long you want each string of your backdrop to be and space out how many envelopes you want on them. We used the balloon arch and streamers to hide the top of the row that we pinned to the wall but you can also pin these to the ceiling for a more floating effect. I didn't want them to look uniform so I put some on facing front some backwards, some close together and some farther away.
The best tip and trick to take away from this part of the DIY is once you get our envelopes where you want them, add a dab of hot glue on the corner of the envelope to hold it onto the string so it doesn't just slide down. You want to ALTERNATE the corners that you put your hot glue dot on so the envelops look un organized and not all facing the exact same direction. Trust me it makes a big difference from gluing them all the same direction.
I printed out this Wizard Magic food menu from a shop on Etsy that had a bunch of Harry Potter theme snacks. This was so cute and matched the invitations that I made and the blanket gift I bought my niece for the party so I just made my snacks match this list. I didn't think about it until later and was sad I forgot about them but getting the jelly belly harry potter beans so go ahead and add those to the list.
Here is the list of Harry potter foods I used for the party:
- McGonagalls Meatballs - Crockpot Meatballs
- Crookshank's Cookies - Your favorite cookies
- Chocolate Frogs - Molded chocolate frogs
- Golden Snitches - Oreo balls or Cake balls
- Polyjuice Potion - Sherbet Punch
- Fudge Flies - chocolate candies or fudge squares
- Slytherin Snakes - Sour Gummy snakes
- Gryffindor Grapes - Cotton candy flavored grapes
- Olivander Wands - stick pretzels dipped in chocolate
- Gringotts Bank - chocolate candy coins
- Professor Sprouts Vegetables - vegetable tray
The chocolate frogs were runner up to the floating letters as a crowd favorite. Another super simple DIY decoration that took no time. I ordered a frog silicone mold and chocolate for melting and poured right in. I would recommend making these the day before and make sure to throw in the fridge or freezer so they don't melt and lose shape.
The golden snitches were simple but cute. I made white chocolate oreo balls and while the chocolate is still melted, I added the golden snitch wings. I got them on amazon and they couldn't have been more perfect. It came with plenty for the price. Then I used gold food coloring dust and dusted over the white chocolate once it hardens. A little goes a long way and I had a lot left left over to use on the cake as well. Once you have these made, put them in the fridge or freezer until it is time for party.
I had someone local make the birthday cake and she did amazing. I added a bit of the gold food coloring to match the snitches, took a pair of the Harry Potter glasses from party favors and a golden snitch to add to the top to match the decor. My niece is a girly girl but also loves Harry Potter so we went with pink even though other colors would look great!
I ordered all of the balloons from amazon because it was super quick and easy as well as these set of Party Tableware. Lets be honest, I get everything from amazon because its quick, budget friendly, and easy. For photo backdrop props, I got these cute harry potter glasses party favor set that came with glasses, a hp lightning bolt tattoo, a harry potter scarf, and the giant gold balloon.
How cute is this blanket that I found on Etsy to match her theme as well!
Overall, this party was a hit and one of my favorites to plan. Almost everything I got from amazon so I will post the inspiration ideas!
Here are more pics of our Harry Potter themed birthday!
These earrings were the cutest and made by a small business call McKinley Clay. Highly recommend! I have had so many custom pieces by her!
This party was super fun to bring to life and any harry potter fan will love it. Whether you want to DIY your Harry Potter birthday decorations or want to have everything premade and ready for party, I have a complete list of everything in this blog and more here in my Amazon List!
