A Blog Hop with Heart(s)

Welcome to the Blog Hop with Heart(s). This month's theme is, of course, hearts! You might be arriving here from BECCA'S BLOG. You can find a complete list of blogs at the bottom of this post. Let's hop!

I have the simplest little project this month. When I heard the theme was hearts I made a lot of plans, but today Mac came home from school complaining that he needs his Valentine's Box for his classroom. Ahem, what do you mean? I guess a note was sent last week, but moving is killing my last brain cells, so I missed that part. We duct taped a small box (something we aren't lacking around here right now, lol) with shiny silver duct tape. Then we used scrapbooking cardstock and more red duct tape to create a Harry face and scarf to fit on the top of the box. Everything was eyeballed and handcut, because dinner had to be made and time was of the essence, YKWIM? We filled his glasses with acrylic hearts, which I attached with strong glue so they won't pop off. Then I sawed a mouth into the face (sorry, Harry) so kids can stuff the Valentines in. Max is thrilled, we are all caught up, and Harry is pretty darn cute. We even wrote "alohamora" on the back where he can open the box to get his goodies out!

Next up on the hop is SHELLY'S BLOG. I'm sure you'll {HEART} all the projects, so be sure to keep hopping until you end up back here!

Amie

Stephanie

Jayma

Katy

Becca

**Wendy** You are here!

Shelly

Day 341: Harry Potter Painted Bag

Ok, so this is the bag that started the whole project ball rolling. Totes adorbs, right? Max was like, "Mom! I need that bag, please." I said, "Max! I need to not have my card charged and then never see the product shipped, thanks." And off to Hobby Lobby we went...

These bag projects were fairly easy and inexpensive. I already had most of the paint colors we needed, so all I bought were the canvas totes (which we upgraded and got these string backpacks) and the fabric medium to mix into the acrylic paints (plus the correct red for Gryffindor as per Max's choice). I used a ruler to sketch in the Harry Potter face and scarf stripes. I used a mason jar lid ring to make his glasses, tracing inside and out to get the thick black frames. I left his eyes the color of the canvas tote and free handed the green pupils, because the books are always better (Sorry, Daniel, we still heart you). Max is over the moon thrilled about his new Harry Potter tote bag, and I only wish we'd found this project before Max's Harry Potter party. It's definitely a Keeper. Have a Ronderful day, Stampin' Friends!

P.S. hee hee...three hours sleep makes puns ever so funny...#sorrynotsorry #harrypotterforlife #idon'tevenknowwhyI'mhashtaggingthisblogpost #don'tletthemugglesgetyoudown  

Day 315: Harry Potter Birthday Party

Today we hosted a super fun Harry Potter Themed birthday party for my youngest dude, who turned six and is completely cuckoo for all things Hogwarts. We made pretty much everything for the party using my printer, a hot glue gun, and acrylic paints. If you missed it, here's a link to our OWL party invites, which were as much fun to deliver as they were to make.

When the guests arrived the first stop was Diagon Alley to pick up their supplies. Each child got to choose a wand (bamboo chopstick, glue gun, plus acrylic paints from my stash). Each one was slightly different and it was a difficult choice for the Hogwarts students. They also grabbed some Harry Potter glasses, but we made them wait to visit Honeydukes until they were leaving the party. You can find the printables I used (plus much more Harry Potter goodness) on my Partytime Pinterest board. You can also see where we added signs to my unfinished wall projects to let the guests know it's ok - Muggles can't see those photos. 

Next stop was the Azkaban photo booth where we took these cute Have You Seen This Wizard? photos of each of the party guests. I'm planning to use their photos on thank you cards soon, and the kids' faces were priceless. We presented two mini Hogwarts classes. One was a potions class (where we made balloons magically inflate using chemistry and slime to take home). The other was a charms class (with a Hogwarts themed freeze dance that included a spell to make everyone dance uncontrollably) and the classic Wingardium Leviosa charm to make balloons stay in the air with our wands. Then we repaired to the Great Hall to feast!

Max specifically requested Hagrid's birthday cake for Harry in the first novel. He helped me bake three layers of our favorite Quinoa Chocolate cake, which we adapted to be gluten free and dairy free to make sure all our guests could have some cake. I know the writing was supposed to be green, but I didn't have any green coloring agents, and Max was okay with the white writing, done with a ziploc baggie. I cannot tell you how hard it was to stack up that cake so nice and tall and then squish it down and cover it with the messiest frosting job ever...but it did make the job quick since it was supposed to look like someone sat on it! Behind the cake you can see the Indoor Quidditch ping pong ball game we built for the kids, since there currently snow up your knees in the backyard, so my hula hoop Quidditch plan got shut down. That was a huge hit with the party goers! 

Almost every surface in my house had a bit of Hogwarts magic: notices from Filch to the packing paper Devil's Snare we built onto the stair case, paper spiders the boys helped me craft (requiring a ton of wiggly eyes) to show the way to Aragog's lair, and even signs pointing the way to the Ministry of Magic...if you know what I mean. My fussy cutting skills came in handy, as you can see here in my selfie with Moaning Myrtle. The party was a hit, and now I'm gonna hit the hay!

Day 288: Harry Potter Party Owl Invites

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my youngest little is obsessed with all things Harry Potter. So, of course, we are planning him a Harry Potter party for his upcoming 6th birthday party. 

This week we delivered the invitations to his party via balloon "owls" after finding this pin on Pinterest originally from One Creative Mommy. Instead of a parchment roll I decided to go with a faux Hogwarts acceptance letter. I printed these onto a nice heavy resume type paper.

I found a Hogwarts Logo and a signature for Professor McGonagall, and added them to the letter I wrote. Then we carefully folded the letters in half and inserted them into large shimmery cream paper envelopes. On the front we addressed them to each person's name at Harry Potter's Cupboard Under the Stairs address from Book One.  

I printed out extra Hogwarts crests to fussy cut and apply to the envelopes, which did not take to direct printing due to the shimmer factor. Then I used red glitter hot glue to make "wax seals". First I laid a nice, fat puddle of  hot glue onto the envelope. Then I let it cool until it was less sticky but still warm before pressing an inked H circle font stamp into the slightly warm glue and let it finish cooling before peeling the stamp out of the glue.

I can't wait to have this party - it's going to be magical!