Harry Potter Halloween Party
Last Saturday I hosted a Harry Potter Halloween party and it was SO magical. My inner geek went crazy turning my apartment into Hogwarts with lots of DIYs and themed treats. If you have been thinking about hosting your own Harry Potter party, keep reading for ideas!
I hosted another Harry Potter Halloween party a few years ago, so I wanted to make this one bigger and better than the last, all while sticking to a budget. I managed to do all the decorations for this party for about $35. The supplies would be a bit more expensive if you don’t already have an assortment of paints and hot glue at home. Otherwise, this can be a very budget friendly party! Here’s a breakdown of the expenses:
Black Fabric (2 sq): $5 at JoAnn Fabric
Ministry of Magic Decal: $7
Chocolate Frog Mold: $5 (the price is now $8.50)
4 Colored Table Cloths: $4 at Dollar Tree
Black Table Cloths: $3
Plastic Pumpkins: $5
Poster Boards: $2
Black Balloons: $1 at Dollar Tree
Black Streamers: $1 at Dollar Tree
Paints: Free – I had them at home
Wands: Free – I had all the materials at home
Potion Decals: Free – I printed at home
Printed Hogwarts Crests: Free – I printed at home
These supplies were enough to turn my living room into the Great Hall and my kitchen into Diagon Alley. And by Diagon Alley, I mean just Ollivanders and Honeydukes. Because rental kitchens are always too small! Here’s what I did to recreate those spots:
Ollivanders
I DIYed wands using wooden skewers, hot glue, string, and paint. To achieve this, start wrapping the string around a skewer in the pattern you want. You may need to wrap multiple layers depending on how much depth you want the wand to have. When you are done, use the hot glue to secure the string to the skewer. You can also use hot glue alone to create texture. Simply squeeze random drops all over the skewer.
When you are done adding texture to the wands, it’s time to paint! I used a mix of brown, black, white, silver, and gold paints. But feel free to paint yours whatever color you’d like! I was very happy with how realistic the wands turned out.
The Ollivanders sign was just poster board and black paint! Easy peasy. I added a little bit of ribbon and some candles to complete the look. Everyone got to stop in the wand shop to start the night. Just remember, the wand chooses the wizard!
Honeydukes
I will admit that I have an unfair advantage when recreating Honeydukes. Working at a chocolate company gives me access to high quality chocolate all day every day. A couple times a year, we get to purchase chocolate at a discount and I always stock up. I used the chocolate to make Chocolate Frogs, Chocolate Pretzel Wands, and Cauldron Cakes. Other theme food included Jelly Slugs (gummy worms), the Herbology Garden (a vegetable tray), Wizard Hats (crescent rolls stuffed with pesto and cheese), Hufflepuffs (Cheetos), and MnMs separated into the 4 house colors. If you really want to go all out, just google “Harry Potter Food.” Bloggers have created tons of themed dishes.
Platform 9 3/4
This was one thing I reused from the last party, so I don’t have any how-to pictures. But I made this using black fabric, a sponge, and paint. You make a blend of red, brown, and white paint, dip the sponge in the paint mixture, then make a brick pattern on the fabric. Finally, cut a zig-zag up 3/4 of the fabric and hang it over a door frame. The platform sign was just printed out on paper and glued to poster board to make it more secure.
The Great Hall
This was my favorite part of the whole party. It was also the hardest part to create. I had this image in mind when I set out to decorate.
To achieve the look, I used 4 tablecloths from Dollar Tree to make the house banners. Each banner was adorned with a house crest that I simply printed on paper. I covered one whole wall with these banners. On the other walls, I taped up Harry Potter themed pictures.
The ceiling was made using more tablecloths, string lights, and plastic pumpkins. The first step was to string the lights across the ceiling. I used nailed in hooks. Then I stretched the black tablecloths over the length of the ceiling and used push pins to secure them. Using more push pins, I hung string from different spots in the ceiling for the pumpkins. For easy removal, I tied the string to paper clips and then clipped each pumpkin into place. Here is the end look!
For extra ambiance, I lit a bunch of tealights and candles in the room. I also printed potion labels and attached those to random bottles I had in the house. So cheap, so easy!
I hope you this gave you some fun ideas for your own Harry Potter Halloween party!! Maybe it’s just me, but making all the decorations made the party even more fun than it would have been if I bought everything at the store. Now excuse me while I go rest and watch some Halloween movies before Wednesday!
