Harry Potter Party: The Decor

We kept my color printer busy over the course of plotting this party. We printed out labels to decorate glass and soda bottles for a convincing potions display in my kitchen, and portraits of some of our favorite professors (and of course, the fat lady that guards Gryffindor tower) to tape over the paintings in the "Great Hall" (AKA the dining room).

We built Diagon Alley in our sunroom. Flourish and Blotts featured our Harry Potter books and a few old tomes, along with a special "Magic for Muggles" booklet we created (more on that in another post) as a take home.

At the beginning of our party, the living room served as Ollivander's, where guests could find their wands—then later, it became the charms classroom.

And we have a large archway between our living room and dining room that became Platform 9 3/4, with the addition of a clever sign, some old brown fabric and a tension rod. (Kids had a ball running through.)

My daughters' playroom was transformed into the herbology lab, with a set of props. Alas, I was too busy during set up to get any pictures before or during the party—I tried my best to recreate everything afterward. Enjoy!




Our "portrait wall" with photos of key characters—and the products of our houses' "create your own magical creature" brainstorms.



The Hogwarts banner in our Great Hall—made with a large piece of felt (the rest became our sorting hat), and a colorful printout of a Hogwarts crest glued on it. We used a black flat sheet as a tablecloth.




A shelf in our herbology lab, with silk flowers found in the dressup bin, a "mandrake" made from oven dried clay, garlic scapes, and the only plants in our house who haven't fallen victim to my black thumb.



"Potions" look extra creepy when they're set against a bright window.

Up next: Party Food!