Thursday, February 25, 2016

Cadence's 13th Birthday Party - Harry Potter


I was THRILLED when Cadence chose a Harry Potter theme for her 13th birthday.  I had such a blast doing one for Lorien the year before that I couldn't wait to do another one.  She didn't want her party to be exactly like Lorien's so we tweaked it a little bit.  Cadence wanted to watch the 3rd movie at her party so we made that the main event with fun little activities added in here & there.

Her invitations were really fun to make.  I printed Hogwarts acceptance letters on paper grocery bags, crinkled them up, rolled them & sealed them with wax, then delivered them via balloon owls.  Her guests LOVED it.




The girls even dressed up to deliver the owls.


I worked really hard the week before to prepare everything to make the party perfect.  I started with Platform 9 3/4.  I used 2 plastic tablecloths & used masking tape to make bricks.


After that I made some treats for the "trolley" including chocolate suckers in Harry Potter shapes as well as chocolate frogs.


My favorite part of this party was making homemade wands.  I just bought wooden dowels & sanded them to have a point.  Then using hot glue, I created all sorts of fun designs & handles to make each one different.


Once they were painted, I was amazed at how cool they turned out.  They were SO easy to make.


I had a castle backdrop on my front door from a previous party I've had (I keep everything!  With 6 kids & 6 birthday parties a year, I have to!  I always re-use if I can.)  It was a perfect backdrop for Hogwarts.


The "Trolly" of goodies turned out great.  I had chocolate frogs in their boxes, Bertie Botts every flavor beans, Fizzing Whizzbees, & chocolate suckers.



Right before the party, Lorien gave Cadence a birthday gift she bought with her own money.  It was the most adorable little Voldemort character ever.  SO PERFECT for Cadence.








I hung up Platform 9 3/4 on our porch so the guests could walk through it to get to our front door (aka Hogwarts castle).  



For the table I went simple this time.  Black tablecloth, dishes & what-not, & all 7 Harry Potter books.







The wands choose the wizard right?  We used the Goblet of Fire to help choose.  There were 15 numbers in the goblet & each guest got to pick out a number.  They got the wand associated with that particular number.  (And then of course they all traded each other for the wand they wanted).



The guests LOVED their wands.


Most of the party was eating from the Trolly, & watching the movie.  In the middle I had lunch set out for them.




And of course I made Butterbeer to enjoy during the movie as well.



Once the movie ended, we opened presents.  Cadence got all sorts of really creative & fun things from her friends.  We're so blessed to have such wonderful people here in our neighborhood.  She really has the best of friends.









Then we enjoyed cake - cheesecake.  Cadence LOVES cheesecake & that's all she wanted for her birthday this year which was extra easy for me.




We ended by taking pics of each of the guests holding the Azkaban prison sign & editing them to look like prison photos.  The kids REALLY got a kick out of that.



It was a really fun party.  Happy 13th birthday Cadence!  We love you.

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