A Harry Potter Birthday Surprise!

CJ and I are Harry Potter NERDS! We love it! We were missing  Harry Potter World pretty badly around the time CJ's birthday rolled around, so I immediately knew what theme to do! Here's how I surprised him and how you can make your own DIY Harry Potter Party!

A Letter from Hogwarts + Scavenger Hunt!

The tree across from our house has always reminded us of The Whomping Willow and there's a perfect keyhole in the center--an ideal place to receive a letter from Hogwarts!

I penned a hand-written letter, sealed it with wax and placed it in the tree. When CJ got home, I told him that an owl had left something in the Whomping Willow. He laughed it off, then quickly ran out to check the keyhole, which held his acceptance to Hogwarts!

The Scavenger. Hunt
Accompanying CJ's letter was a map to help him navigate Diagon Alley (aka locations in and around main st) where he could find the items he needs for "school." 

Along the way and hidden in various locations, CJ picked up his glasses, tie, wand and yes, his owl in a cage! (I love the fact that my 26 year old husband was wandering the streets dressed as Harry Potter, haha!!)

When he made his way home, his family surprised him with homemade Butter Beer, Hufflepuffs and loads of other goodies! Needless to say, his day was made!! 

DIY Wands:

I used a pack of dowel rod sticks (you can also use pencils!) , and "gooped" on some hot glue, rotating the stick as the glue came out. I let it cool, but not quite set + sort of molded it with my fingers until it had a nice shape to the tip of the wand. Once completely dry, I painted the wands, even added some liquid gold leaf to some of them. So easy! They were really cute in glass jars around the table!