A few months ago I asked Killian what theme he wanted to have for his birthday party this year. In the past we have had done pirates, carnivals and camping and they have all been really fun for the kids. This year both Killian and Rowan are pretty much obsessed with all things Harry Potter, so I wasn't terribly surprised when he said that he wanted to have a Harry Potter themed party. After some brainstorming with Killian, Mathew and I came up with a list of "classes" for the kids. We chose wand crafting, potion making, and transfiguration (cupcake decorating). We had wanted to do a Quidditch obstacle course in the backyard, but the weather didn't cooperate and we ended up having to hold the whole party indoors.
We set up stations for each of the classes, so that the kids could move from table to table as they finished. We set up the wand making station in the dining room:
Cupcake decorating on the kitchen island:
And potion decorating, in the family room (click to view bigger):
Matthew had found a website with a list of different ingredients for the potions, all of them edible so the braver kids could actually taste their creations (and a few of them did)! There was:
Armadillo bile (creamed corn with green food coloring)
Toad slime (Molasses, corn starch and food coloring)
Puffer fish eyes (Tapioca pearls)
Mandrake juice (Cranberry juice)
Dragon blood (fruit punch)
Acid (Jarritos lime soda)
Dragon toenails (mung beans)
Ginger root (ground ginger)
Sal Ammoniac (salt)
Boomslang skin (dried onion)
Spider legs (brown sprinkles)'
One of the favorites was the puffer fish eyes - we mixed the cooked tapioca pearls with red food coloring, and they turned out really creepy looking:
We also had a snack station set up in the kitchen. When I had asked Killy what he wanted to do for snacks, he had the great idea of staying with the theme edible "gross" stuff. We had:
Fried frog skins (pita chips)
Dragon veins (Twizzlers)
Dried lizard eyes (Pretzel balls)
Phoenix hearts (mini bell peppers from our garden)
Rat brains (yogurt covered raisins)
Once most of the kids had arrived, we let them loose at the stations. Potion making was probably the most popular, the kids made up some nasty looking brews!
There was a lot of fun to be had transforming their cupcakes into delicious treats:
And they got nice and messy at the wand crafting station:
We set up a table with all the kids names on it so that they could keep their creations together as they finished each one. Its so much fun seeing each child's creativity come out, some of them really took a lot of time making their wands and potions just perfect:
We had a few late arrivals, so while we were waiting for them the kids gathered in the living room to watch a little Harry Potter. Once everyone had finished their crafts, we got to the part Killian had been waiting patiently for....presents!
Killian is wearing a hooded robe that our next door neighbor gave him for his birthday - she is an amazing seamstress and he absolutely loves it. Since Harry Potter wears something quite similar in the movies, it was the perfect thing to open presents in. He got everything that he had hoped for, which was gift cards to use towards the Harry Potter lego sets that are coming out next month, and Nano and Hex bugs which he recently discovered and loves. He also got a few lego sets, and a really cool lego pirate game. And one of his favorites, a framed picture of Harry Potter to hang in his room!
After opening presents, the kids ate their cupcakes, and the decibel level in the house rose dramatically. It had stopped raining, so most of the kids took off outside to run off some of their sugar rush. Our neighbors came over with their 6 week old baby, so we all got a chance to ooh and ahh over him while the house was relatively quiet. After a while things wound down and everyone headed home. The kids got to take their potions, wands and a little bag of candy, and they all seemed to have a really good time. Killian sure did, he said this was his best birthday party ever! I am glad that we were able to pull it off and make it special for him. After all, a guy only turns 10 years old one time! Happy birthday Killian, we love you!
We set up stations for each of the classes, so that the kids could move from table to table as they finished. We set up the wand making station in the dining room:
Cupcake decorating on the kitchen island:
And potion decorating, in the family room (click to view bigger):
Matthew had found a website with a list of different ingredients for the potions, all of them edible so the braver kids could actually taste their creations (and a few of them did)! There was:
Armadillo bile (creamed corn with green food coloring)
Toad slime (Molasses, corn starch and food coloring)
Puffer fish eyes (Tapioca pearls)
Mandrake juice (Cranberry juice)
Dragon blood (fruit punch)
Acid (Jarritos lime soda)
Dragon toenails (mung beans)
Ginger root (ground ginger)
Sal Ammoniac (salt)
Boomslang skin (dried onion)
Spider legs (brown sprinkles)'
One of the favorites was the puffer fish eyes - we mixed the cooked tapioca pearls with red food coloring, and they turned out really creepy looking:
We also had a snack station set up in the kitchen. When I had asked Killy what he wanted to do for snacks, he had the great idea of staying with the theme edible "gross" stuff. We had:
Fried frog skins (pita chips)
Dragon veins (Twizzlers)
Dried lizard eyes (Pretzel balls)
Phoenix hearts (mini bell peppers from our garden)
Rat brains (yogurt covered raisins)
Once most of the kids had arrived, we let them loose at the stations. Potion making was probably the most popular, the kids made up some nasty looking brews!
There was a lot of fun to be had transforming their cupcakes into delicious treats:
And they got nice and messy at the wand crafting station:
We set up a table with all the kids names on it so that they could keep their creations together as they finished each one. Its so much fun seeing each child's creativity come out, some of them really took a lot of time making their wands and potions just perfect:
We had a few late arrivals, so while we were waiting for them the kids gathered in the living room to watch a little Harry Potter. Once everyone had finished their crafts, we got to the part Killian had been waiting patiently for....presents!
Killian is wearing a hooded robe that our next door neighbor gave him for his birthday - she is an amazing seamstress and he absolutely loves it. Since Harry Potter wears something quite similar in the movies, it was the perfect thing to open presents in. He got everything that he had hoped for, which was gift cards to use towards the Harry Potter lego sets that are coming out next month, and Nano and Hex bugs which he recently discovered and loves. He also got a few lego sets, and a really cool lego pirate game. And one of his favorites, a framed picture of Harry Potter to hang in his room!
After opening presents, the kids ate their cupcakes, and the decibel level in the house rose dramatically. It had stopped raining, so most of the kids took off outside to run off some of their sugar rush. Our neighbors came over with their 6 week old baby, so we all got a chance to ooh and ahh over him while the house was relatively quiet. After a while things wound down and everyone headed home. The kids got to take their potions, wands and a little bag of candy, and they all seemed to have a really good time. Killian sure did, he said this was his best birthday party ever! I am glad that we were able to pull it off and make it special for him. After all, a guy only turns 10 years old one time! Happy birthday Killian, we love you!