Help me Plan my Harry Potter Adult Halloween Party

[Piglet843]

I'm throwing an Adult Halloween Party this year that will be Harry Potter themed. I have a few ideas for what I'm going to do - but I'm interested in your suggestions. Here's what I have so far...

My front porch has 4 columns - with my door in the middle - I'm going to make my front door into Platform 9 3/4 and the other columns numbered accordingly. I'll decorate the porch like a train station.

My mailbox will have a black cat sitting on top of it and I'll put a lable or something on it that says "#4 Privet Dr".

My Dining room will become the Great Hall with 2 tables along the side walls (with food) and a headmasters table along the front wall. I'll cover the tables in a dark gold shimmery fabric and do silver charger place settings with gold goblets. I'm trying to figure out how to make my ceiling into a starlit night and how to make candles float in this room without turning my ceiling into a pincushin.

I've got a bunch of all size and shape bottles with corks - I'm gonna create various potions and "gross stuff" to put in them and have sitting around.

I've got a large brown spider and a bunch of small brown spiders - so somewhere is going to be Aragog's den.
I've got an old floor length mirror I'd love to turn into the mirror of Erised.

How can I recreate Nearly Headless Nick? And have him moving around a room?

I thought about making my livingroom into the Gryffindor Common room - any ideas?

What about my kitchen - What can I do in there? The Three Broomsticks at Hogsmeade maybe?

I read a suggestion to turn my bathroom into Moaning Myrtil's bathroom stall -cute idea - but how would I pull that off?

I'd love your ideas, suggestions, or thoughts.
TIA!


Oh - and check out my invites...


(Hogwarts Logo - found online)

Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Conded. Of Wizards)

Dear Mr./Mrs. (name)

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A special pre-term celebration of Halloween Feasts and Frolics will take place on Saturday November 1st at 7:00 pm.
Transportation to Hogwarts will depart from Kings Cross station, 123 MyAddress Street, at Platform 9 ¾. You may wear your ceremonial robes or dress in standard muggle costumes if you prefer.
We await your owl by no later than October 20th. If you are unable to reply by owl, you may RSVP via muggle telephoney system to Me 555-1234 or to Husband 555-7890.
We look forward to spending a magical evening with you.

Yours Sincerely,



Husband and Myself Surname
Deputy Headmaster and Headmistress

 

[minniebeth]

Have each person who comes pull which "house" they will be out of a "Sorting Hat". (A card the color and sticker of each HP house...you can find the stickers at many stores.) Play some party games where each house competes against each other. Just a suggestion...

 

[VirtuallyMe]

Sounds very cute...

For Moaning Myrtles bathroom- put a snake near the sink and have tape recording of someone crying, maybe have a mermaid picture on the wall (yes it was the prefects bathroom but you know what I mean) soak an old book and have Tom Riddle on the front cover and put it on the floor or something- or drying on a towel rack...

Gryffindor Common room- lots of gryffins/lions, red and gold- maybe an old trophy with Charlie Weasley's name on it and James Potter, maybe a marauder's map laying around, schedule for Quidditch practice, a sign up sheet/flyer for S.P.E.W., a chess set with some broken pieces, maybe some burnt cards too.

The great hall- ceiling- you could string some lights into dark felt and tack that to the ceiling- I'd also add house banners and maybe their current house points.

Your kitchen- could either be Hogsmead- with 3 broomsticks set up like a bar- or you could have that in one area and the candy store in another- and on a window a picture of the shrieking shack Or a real version in your back yard.

Or you could turn your kitchen into a classroom- Potions class would easily be done. Just putting some of your bottles of gross things- having a cauldron or two lying around and labeling the pantry as Snape's Secret Stores- keep out. I'd add a detention list and put Fred, George, and Harry and Ron on it... and another with Gold stars with the Slytherins on it.

You could also make it Hagrids Hut- put some weird animals- books with labels like "Loving your Beasts" or something like that on it- a cage/box that makes noise and shakes with caution on it...

I'd lay a few brooms around, have some hats- maybe make a sorting hat too.

Your party sounds fun- and your invitations are cute.

 

[java]

Ok I am not much help with the ideas you already have-
For the ceiling I was going to suggest twinkle lights under gossamer but then I found this- easier

http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm...ating Basics/Gossamer/Star/Glow Star Gossamer

But I wouldn't do that if you are going to be suspending flamed candles- flameless ones would work- you could hang them via fishing line- and since they are flameless no worries about setting your house on fire.

Our neighbor is doing this up for the kids- (they are getting a TRAIN!! HELLO a real train! Harry Potter Train that will drive the kids down the block and back- She has all kinds of things planned but one she has for the adults is a fortune teller. - You could do that in one of your rooms-
Have fun it sounds great!

Or in the kitchen have pots with mandrakes sticking out?

 

[clarabelle]

Jelly Bellys for "bertie bots every flavor beans"

Label your house plants names from the books -like gillyweed and some of the other plants from the book

Have something labled "butter beer"
"Pumpkin juice"
Stuffed Owl toy with a letter in its mouth

 

[clarabelle]

You could put some kind of recording of something bumping around inside of a china cabinet or similar and put a sign up saying -please do not let out the boggart!

 

[Piglet843]

Have each person who comes pull which "house" they will be out of a "Sorting Hat". (A card the color and sticker of each HP house...you can find the stickers at many stores.) Play some party games where each house competes against each other. Just a suggestion...

I didn't think about just doing one this way - great idea!

Amazon actually has a talking sorting hat that will "place" you in a house when you put it on... its cute - but $40 bucks!
http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-...UTF8&coliid=IIBP2ZEI8OLF8&colid=3M97ZKJ2NGJTC

 

[Piglet843]

Sounds very cute...

For Moaning Myrtles bathroom- put a snake near the sink and have tape recording of someone crying, maybe have a mermaid picture on the wall (yes it was the prefects bathroom but you know what I mean) soak an old book and have Tom Riddle on the front cover and put it on the floor or something- or drying on a towel rack...

Gryffindor Common room- lots of gryffins/lions, red and gold- maybe an old trophy with Charlie Weasley's name on it and James Potter, maybe a marauder's map laying around, schedule for Quidditch practice, a sign up sheet/flyer for S.P.E.W., a chess set with some broken pieces, maybe some burnt cards too.

The great hall- ceiling- you could string some lights into dark felt and tack that to the ceiling- I'd also add house banners and maybe their current house points.

Your kitchen- could either be Hogsmead- with 3 broomsticks set up like a bar- or you could have that in one area and the candy store in another- and on a window a picture of the shrieking shack Or a real version in your back yard.

Or you could turn your kitchen into a classroom- Potions class would easily be done. Just putting some of your bottles of gross things- having a cauldron or two lying around and labeling the pantry as Snape's Secret Stores- keep out. I'd add a detention list and put Fred, George, and Harry and Ron on it... and another with Gold stars with the Slytherins on it.

You could also make it Hagrids Hut- put some weird animals- books with labels like "Loving your Beasts" or something like that on it- a cage/box that makes noise and shakes with caution on it...

I'd lay a few brooms around, have some hats- maybe make a sorting hat too.

Your party sounds fun- and your invitations are cute.

Wow - thank you so much for the ideas. I'm making notes....
Hagrid's hut has to be complete with the pumpkin patch too!! Cute!

I like the idea of making the potions area be in the kitchen - since all my food will be in the dining room (a great way to control the flow of the crowd! I hate it when everyone congregates in the kitchen)

 

[Piglet843]

Ok I am not much help with the ideas you already have-
For the ceiling I was going to suggest twinkle lights under gossamer but then I found this- easier

http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm...ating Basics/Gossamer/Star/Glow Star Gossamer

But I wouldn't do that if you are going to be suspending flamed candles- flameless ones would work- you could hang them via fishing line- and since they are flameless no worries about setting your house on fire.

Our neighbor is doing this up for the kids- (they are getting a TRAIN!! HELLO a real train! Harry Potter Train that will drive the kids down the block and back- She has all kinds of things planned but one she has for the adults is a fortune teller. - You could do that in one of your rooms-
Have fun it sounds great!

Or in the kitchen have pots with mandrakes sticking out?

We have a ton of the LED candle lights - we were gonna incorporate those instead of real candles. We have been using them for a few years in our pumpkins instead of real candles.
Thanks for the website - the twinkle one looks crazy real ...
Now I just gotta figure out how to make it stay on the ceiling....


Seriously - A Real Train??
If only my budget would allow....

 

[Piglet843]

Jelly Bellys for "bertie bots every flavor beans"

Label your house plants names from the books -like gillyweed and some of the other plants from the book

Have something labled "butter beer"
"Pumpkin juice"
Stuffed Owl toy with a letter in its mouth

Those jelly bellys are so easy to get now! I'm definately putting them on my buffet table - and I'm not labeling them!!

You could put some kind of recording of something bumping around inside of a china cabinet or similar and put a sign up saying -please do not let out the boggart!

Cute!!

 

[bbump]

grab a bunch of empty jars & bottles & put different types of gels & colored liquids in them (maybe throw in some fake eyeballs too) and label each container with a magical ingredient.

Have your potion containers on display on a shelf or table.

 

[Kimberly815]

I have no ideas, but I did want to say that your party sounds like a ton of fun!! Please post pictures of the final product if you feel comfortable!!

 

[TinkerbEllnor]

Your party sounds like a lot of fun!

If you have a wood burning fireplace, you could add some "Floo Powder"

http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5RU-715&source=nextag&kw=5RU-715

eta: you can probably get this stuff at your local campground giftshop

 

[Piglet843]

Bump....

Any ideas on how to make a mirror of erised from a full length regular closet mirror?
Or a dementor from some black fabric?

I also need some fun things to do to keep adults entertained.
Fun party games/ activities.
Any cool drink recipes?
Thanks!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Wow...these are some great ideas!!! I kind of want to throw my own HP party now.

My mailbox will have a black cat sitting on top of it and I'll put a lable or something on it that says "#4 Privet Dr".

What would be even better would be a striped cat with horn rimmed glasses.

If you're still not sure about the skylighting, you could put some of those glow in the dark stars they sell to put on kid's ceilings up there. They're kind of hokey, but with a dark light aimed at them they'd show up really well.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

Bump....

Any ideas on how to make a mirror of erised from a full length regular closet mirror?
Or a dementor from some black fabric?

I also need some fun things to do to keep adults entertained.
Fun party games/ activities.
Any cool drink recipes?
Thanks!

Full length mirror- with the same phrase from the book about the mirror- on it.

If you position it correctly - you could also put where someone would hold their hands- a trophy or something- so it could be them looking into the mirror and seeing something- oh it would be cute to do the people holding a pair of socks- like what Dumbledore sees. Just have a flat picture or the real thing on it- so when they look in they see themselves with the item.

Oh or even better- put the mirror into a box- the same size- on the side away from the box- have a picture painted with the face/hands cut out- for your guests to stick their hands in and see themselves in the mirror of iresed- that way they wouldn't know the "joke" until they looked into it. You could even snap pictures of people in the stand so they can get those sent to them later as a sort of post party favor.

Dementor- I know they sell the costumes- but any black gauzy fabric made like a hood and flowy- a small fan blowing on it? maybe have a claw like hand sticking out? It would be neat if you could put it into a corner that was made colder by an ac or something...

Party- games?
Search online- there are ways to play quidditch
Maybe do some trivia from the books/movies
I know they make Harry Potter Scene-It games

You could do the ookie things in a box and people have to touch like in haunted houses.

Pin the snarky smile onto snape?

Feed a dragon- (toss something at a dragons mouth)

Guess the number of bertie's botts beans

Drinks- anything really- just add food coloring to make them fun- I saw in a magazine where someone died hot chocolate red- to look like blood. There are tons of sites that have "spooky" foods- and really anything like that would do.

Oh- and I would make a peeves- just record portions of limmericks or jokes and have them play every now and then