Summer is definitely my favourite season. Who doesn't love decorating with cheerful colors, vacations, and warm temperatures? Today, I'm sharing a few genius ideas for summer... including food, decor, and more. I use a lot of dollar store supplies AND I have freebies too!
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5 Genius Budget-friendly Ideas for SUMMER... including FREE games and decor
The ulitmate, magical DIY Harry Potter party -- fun video included!
If you are a Harry Potter fan, you are going to LOVE the DIY Harry Potter party video I made. I have ideas for invites, decor, costumes, wands, activites, games, food, party favours, and MORE!!!
Every party needs an invitation to set the stage and let
guests know what to expect. For this party, I used my home printer to create an
acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course
the letter was from the head mistress of Hogwarts -- Minerva McGonagall. I rolled up the invite
like a sheet of parchment, tied it with a ribbon, and added a picture of the
birthday boy. So easy… but so cute!
Creating an entrance to the magical world of Harry Potter is
easy, inexpensive, and fun. Grab a dollar store paper tablecloth, sponges and
red paint. Then, dip the sponge in the paint and press it onto the tablecloth
to create a brick. Continue the process until the entire table cloth is
covered. Hang it up in a doorway, and cut a slit in the middle to allow people
to walk through. You can also make a 9 3/4 platform sign from a piece of dollar
store foam board. This was a BIG hit at our party!
I wanted all the guests to get the full Harry Potter
experience, so I set up a “Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions” shop. Everyone
could shop for robes (which were black capes I bought on clearance after
Halloween). I also had homemade glasses and ties that the kids could decorate.
Every wizard needs a wand, so I set up an Ollivander’s wand shop for the party guests. To make cheap wands, grab a package of dowels, hot glue, and brown paint from the dollar store. Drizzle hot glue around a dowel, let dry, and paint with brown paint. Then, if desired, you can add a jewel to the bottom like I did. Pretty fun, right?
I also thought it would be fun to let the kids shop for their school supplies at Flourish and Blotts… just like the characters did in the books and movies. I made a spell book from a duotang, and filled it with a list of spells, a word search, and some Harry Potter trivia. I also made quills by hot gluing feathers to the ends of pens. It was really easy to do, and a fun takeaway from the party.
Having simple Harry Potter games to occupy party guest is key. We played
freeze tag to Harry Potter music, I made a “Pin the Scar on Harry” game, I
turned an old box into a Harry Potter ball toss, and I made a pinata from a
balloon covered in paper mâché. The kids really loved the Hedwig pinata!
Of course themed party food is an important part of any
party, and I had a lot of fun with this one. I had lots of food laid out, but
the stars of the show were two easy-to-make cakes. The first cake was a quidditch
cake. I started with a plain chocolate cake, and added 3 quidditch posts made
from paper straws and pipe cleaners covered in black electrical tape. Then, I
added a snitch made from a Fererro Rocher chocolate and parchment paper wings.
The second cake was a rectangle cake that I carved into the shape of a crest. Then, I added a lightening bolt cut from a fruit roll up, a snitch, Bernie Bott’s every flavour jelly beans, and a chocolate frog. The cakes really were easy to make, and they turned out super-cute.
I love sending guests home with a fun goodie bag, and for
this party, I had the perfect idea for a party favour. I set up Honeyduke’s
sweet shop, and filled it with Harry Potter themed goodies. Each guest was
given a bag to fill, and a fun tag to tie the top of the bag with. Some of the
items in my shop included: bernie bott’s every flavour beans, golden snitches,
black liquorice wands, Mad Eye Moody’s Eyeball Gun, Remus’s werewolf fangs,
chocolate frogs, and fizzing whizbees.
Have I inspired you to host a Harry Potter party? You could also just grab a few of these ideas for a fun family movie night. Make sure you check out the video here, and let me know which of these ideas is your favourite.