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!!!

Find all the details in the video I made here:

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.

♥ 

Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Unique and Budget-friendly DIY Graduation Candy Bar... with free signage and tags

I love a good party DIY... and what's better than a DIY Candy Bar. Today, I'm sharing my tips and tricks for putting together a fantastic candy bar on a budget. I'm even including FREE printable signage and tags.

Take a peek at the video (below) for all the information you need to put together your own impressive and budget-friendly candy bar. Then, come back here and download the free signage and tags.

To download this sign I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 5x7 photo.

To download this sign I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 5x7 photo.

To download this sign I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

To download this sign I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

To download the tags I designed: click on the pictures below, right-click, save them to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photos.

2020 / 2021 New Year's Eve Celebration with Kids

When it comes to celebrating New Year's Eve, I love making the evening feel special and fun... without spending a lot of money. I always make use of dollar store finds, and simple items I can design and print myself. Below, I am sharing my plans for this year, and some FREE NYE printables you can use.

As always, I am putting together activity bags that my kids can open every hour as we count down to the new year. It's one of my favourite conditions, and it's a great way to keep the whole evening fun. 

Here's what we have in our bags this year:

5pm - Year in Review - The first bags contain these questionnaires that my boys fill out each year. They provide a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. It will be a particularly interesting exercise this year given the uniqueness of 2020.

To download the questionnair I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

***Grab your 2022 version here.***

6pm - Candy Rings - Our 6pm bags contain candy rings with punny tags that say, "Ring in the new year!" To download your own tags for free: click on the picture of the tags below, right click, save it to your computer, and print like a regular 4x6 photo.

7pm - Midnight Kisses - Our 7pm bags contain hershey kisses with punny "midnight kisses" tags. To download your own tags for free: click on the picture of the tags below, right click, save it to your computer, and print like a regular 4x6 photo.

8pm - Popcorn and Karaoke - The 8pm bag contains popcorn and in invite to sing some karaoke. Playing a board game or having a dance party would be fun too.

9pm - Cookies and Milk - At 9am, we plan to have a "milk and cookies" toast to the new years. We'll have milk in wine glasses (rimmed with sprinkles) and our favourite chocolate chip cookies. Sparkling lemonade and store bought cookies would be good too!

10pm - Sparklers - At 10pm, We will be "Bringing some sparkle to 2021". I designed some tags, cut some slits with an x-acto knife, and inserted sparklers. To download your own tags for free: click on the picture of the tags below, right click, save it to your computer, and print like a regular 4x6 photo.

11pm - Photo Booth with Horns and Hats - The 11pm bag will be filled with items needed to set up a photo booth. It will also contain lots of horns and hats for welcoming the new year. 

To download the photo props I designed (for free): click on the picture you are interested in printing (below), right click, save it to your computer, and print like a regular 8x10 photo.

12am - Breakfast for Tomorrow Party Favours - Every party needs a favour, so the 12am bag contains "Breakfast for tomorrow" party favours. We have pop tarts, but small boxes of cereal would work well too. To download your own tags for free: click on the picture of the tags below, right click, save it to your computer, and print like a regular 4x6 photo.

Check out how fun it is to fill a table with activity bags and party favours. There are no rules. Fill your bags with whatever you like!

How will you be celebrating New Year's this year? I hope you use some of my ideas and free printable tags and photo props.

Happy New Year!!!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

How cute is this little party favour for 2021? Check it out here.

DIY Camping Party... on a budget

I love a DIY party because (even thought it takes a little effort) it's memorable, unique and budget-friendly. My two youngest boys have July birthdays, so a "camping" theme was perfect for them. What's better than a party where kids run around outside, play games, and eat s'mores? You are going to love all the DIY details of this DIY camping-themed party. It's pretty special!

I started out by setting the stage with some simple DIY camping decor. I used Picmonkey.com (an online photo editing software) to create a photo banner for the entrance. I also created some simple signage and placed it in inexpensive dollar store frames.

I also used camping gear (that I already had) to add to the atmosphere.

We had a camp schedule that included: registration (signing in and guessing the number of jellybeans in the jar), a scavenger hunt, games, prize punch, cake and s'mores, making candy kabobs, and parent (and loot bag) pick up.

The scavenger hunt was a lot of fun. I set up clues all around the neighbourhood, the kids broke into teams, and the race was on! There was a mixture of puzzles to be solved, activities to be completed, and clues to be found. I think this the highlight of the party for most of the kids.

After the teams completed the scavenger hunt, they were all allowed to claim a prize from the prize table.

Other popular activities at the party were: "guess the number of jellybeans" in the jar, make a candy kabob, and make a s'more.

To download a copy of this sign for your party: click on the picture below, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

To download a free copy of the s'more bar sign for your party: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

And of course there was lots of camping party food set up on a dollar store checkered tablecloth. (Scroll to the bottom to download the food labels for FREE.)

We served: hot dogs, bug juice, camp candy, bears, campfire flames, and goldfish. Check out the cute little signs I made below.

Of course, we also had campfire cakes. I made a chocolate one for my middle son and a vanilla one for my youngest boy. (The logs are cookies, and the flames are fruit roll ups.)

Look at my sweet birthday boys and their wonderful smiles! I love these little faces.

My boys had a fantastic time celebrating with their birthdays with their friends. A camping-themed birthday party really works wonderfully for all ages.

When the kids left at the end of the party, they each chose a goodie from our prize punch and grabbed a balloon loot bag.

For another peek at our party, check out this short video I made.

I hope you love this DIY camping party as much as my boys and I did. A camping-themed birthday party has endless possibilities for activities, food, decor, and fun!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

PS (If you want to download the food labels: click on the photos below, save them to your computer, and print them like regular 4x6 photos.)