How to Harry Potter Your Next Birthday Bash

The Little Lady is already creating Pinterest boards around the theme of her next birthday party.

Her birthday is in August.

This year will be her 10th b-day and I think that this might be it for the big, birthday bashes. That is until she turns 13 and 16 and 18 and 21. . .

Here's a look at how we Harry Potter'd her last b-day celebration at home.

Invites

I certainly wasn't going to be delivering invites via owl, although I briefly considered sending snail mail invites with a red wax seal, until I realized that was legit crazy.

The better option was Paperless Post. They have super cute, high-quality designed invites and they just so happen to have a few that are wizard-themed. The best thing about an online invite is that all the info is easy accessible. I have a recurring anxiety dream where I am late for birthday parties or go on the wrong day. This is an easy way to keep all the scheduling and guests in order, plus they are totally on-theme!

Hogwarts Houses Option

We picked this one for the Little Lady

I also love it when we get invites from Paperless Post. I always know that I find the date and time, save to my calendar and never be late for a party! Plus the internet is kind of magical right? You really can't go wrong with either wizard-themed option, not to mention the hundreds of other invite styles and themes.

Decorations

Once we sent out the invites, we hit Pinterest hard for design and decorating ideas and came up with a few good ideas on our own!

I did want the kids to feel like they were entering the Wizarding World and the first stop was Platform 9 3/4. We covered the front door with Brick Backdrop and printed out a Platform 9 3/4 printable that we found online.

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We also think no event is complete without a candy bar. We printed Harry Potter themed candy names from the book onto vellum paper, cut with craft scissors and attached to containers. I found the Ron, Hermione and Harry print outs online and filled them with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

I bought some small glass containers and printed potion names on vellum, glued them to the bottles and let the kids have a potion slime party. It was a good activity and they got to keep the super cute container. 

Slime, slime and more slime.

Last but not least, I ordered each kid a Harry Potter themed pajama. That, along with the candy from Honeydukes ended up being the party favor. I am a firm believer in party favors you can eat or wear! Check out the super cute  Hermione nightgown the Little Lady is sporting. 

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Or are you more of a Harry Potter fan?

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We also set up a photo booth for all the kids. You'll recognize this from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I just cut out the middle of a poster board and downloaded and printed the text. Yes, I am Sirius it was that easy. Sorry had to Harry Potter pun it.

We had a few more details that I will share in another post. Hope you have a few ideas to get your Harry Potter party started.

I Accept This Award on Behalf of All Women

I know award season has come to an end, but for the last 10-15 years I have been perfecting my award acceptance speech. This exercise has kept me sane on the treadmill, on long drives in the car and on those nights when the worry creeps in and the sleep is hard to come by.

I decided that today, on International Women's Day, that I would share that speech with a few modifications.

Oh my goodness! Thank you, thank you so much. First of all I would like to thank the Academy. I want to thank all of my readers who read this book and let me know how much they loved it. I want to thank the amazing cast and crew--Jen, Ben, thank you for believing in this project and thank you for coming together to truly capture the inner lives of these characters.

Oops, should probably start a little later on. . .


I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for an incredible support system of women in my life. I would like to thank my grandmothers, one who is still with us and one who is not. These two women raised 15 children between them, they lived through war, they buried children, they worked full-time jobs, they prayed for me, they let me live with them, they showed up at my 4th grade field trip, and passed down a shirt that read "A Woman's Place is in the House and the Senate" that I wore, sans pants, to a local diner the day my sister fell off the loft bed and split open her chin.

I would like to thank my mother. (This is the part where I envision fanning myself a bit and holding back tears.) Thank you for your sacrifices, your selflessness and your unending support. Thank you for showing up when I needed you and knowing when to let me figure it out on my own. Thank you for continuing to show up whenever and where ever needed, for not only me and my children, but for anyone you can help.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for raising a boy who became a man who became an incredible father.

Thank you to my sisters. One led the way my entire life. Thank you for taking those first steps into the unknown so I didn't have to brave it alone. Thank you for treating my children as your own and stepping in to help me whenever I need it.

Thank you to my younger sister who taught me what it means to love unconditionally and who to this day continues to do nothing but amaze me.

Thank you to my best friend, who I have known since we were 18 months old. There are really no words to describe your influence on my life. I love you. Thank you. I'm calling you in 10 minutes to talk about all of the celebrities I have seen in the bathroom.  (I am hoping that one day I can use that line.)

Thank you to the mass group of amazing aunts, my sisters-in-law, nieces, and all my cousins--especially my DePeter girls, who make me laugh louder than anyone and let me bitch about anything I want.

To my Loyola Ladies--who would have thought that a random room selection would influence our lives in so many ways? Thank you all for your fierce friendship.

To all my mom group friends, PTO moms and the moms at school. We may not all do it the same way, we may be mothers who work, mothers who don't, mothers who volunteer or just write a check, we may be mothers who are navigating our first kids through school or our third, but we all show up and we all do what we can and I am thankful we aren't doing it alone.

Finally, to my daughters, my smart, funny, creative ladies who made me a mother. Use your voices. Don't be afraid and always dream big.


I think the music is probably playing at this point, the celebrities are wondering who I am, and I am being escorted away by who I hope is Tina Fey and Amy Poehler towards that mysterious back room where the press probably isn't so interested in the "Best Adapted Screenplay" winner. Hoping my makeup is looking good and my feet don't kill me in these heels. . .


*****

Please note: I would be nowhere without plenty of men in my life. Wait, I should rephrase that.