Dobby and a Harry Potter Party

Well It happened, my son Knox told me he wanted a Harry Potter party for his 7th birthday, making me the proudest mother EVER!  So I went into this party thinking we are going big or not at all! My husband on the other hand gave me a budget! 😒 Thank God for Amazon, Aliexpress, the Dollar Tree, and a home printer or this party would not have happened! I wont get to much into party planning details because the pictures pretty much speak for itself! I will show you the DIY Dobby I made though. It started with 2 paper plates, paper towels, hot glue, wadded up paper, aluminum foil, a empty 2 liter coke bottle, and lots of tape!

The final product turned out better then I thought it would! 

So here are all the pictures from the party down to the invites! Hope you all enjoy! =D 

* Forgot to get a picture of the drink bar. We had Polyjuice Potion Punch, Butterbeer, Elixer of Life (Water), Sweet Tea, and Pumpkin Juice (Sunkist).

When Guests arrived they could do the photobooth before running through the brick wall into Hogsmeade. 

After Everyone had arrived we sorted everyone into their houses by placing the sorting hat on their heads and having them draw out name tags with the houses on it! Then we played several minute to win it games and even had quidditch!  They even got magic wands! 

We all had a magical time! Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Maybe they will help someone with their Potter party! If you have any questions about anytihng please feel free to ask! I had so much fun planning everything for this! The best part was seeing my sons face when he got to the house to see it all decorated!  Thanks again for Checking out this post! 

So I have started doing Influesnter and I gotta say If you do not have an account with them, Go get one NOW! I love it! I get to review awesome amazing products and in return get to keep the products complimentary! It doesn't get better then that people! Especially when you are a family on a budget! I recently got a free gift card from Influenster to Kohls for $20.00. I wanted to challenge myself so I decided to see how much I could buy with the gift card without having to use my own money! I failed but didn't do to bad! I went $1.00 yes you read that right! $1.00 over and that was because of Taxes! but check out what all I got!

2 dresses and a pair of skinny jeans! Admit it you are super impressed! My husband was! =D Kohls was a little intimidating when I first walked in but gotta say they had a great selection! Beware though, you will have to dig if you are shopping the clearance section because my local store was not sorted by size! All the employees at Kohls were friendly and helpful! I will have to go back soon! 

DIY Harry Potter Mandrakes!

So My kids decided they wanted a Harry Potter birthday this year! I grew up with Harry Potter and decided we were going big for this party or not at all! When researching things to purchase for these parties I found mandrakes on Etsy! Some as much as $100.00 and thought there is no way! I'm a stay at home mom and don't have that kind of budget for parties! If you do! More power to you! I decided to make my own! Now my Mandrakes may not be the most beautiful or accurate but it cost me under $7 to make! Lets get started!

What you will need!
1. Paper (computer paper, notebook paper, and etc.) I used written on notebook paper.
2. Aluminum Foil                                                      Dollar Tree        $1.00
3. Hot Glue Gun and sticks                                       Dollar General  $2.00
4. foliage ( I used ivy found at the local thrift store)                            $1.00
5. Elmers School Glue                                               Dollar General  $0.50
6. Paint and brushes (dark brown and a tan color)     Wal-Mart  2 for $0.55
7. Twine (Found some at the Dollar Tree)                  Dollar Tree       $1.00

Lets get started! First wad your papers into rounds balls as tight as they will go layer them until you reach the desired size you want!

 Then when you reach your desired sized head wrap it with foil!

Repeat for the body! then connect the 2 by wrapping in foil!  Keep wrapping in foil until you reach the thickness you want and then start adding feet arms and legs! It should look something like this when you are done!

I then used elmers glue and painted it on with a brush! It gets in the small cracks of the foil and dries clear sealing it! (Took a picture of this but it looked the same as above! =/ ) After the glue dries plug in the glue gun and lets add the Ivy! to the head! Take a section of foil the same width as the horn thing on top! Wrap the end of the greenery once the start wrapping the rest around the horn on top of your mandrake like pictured below!

Do both sides then we will attach the roots on the fingers! I used hot glue for this also! Try not to burn yourself! =D

  Now grab your glue gun! Start drawing out the facial features with the glue! You may have to go over it a few times to make it more noticeable! I also added wrinkles to the body, back, arms, and legs.  It should start resembling a mandrake now except for really shiny! 

Its time to make your mandrake look less like and alien and more like a root! Lets start painting! It took me 3 coats of the brown paint to fully cover the foil!  Remember to let it fully dry before putting on another coat! 

Last I went over the brown very gently with a tan color! Do not fully cover your mandrake in tan but very lightly! I added a black mouth and red eyes to give mine a more creepy look!  You are done! Your mandrake should look something like this! 

Now to get a pot to sit him in! =D Hope you enjoyed this easy fun DIY!