DIY Chocolate Frogs and Honeydukes Sweetshop at the Harry Potter Party

It is a truth held to be universal that kids love candy.

What better for a Harry Potter party than to provide a sweet shop to indulge the delights of the kids?

So that's what I did. I would call it the biggest hit of the party, actually, and I encourage all hosts of wizarding parties to include a sweet shop or a Hogwarts Candy cart. 

Now, the thing about Wizard Candy is it's unusual to us muggles, but as muggles, what can we do to approximate the wonders of the candy of the wizarding world? There are, of course, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean, which even muggles can enjoy, and the kids certainly do, but outside of that, what do we do?

We use our imaginations. 

Peruse the candy aisle and keep your mind open for near approximations of wizarding candy.

All sorts of gummy treats can be used, some that they mention in the book, and sometimes you can just make up ooky sounding treats that MIGHT be wizarding treats. I found:

Jelly Slugs (aka gummy slugs)

Sour Caterpillars (aka sour gummy worms)

Wiggling Snakes (aka gummy worms)

Boneless Frogs  (aka gummy frogs) 

As you can see, much of the wizarding verve comes from the names you give the candy, so make sure to add labels.

And we don't need to stop there, with creative naming, we can turn all sorts of regular candy aisle stuff into wizarding treats.

Cockroach Clusters (chocolate covered nut clusters)

Chocolate Flies (raisinets)

Cobweb Crunch (white chocolate bark)

Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (gum balls)

Wizard Wands (twizzlers)

Candy Floss (cotton candy)

Lemon Drops (actual lemon drops... Dumbledore's favorite was a muggle treat)

And then there's another option. 

You can create your near magical candy with muggle recipes meant to recreate wizard ones. 

Acid Pops

Sugar Mice

 or todays recipe,

Chocolate Frogs

I've seen plenty of chocolate frogs around the internet where they got frog molds and then made chocolate shaped candies in the molds, but it was not in my plan to do so. I wanted something short cut-y-er.  Enter...

Crunchy Chocolate Frogs

I found the original recipe here and pretty much that's what I did but I'm going to pass on some of the things I learned along the way. You need Haribo Gummy Frogs, Dark Chocolate and Pop Rocks candy.

Start with Haribo Gummy frogs. They are yummy on their own and were a big hit, naked, at Honeydukes.

I used about two bags. I could have done with one bag, but I guess I forgot that I was serving other kinds of candy. I have plenty of these chocolate frogs sitting in my fridge right now, waiting for me to nibble as I watch tv or read books or what have you.

Melt your chocolate over a double boiler until it is smooth.

I used one extra large bar of Hersheys Special Dark. It is a tasty dark chocolate that works surprisingly well in recipes.  It melts smoothly and tastes great.

When the chocolate is melted, dump in two pouches of  Poprocks candy. They will pop on contact, but mix them into the chocolate and most of them will retain their crunch/pop.

 Dip your gummy frogs into the chocolate. Flip over until covered in chocolate and then remove, quickly. I found that the gummies started to melt if you left them in the chocolate too long, so don't attempt to dump all the gummies in and then take them out as you go along, as I was tempted to do... which would have been a gummy massacre. Don't do that.

Instead, dip them one at a time.

 They cover well. They look nice covered with the lumpy chocolate, too. The frog shape comes through but is not too bold. The crunchy poprocks look a little bit like warts. (Note the plain cookie sheet underneath these frogs. This was a mistake.)

Place your chocolate covered frogs on a silicone mat or parchment paper or waxed paper. Initially I just put them on a cookie sheet, but that was a BAD idea. The chocolate sticks like glue. I had to redip  my frogs because of this mistake.

Put the chocolate frogs in the refrigerator to harden.

Ideally, they should be in a covered container to avoid condensation issues, but I found that impossible until they were actually cool and hard. So I chilled them on the mat, and then transferred them (easily, thank you wonderful thing that is a silicone baking mat) into a tupperware container with foil between the layers. They store there very well, without condensation issues.

I'm really glad I remembered that I found that silicone mat on one of my safaris to the thrift store. And really glad I didn't leave it behind, thinking it was just some useless kitchen junk. How did I ever make anything in the kitchen with out a silicone mat?

Back to the story.

Once chilled, you may take out your chocolate frogs and present them to your wizarding guests.  Please remember, though, that these are chocolate covered and they do indeed melt in summer temperatures.

Leave them in the refrigerator until they are ready to be served. Also, they are small enough that you can eat them in one bite. Two bits makes for messy melted chocolate. I guess that's because  they are trying to get away. *wink wink*

As for presentation of my Honeydukes Sweetshop, I always keep my eyes open for interesting containers. I was strangely drawn to those cylindrical containers that you find brie and other cheeses wrapped in. I've been collecting them for a while.

When it came time to create my Honeydukes containers, I thought these would be the perfect thing. They were the right size and they looked as if they were packaging, but were not like our normal muggle type packaging of plastic and cardboard.

So I peeled off the paper labels, turned them upside down and filled the inside of the white or tan containers with... well, the paper plates from last year's birthday party, cut to size. Thus there was a bright pop inside the candy containers and also the plate kept grease spots from showing on the containers themselves.

I could place my candy labels inside the containers or tape the labels to a skewer and then tape the skewer to the container. (Please ignore the fact that I forgot to label some containers of candy. It is very hard to hold kids off of candy, once they see it, just so you can put up the fancy labels.)

(honeydukes sweetshop frenzy)


I put the round containers on a pretty tray and brought them out and before long, the containers were mostly empty and the kids were buzzing with sugar highs.

YAY CANDY!!! (Wizard and otherwise.)


P.S. Is it possible that silicone baking mats were created by wizards?

Expecto Patronum and Dementor Stones: A Harry Potter Party Favor

 EXPECTO PATRONUM!!

Almost two months ago, I showed you a craft I made, with plastic animals and silver craft paint. I called them patronuses and had plans of making them a favor/activity for my son's Harry Potter birthday party, but I was stumped as to how I was going to present them.

It took me a while but I did finally figure out how to do it. I created a modified surprise ball from a tutorial I found here. These are more stone shapes than balls, but I thought that was appropriate because they're kind of dementors. The black shapes of darkness, fear and sadness.

I filled the bowl (found at a thrift store in a lucky coincidence... always keep your eyes and mind open when on the look out for creative project ideas) with my dementor stones.

And then I drew out a sign for the spell the kids needed to defeat the dementors. I had a whole sheet of blank labels that I made, using a tea stained paper, so any time I needed a label or sign, I just wrote out another. I used many of the labels for my potion bottles, and others for candy labels. I taped the label to a skewer that I cut in half, and the tapes the end of the skewer to the patronus bowl.

The party was planned out with different levels of activities. After they'd run around a bit I set them down with the Expecto Patronum/Dementor Stones, and asked them what they knew about dementors. Enough of the party goers were Harry Potter fans that they explained the story to the others.

Then I told them about the Expecto Patronum spell, and when they said the spell, they had to think very hard about good and happy things. so that while they were opening up the dementor stones, they could bring their patronus into being.

They unwound their dementor stones and ended up with their silvery patronus charm.

Each kid found one of these inside of their dementor stone and I told them that their patronus spirit would help chase away bad thoughts and feelings.

"Like bad dreams?" one of the kids asked.

"Exactly," I said.

These were the stones that were left, and the dementor shrouds that dried up and blew away.

Dementor Stone Tutorial

This is how I made the dementor stones. I bought black crepe paper streamers and then I picked a relatively large patronus figure.

I started with one end on the figure and, holding it tightly and stretching the crepe paper out slightly as I did it, started wrapping up my figure. I tried to wrap it evenly, sort of like wrapping a ball of yarn. The tighter you pull it, the more the paper will conform to the shape of your figurine.

You want to wrap it in opposite directions, pulling snugly so that the crepe paper almost stretches around it.

When the stone is wrapped completely and the shape of the patronus is concealed in the streamer, cut the streamer and glue or tape the end to the outside. It does not have to be round like a surprise ball. This is only one gift and I do like the stone shapes. I was thinking that it would be a cool surprise, though, to add glittery confetti inside of the stones, so as they unwrap, the wizard or witch would be releasing magic. But I thought of that after my shopping trip was already done.

If the patronus figure is smaller, like this little turtle, you actually need a thinner streamer. So I pulled off a good deal of the streamer, folded it several times so that it was layered, and then cut it in half lengthwise, so when unfolded I ended with two long narrow streamers.

At this point, you wrap up the figure the same way you wrapped up the bigger one, snugly and firmly, wrapping in different directions as you go to cover the whole figure. If the streamer snaps, it's no big deal. Just hold onto the end that has already been wrapped, and keep wrapping it with the rest of the streamer. You can add more glue if you want, but it's not necessary. You don't want it to be too hard to unwrap.

Finish wrapping and glue. Let the glue dry. I like how the black crepe paper, pulled tight, is almost shiny and seemingly solid.

Present to your favorite Harry Potter fan, and watch the magic happen.

Harry Potter Party!

 I have been working on this party for quite some time, from searching pinterest for great ideas to making favors to hunting thrift stores and making decorations and taking trips to the 99 cent store oh and all the crafts.

So this weekend it finally happened. And it didn't rain until after the party, woo hoo!

I still have some crafts to post, so I'm going to show you some of the things I've already posted or things where I don't have tutorials, or just fun things.

 I brought my fancy wooden table out to the deck and laid a baroque looking runner across it so I could set up my potions table scape. I set out the gold cups and napkins and I had a few candle stands and candy bowls that I set with crystal platters. I liked the height they gave and thought they would work really well when I brought out the candy for Honeydukes Sweetshop and the Cauldron Cakes.  But somehow, the sweets never made it onto the pretty table.

 I took some of my son's toy snakes and wrapped them in and out of the bottle, for just a little bit of added spookiness.

And how about that fantastic green glass bowl I found at the thrift store? I filled it with the Expecto Patronum and Dementor Stones activity.

 Here we have a photobooth set up that I made. I took out the navy sheet and pillowcase and bought some glow in the dark stars from the dollar store, but for a while, I thought I'd run out of time and not be able to put it up... but at the last minute, I tacked the sheet up to an unused corner of the deck and covered the ottoman with the pillow case, brought out the little railroad village rug and stuck those stars on the sheet.

For the amount of effort it took, this photobooth was really worth it.  If I'd had a little more time, I would have made a witch broom to go with it.

When the kids first got here, I had them choose their favorite owlet from amongst Pigwidgeon's Pals.

That is Ivy's christmas gift, Mrs Hoot Hoot inside the old birdcage, on top of the old suitcase, ready to travel to Hogwarts.

Then they got to pick their wand from the box sent from Ollivander's Workshop.

I made gift bags and wrote their names on the gift bags so that they would be able to keep track of their owls and wands and other assorted stuff. That was a good plan, because with all the running around that happened later, they really needed one place to put their favors. Here is a tutorial for the gift bags .

 While waiting for all the kids to arrive, they got right to work at Transfiguration Class, where they needed to turn a rock into a creature.

All I did for this activity was to go to the 99 Cent store and buy some decorative rocks (in gray and green glass) some paint, glue, feathers, markers, gems, pipe cleaners and of course, googly eyes.

Then I just put those all in a box and put it on a kids table covered with a silver table cloth.  They really loved it. Who knew?

 I also made some Hogwarts House Banners. I really like how they came out, so I'll try to do a tutorial later on, but I really just painted them free hand.

I kept staring at them during the party and going, "wow, I like those." Right now, they are living very happily up above G's bed.

Once a bunch of kids were all there, I brought out some balloons and told them that they had to keep them in the air with their wands and the spell, "Wingardium Leviosa" I didn't get any pictures of that because I was going another craft at that point.

ACID POPS! You can see how I made these and displayed them here. They were a big hit with the kids and with the adults. But the kids were still sweaty after the acid pops so I remembered that I had some Gillywater in the fridge.

What is Gillywater? Oh, no one knows, but it was in the books, and I found this site where they wanted an alternate Harry Potter drink and found an Invisible Koolaid that tastes like Koolaid but looks like water. I put it in a clear glass jar and filled their glasses with the magical stuff.

The kids really liked the Gillywater and it was so easy, I almost forgot about it until I realized how thirsty the kids were after running around.

I forgot about quite a few things during this party. I forgot to put out the chocolate covered flies/raisins. I forgot to make that broom so the kids could fly. I forgot to do the crystal ball reading with the meditation jars I made. I also forgot to hang up the floating candles, and I'm kind of bummed about that one, because I really wanted to see how they turned out.

Then they went back out to play again, off in the yard. It was a Wizard War, with their wands and another craft I made out of recycled coffee can lids that I painted with silver stars, lightning bolts and swirls of various types. They would fling them like frisbees at each other and then run around picking them up again, with cries of, "I'm loaded! Better watch out!"

These are the spell discs I made. No tutorial. It's just painted directly on the plastic with silver craft paint. Frisbees would work very well for this and could also serve as favors for the kids to take home, but I had a dozen coffee can lids that I'd been holding onto (I use them for paint palettes sometimes) and when the brainstorm came that is what happened. I'd been thinking they would be used in a Wizard Duel where two kids stood apart and tried to throw it at/to the other kid, but the kids turned them into a wizard war and then ran their little butts off and got all sweaty.

I really tried to alternate slow paced, sit down activities with running around, because it would keep the kids from getting bored or worn out. So after Wizard War, I got out the Butter Beer. No photos of that, because I was too busy serving and by the time I was finished, everyone was pretty much done.

The next activity was the Expecto Patronum spell with the Dementor Stones.  That was a lot of fun and very cool when they were opening them... I mean, working on their spell. You can see how that worked here.

Once we finished the Expecto Patronum, I asked the kids what they wanted to do next and if they were ready for the candy.

Silly me.

They practically herded me into the kitchen to get the candy. I wisely didn't have it sitting out for most of the party, not only because some things would melt in the heat, but also because they would have been snitching candy the entire time.

As it was, they all wanted to be "helpful" when it came to the candy, and offered to carry the candy back out to the deck. Aww so sweet. I gave them the sugar mice and the chocolate frogs to take out.

But by the time I brought the main tray out, they'd set everything up on the little coffee table I'd put out there, kid height, instead of the pretty potions display table where I had all the nice cake stands and such.

Oh well. There was no orderly civilized Honeydukes Sweetshop line. No, it was mass, sweet, chaos. A free for all.

THEY LOVED IT.

Then I brought out the cauldron cakes but that was kind of anticlimactic after the candy. I thought they were great, but the kids were mostly sugared out.

And then they spent about an hour pulling each other around in a wagon. That wasn't part of my party planning. Perhaps in their imaginations, it was the flying Ford Anglia that Ron wrecked.

Anyway it was a lot of fun and some things were definitely more worth the fuss than others.

The wands were worth it.

The owlets, sadly, not quite as fun. Unless they took them home and loved them quietly. So not quite worth it.

The Acid Pops were great... for adults and kids. Worth it.

The chocolate frogs? They were cool, but the kids didn't love them that much and the adults didn't bother much with the candy. I would have made fewer chocolate frogs. Not so worth it. Better for an adult party.

Sugar Mice? Also cool, but I will probably eat more out of my fridge than all of the kids combined. So I'm glad there are left overs, because those are mine. But perhaps not worth it for the level of time consumed in making them. Also better for an adult party.

Honeydukes Sweetshop/table of candy. TOTALLY worth it. Maybe better to just get candy from the store instead of making some of it, though. Most of the home made candy was more trouble than it was worth.

The Gillywater/Invisible Koolaid? Cheap, easy and fast. Beloved by kids. Worth it.

The Butterbeer? Tasty, but very sweet, done soon, with no refills. I bought too much ice cream and cream soda. Maybe not worth the stress. Adult party. Spiked with real booze.

The Expecto Patronum/Dementor Stones activity. Really cool and worth it, though it took a while to craft.

Cupcakes? Worth it, because you need cake and these were tasty and not that hard, although a little stressful. But it could have been any cake really... so not necessary. Also, i had trouble with the heat and the melting of chocolate. Again possibly more for an adult, indoor party.

Those flying disc spells? I painted them months ago and just stuck them in a cupboard and the kids played a lot with them, so Worth It. Same for the balloons which are always fun.

Gift bags, easy and worth it. Really I had been planning some sort of difficult craft for making cauldrons and the bags worked fine.

The Pet Rocks/Transfiguration. awesome and low maintenance and just the cost of the dollar store items. Worth It.

And as for the banners and the potion bottles? I really liked the way they looked and I think they added to the Harry Potter feel, so worth it. And G gets to keep the banners.

Also, the photo booth was pretty easy, so that was worth it too. I've got pictures from it.

It seems that I got wrapped up in "cool projects" that would have been better for older party goers but were kind of lost on little kids who like koolaid, running around and candy. Hmm. Well, live and learn there, Ro.

Boy, I also have a lot to post on this party. If you click the links, you will find my tutorials and recipes to many of the crafts and foods, and you can decide for yourself which ones might be worth your time and effort.

Be Who You Want To Be

be who you want to be
ink and watercolor on paper
7"x7"

Don't wait for life to be perfect and the circumstances to be set up just right and the stars to align to be the person you want to be.

Be who you want to be right now.

It's not about what you have or what you do, it's about what you are. It's about how you feel about yourself and how you present yourself to the world. What kind  of person do you want to be? What calls to you? What makes you feel fulfilled? Who is the kind of person you want to be?

Just be.

Remember that if you have the desire to be that person, then you have the ability inside of you already.

This is not a thing that comes from the outside. It's not about "what" you are. Not a job or profession or title, those are things that you do. It's not about money or possessions. Those are things you have. This is who you are, inside. This is where you put your energy and your focus. This is what you love and desire.

If you want to be patient, kind and focused... be patient kind and focused.

If you want to be passionate, creative and adventurous... be passionate, creative and adventurous.

If you want to be organized, nurturing and loving... be those things.

When you are living into who you want to be, then you can DO those things that you want to do. When you are being who you want to be, and doing what you want to do, then you can HAVE those things you want to have.

This is a shift in perspective that can change the way you view your life. Look inward for your success, strengthen your being so that you can do the things you need to do to have the things you want to have.

It's not the other way around. It's not about having stuff so you can do stuff and that then will make you happy with who you are.

You have to be happy with yourself first, or it's all built on a house of cards.

And as we all know, those card houses... they can come tumbling down at a moments notice.

Start this way:  Make a list of the qualities you would like to have. Write a few pages in your journal or a notebook about the person you would like to be and how those qualities would help you be that person. Think about how being that person would make you feel about yourself. Now write down three things you could do to BE that person, right now. Give it a try. Practice being the person you want to be.

Self Portrait, Reflection

Self portrait, Reflection

One of the things I learned last week when I kept track of my creative output and productivity in my creative log, is that some things made me feel happier and more productive. 

Oddly, one of the things that made me feel the most happy was just simply taking a walk to the post office. It wasn't the post office that made me happy, it was the walk, on which I took my camera and pulled it out when I saw things that struck me, things that made me happy... like this pretty porch with flowering tree and wicker chairs. 

 Or this one

 What a cozy place to curl up with a book in the shade, watching the cars or few pedestrians pass by.

 This is a picture of the famous Chelsea Jiffy silos behind a garage. I always want to take photos of them but some how, they never quite live up to the actual impression of them. I mean it's just a factory, really, a little industrial action, but there's something quite stunning about the white silos and the factory buildings and the train tracks in the middle of this small town.

So why did this little walk and photo shoot make me feel accomplished? I did particularly like the self portrait, but that wasn't it. It's not that I had some great output of work. I don't really consider photography to be my real work, for me it's just a hobby, something I do for fun. Some day I might take it more seriously, but right now, it's just something I do because I want to, without having any other responsibilities attached to it. There are no shoulds. No people who are counting on me. No deadlines or timetables involved. No money involved.

That might have been part of the good feelings. There was no stress in those few minutes of my walk. I was already on my way on one of my errands. I had no child duties. It was just me and my feet and my eyes and my thoughts. This is why I made "self" one of the categories in my creativity log, because there is something about taking care of yourself, doing things you know make you feel good, not just for the moment, but for the long run. Things that feed your soul and recharge you. I'm an introvert and I need time to myself to recharge, and as a mom, I don't often get it. I'm writing this post now with a little girl sitting five feet from me, jabbering on, with moments of silence.

A ten minute walk, taking pictures and having my thoughts to myself, being able to reflect upon my thoughts or take in my surroundings or just being able to BE myself set me back on the right path for two weeks, I think.

I think also I need to make sure this is part of my regular activities. Remember to walk out by myself. Even if I don't have an errand to run.

Do you remember to do things that are just for you? Do you remember to take care of your self in the middle of all your other responsibilities and doings for other people? What recharges you? What simple activities could you try that would feed your soul?

DIY Glitter Meditation Jars

Ivy and her meditation jar

I finally tried out those meditation jars I've been seeing around pinterest, and they are cooler in person than they are in photos. There's something about the swirling water and bits of sparkle that catches even my attention, and I just want to sit and watch it glitter.

I don't know how well it is going to help any of us meditate or calm down, but that is still to be discovered.

 The project itself is very very easy.

Here we see glitter, glitter glue, two cups of water total, and a jar and lid.

But wait. My before photo was optimistic. This will be the mistakes portion of the post.

Mistake 1
My plastic jar had too much give and was not water proof. Please double check to make sure that your jar is water tight, because there is a lot of shaking and moving and holding with this project.

Mistake 2
Your jars don't need to be that big. Bigger is heavier. Bigger means you have to use a lot of glitter and glue. Smaller is just fine, there's plenty of movement in a smaller jar.

Mistake 3
Not every glitter glue is as effective. I used these little tubes of glitter glue from the toy store, and they did not dissolve very well nor did they give enough body to the water to make the glitter swirl, rather than float on the top.  The craft store glue worked immediately, with far less glue. I read one tutorial that said to use 1 Tablespoon glitter glue per cup of water. That worked for the better glue, but not for the other.

Mistake 4
Do not use white glue to give the water the right viscosity. It will immediately work for viscosity, but it will also immediately make the water opaque. There is no purpose in having swirly glitter if you can't see it. I suppose there might be some clear craft glue that would work, but I didn't have any. I read this post (also a fascinating post about teaching the kids meditation) that said to use glycerin and dish soap. That would probably be the best option, but I didn't have any.

 In the end, I used three cheapo glitter glues and two half empty craft glitter glue jars from an old project (it probably would have worked fine with just the craft glitter glue). Use warm water to help the glue dissolve and shake shake shake it up. I also used one and a half vials of extra fine glitter. I basically tossed in every glitter glue I could find that I thought would be close to purple, my original color. Well the original color was gold, as you can see from the before photo, but once I added the white glue, I ruined the whole thing and had to toss it out. So I started over with purple.

One might think that using so many different colors would make the glitter muddy, but I actually found that using the blue, purple, red, and opalescent glitter gave the jar a lot more interest than it would have had if it had just been one color.

 It looks like the starry sky, actually.

 Let's watch it settle.

 Red. Purple. Blue.

 Flash of opal.

 This one takes about three minutes to settle. I read here that if you add more glue, it takes longer. She uses it for time outs, as a tool to help her kids calm down. So if you want a five minute "time out" jar, then you want to get yourself some extra jars of glue so you can fuss with the timing. You can tell from my experience that it could take a bit of experimenting to get it right.

Finish. Are you calm yet? 

When my son came home from school, I realized I was going to have to make him one too. I took the lessons I learned and made him another one. The only color glitter glue I had left that hadn't gone into the purple jar was green, and I used the rest of the blue glitter and another vial of green glitter. And then I added some gold glitter for sparkle. The last improvement was in the jar I chose. I realized smaller works, too, so I picked a fancy olive jar. Which I think turned out amazing, even though it settles far faster. I can add more glue later if I want it to go slower.

He thinks it looks like Snape's potions, and asked if it was for his Harry Potter Birthday coming up in the summer. That's a very good idea, although I might use it for divination. Stare into the globe and try to tell the future. I don't have a picture of him because he just isn't as willing to sit and pose as the girl is.

There are a few different things you could do with this project. I like my son's idea for a Harry Potter project, but it could also be adapted to make a snow globe, because essentially, that is what this is. You'd want far less glitter and something pretty to look at inside the jar and some waterproof glue to seal the lid, but it would work.

All in all, this was a very simple project, once you get past the oopsies and it does kind of make me want to go get some more glitter glue and make one for myself. What can I say, I loves sparkly things. And there are times I sure could use some calming down and a focus for meditation.