Welcome to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry - a Harry Potter party for a boy turning eight

Back in March my boy turned eight. He had just read his way through all seven Harry Potter books over the Christmas holidays and most of his mates were reading too so this party theme was set. Like all our parties this one needed to be created mostly from what we had around the house and after stumbling across a few awesome HarryPotter party ideas on Pinterest we had a plan.

Invitations were sent out to his mates inviting them back to a new term at Hogwarts. He has one friend with red hair, one friend who is a girl, one who loves frogs, two who are pranksters and one who is happy to be the bad guy so welcome Ron, Hermione, Neville, Fred and George Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Little sister was keen to be Dobbie the house elf but refused to garb up in a pillowcase so came in her Christmas elf suit with embellishments.

First up we had a sorting hat ceremony. I quickly sewed some felt onto a witches hat from our dress up box. We poked a mobile phone into the mouth hole and lo and behold as each hat passed from head to head it told everyone which house they would be in. Lots of Gryffindors obviously!

Then it was off to Ollivanders to choose a wand. We made the wands out of tightly rolled paper, spray painted and embellished with hot glue ( I found a tutorial somewhere on Youtube). Phoenix feathers optional.

Then it was straight into our first class, Care of Magical creatures. I rounded up all appropriate creatures from the toy boxes and hid them around the garden. When all creatures were located we had a quiz that determined the security code for Gringotts bank. Once the code had been cracked each wizard received their stash of Galleons to spend later at Honeydukes.

The wizard who located Neville's toad also received the first Golden Snitch of the party. As packs of Ferrero Rochers come in five's, we only had this many so they were highly coveted and an incentive to win games.

Next up was what turned out to be the absolute highlight of the entire party. Potions class. Basically lots of bottles full of vinegar with different food colourings and lots of gruesome names. Add that to bicarb of soda powder aka powdered unicorn horn and lots of sludgy, sloppy, foul slurries in various colours and a selection of beans and seeds and a mortar and pestle or two. My personal favourite was pearl tapioca cooked up with a dash of pink colouring which made spectacular pufferfish eyes.

We had a few lessons in particular potions from Professor Snape (Legoman in a wig) and then we left them to it to concoct the most disgusting foul potion. Another golden snitch for the winner of the most foul and as everything was edible they all had to try their concoctions as well- this led to hysteria interspersed with gagging.

So for the next hour there was much grinding,

 mixing and sloshing. I had stuck a massive black tarp down on the lounge room floor but of course it was nowhere near big enough.

Lets not forget the tasting,

and the collaborative creating. They used up every last Ashwinder egg, rat tail, unicorn horn and pufferfish egg available.

 It was essentially every eight year old's idea of awesome ( that's Legoman's old Harry Potter set in the background, this is the first birthday in years where the birthday boy did not receive Lego).

The cleanup was also interesting.

Then it was time for some Quidditch. I had nabbed the cardboard rolls from leftover fabric rolls at Spotlight, the staff were happy to let me take a few home and they made great broomsticks without concern of broken limbs if anyone got too enthusiastic.

With seven kids it is the perfect number for Muggle Quidditch. Two beaters, two chasers, two blockers and one seeker. Poor Legoman had to run fast as he was the snitch.

And then we staggered home to spend those hard earned galleons at Honeydukes. I had written a full list with prices for each item and the kids took it all very seriously as they calculated which treats they could afford.

And only Legoman could cope with the tedious job of cutting out and assembling those Bertie Bots ever flavour beans packets that I found as a free printable.

And then finally a slab of the fastest cake I have ever slapped together at the last possible minute.

And that is how we do a Harry Potter party. Thank goodness I now have nine months to recover before the next one rolls around. I am wondering though if this may be then end of the road for parties for my boy, in which case it is good to go out with a bang. And this was all he wanted, this eight year old of mine.

Cookie and Jet, welcome to the menagerie.

An under the sea mermaid birthday party

So as we recover from the Under the sea, mermaid birthday party extravaganza, it is time to share all the best bits. Let's start with the cake. This would be my absolutely most favourite cake that I have ever made for either of my children. Miss Liongirl and I had agreed on some kind of mermaid under the sea castle type cake. The details, like all my cakes, kind of came together as it was assembled and of course involved maximum colour and lolly coverage. My favourite part was the corals on either side which were made by Roboboy and I with drizzled white chocolate covered in sprinkles and set in the fridge.

 The pink gravel was a previous batch of chocolate that curdled when I added the pink food colouring. Luckily, it looked just like gravel. The turrets were made of cardboard rolls pinched from kindy with meringues on the top. I had a stash of these scallop shells collected from Currumbin beach many, many years ago and saved for a day just like this one. A lovely mum at school loaned me the Ariel figurine which was exactly the right size.

Legoman even had some great ideas for this cake and created some seaweed up the sides with lolly snakes and the spearmint leaves down the front trimmed to look a miniature kelp forest. He also helped decorate the mini cupcakes with tiny fish blowing bubbles. The fish came from Spotlight in the cake decorating section.

Best of all he was happy to step up and re create the one idea I pinched from Pinterest which was to carve this amazing watermelon shark that was a massive hit. You had to be brave to reach into his mouth to get some melon.

Like previous parties I pulled out the milk glass and an appropriate toned vintage sheet for the food table. Only this time I had a fan documenting my work.

The girls each made a mermaid crown out of cardboard, gold doily and stick on jewels and the take home boxes were treasure chests that I had lots of fun spraying gold. ( unlike house painting, spray paint is super fast and incredibly satisfying)

The cursed , never speak of it again, rainbow fish piñata ended up amazingly successful and survived two vigorous beatings from each child before he was done for. The kids had helped me glue all his crepe on the night before and aside from the glue all over the floor ( which I am still trying to remove) it was a child friendly project.

There was of course pass the parcel, musical chairs and a scavenger hunt before a good solid hosing on the trampoline of all those mermaids in their swimmers.

The rest of the magic was achieved with a large roll of plastic emblazoned with an underwater scene from the local party shop which was the only thing in the entire party that I didn't scratch up from around the house. We encircled our dining table and the kids helped me make a seaweed doorway from  crepe to turn it into a mermaid grotto.

I had also made a giant clam shell for the girls to sit on wearing a mermaid tail that I had insanely decided to sew up the night before. The rest of it was just a whole pile of fabrics from my stash that looked either like coral or the ocean. 

 Most of the girls had their photo taken as a mermaid which I will be sending on to their mums.

 This girl had a fantastic day and loved that many of her friends stayed hours past the party to just play in her room and in the mermaid grotto. She had lots of help opening all her presents and thank goodness for Nonnas who always give you exactly what you were wanting.

 Now I just need to take a few deep breaths and get cracking on Christmas.

This girl

is turning five. Or possibly twenty five.  She is like a typical summer day, she takes a little while to warm up, then you get  hours of hot, bright sunshine possibly topped by some electrical storms. 

She loves swimming, singing loudly ( tunefully is an optional extra), carrying handbags full of treasures, writing me swathes of notes and drawing me countless pictures (of me or us together holding hands). She loves Peppa Pig (still), Ariel and foxes. She sleeps with three lambs - Lamby lamb, baby lamb and Hoppity (who has a bell). She loves having wrestles and doing acrobatics with her Dada. She is afraid of foxes, wolves, dogs and shadows on her bedroom wall. She does not like oats in her porridge, calls her elbows her heels and has only just stopped referring to Big Bad Woofs. She can be equal parts kind or torturously irritating to her big brother. She likes to go bare feet as much possible, does not like dresses with buttons or zips and hates having anything done with her hair so mostly it looks a little wild. ( these photos being taken the one and only day this year that was the exception).

When she grows up she wants to be a doctor- nurse-hairdresser. She wants to marry Tom but as he is already marrying Phoebe she could perhaps marry Ethan instead, or maybe me. Only Tom has the special blue light to make her rainbow shoes glow and he did promise to bring it to show and tell. Last week she pulled a tiny seed out of her multigrain sandwich and ran outside so she could plant a bread tree. She really wants Santa to bring her a rainbow unicorn light up pillow pet.

She is our best girl.

Big birthday bird love

My big boy turned seven last week. Seven seems like a milestone of some sort, as if he has mastered this boy-hood caper and for the first time I am seeing glimpses of the man he will grow into. He has one massive front tooth and an equally massive gap next to it.  His shoulders are getting broader from swimming laps after school and for the first time in his life he needs a shirt size larger than his age.

In the last year he has gone up twenty reading levels and when I tuck him into bed late at night sometimes he is curled up next to a book and a torch. (Mostly, it would be the Lego ideas book which is not what I would describe as cuddly). He is absolutely quirky, but with some sort of bonus magnetic charisma.  He stands out, but so far he has no idea and consequently does not care one jot. I am curious as to when peer pressure will catch up with him, hopefully we have a few more years.

He has been wearing his white ankle school socks pulled right up to his knees for two years.  Recently I made the discovery that at least one of his friends is now adamant about wearing his socks this exact same way. More shocking was the discovery that the other school mums thought I was making him do it!

He has friends, real friends who he disappears into the school rainforest with, to build humpees and fairy gardens and to look for creatures.  He has found his tribe and we are grateful, so, so grateful for this little group of mates who share a love of science and nature but who also tolerate some less than tactful commentary on how they could do their work better. We loved filling our yard with an inflatable plastic structure so that the tribe could all come over and celebrate a bird inspired birthday.

We did manage to follow his party suggestion list quite well, there was a pass the parcel, musical chairs, a scavenger hunt, hosing on giant slide, sausages and chit chat for the mums. And the best part of his day? That Rainbow lorikeet cake. His love of birds, particularly lorikeets and other colourful birds, has endured for the last few years. He loves colourful fish and rainbow colour schemes with the same passion. Like me, it's all about the colour.   Presents were easy, Bird badges, Bird Bingo, a rainbow clock, and another Usborne factual flap book to add to his collection and of course some lego.

And the gift that almost made him faint with excitement? Well that would be this framed bird teatowel that I found for half price at the WAC. Although I am secretly hoping he grows out of it so I can have it back.

We love you Roboboy, with your terrible knock knock jokes, cold spoon tricks, cheeky smile, complete inability to lie, and resolute commitment to being your own quirky self, even when it results in dire humiliation for your mother. It has only taken seven years, but  I have almost forgiven you for getting me out of bed at 430 am for the first three years of your life. 

Rainy day blues

It has been raining pretty solidly here now for close to three weeks. The ground is boggy, the dryer is running almost continuously and the windows are misty with condensation. It was the  perfect weekend to take the kitchenaid for a spin and pop out some melting moments, that lasted all of about five minutes. Luckily, despite a hint of cool autumn in the evenings, the days have been warm enough to get out and enjoy the rain.

When the rain eased back to a drizzle we headed out to hunt down some puddles and some mud.

There were dams to build, and mud to splash in .

Miss Liongirl was keen to fill her flower basket.

We snipped a bouquet from the  huge native trees on the footpath blooming with flowers and full of feasting rainbow lorikeets.

And then we trotted home to enjoy some wonderful treats that came my way this week. Having crafty mates is fantastic when you have a birthday. My mum made me this lovely bag,

And one of my sewing group gals made this gorgeous one for me too.

And then just when yet another day of rain was enough to leave a girl slightly unhinged, an unexpected parcel arrived at Betsy's front door. From a blog buddy in another state no less.

Allison from Just Underneath sent me a little pile of  blue goodies to chase away the rainy day blues. A gorgeous tin for my fledgling collection, a lovely little vase and a cracker of a tea towel that is a pretty good match to Betsy. Al, you sure now how to perk a girl up.

And miss Liongirl so enjoyed filling up that little vase with her basket of teeny tiny plucked flowers.

We love it Al.

We hope now that we have more that half our usual annual rainfall done and dusted 9 weeks into the year, that the rain might move on, to other places that need it more. In the meantime, if you too are a tad soggy, I can highly recommend a batch of these.

Rainy day melting moments.

3/4 cup butter creamed with 1/2 cup icing sugar.

Add 1/2 cup self raising flour, 1/2 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup cornflour. Mix until forms a dough. 

Roll into small balls, flatten with a fork and bake for 12-15 mins in 160 degree oven.

Cool and make icing.

I cup of icing sugar, 2 tsp butter and 1 tbsp hot water. Mix until forms a thick paste and use to glue to biscuits together.

Makes nowhere near enough ( about 10 iced biscuits). Scoff with hot tea on a rainy day. Next time, triple the quantities.