Our Harry Potter Party - Sorting, Wands, and the Owlry

As a continuation in our Harry Potter party series (see part 1 here), today we will look at the sorting "ceremony," the wands and the owlry.

SORTING:
So I couldn't have a Harry Potter party without sorting the kids into houses. This would really have no bearing on them during the party.  We didn't play any games where we separated them into houses or anything, but just did it for fun.

When each guest walked in the door (parents too if they wanted), they were met with our sorting table.  This was a tiny cauldron that I found at a thrift store (luckily this was around Halloween, so these items are easy to find).  Inside the cauldron were pins with each of the house crests on them.  I found them on etsy.  There were a few etsians who offered similar pins, but the one I chose no longer is on etsy. =(  So just search around etsy. There are many of other great creators on there still!

So anyway...they reached into the cauldron and pulled out a pin and attached it to their shirts. 

In addition to a pin, they also picked up a sorting card that told them something about their houses.  These were created by me and I LOVED the result (if you let me brag on them for a moment).  They include the house crest, name, the sorting hat rhyme about the house from Harry's first year, basic info about each house, and a list of famous wizards/witches from that house. I thought these would be cool to tell the kids (or parents) about the house they were chosen for. And I am gladly sharing those cards with you now.  There is no reason that someone else would have to do the work to create these again, so here they are for download and use!

WANDS:
After the guests were sorted, they proceeded to Ollivanders to receive their wand. Against Ollivander's words though, we let the witches and wizards choose their own wands. They were created using this awesome tutorial that I found via (guess where) Pinterest.  They are made from paper and glue. That's it! Everyone loved them!

If you need a sign for your Ollivanders, you can print this one out.  I created this and printed it on the same parchment that I used for the invitations.

OWLRY:
We ordered these awesome unglazed ceramic owls and had them out for the kids to decorate.  I provided markers because I didn't want to get into the mess of paint since these were younger kids. Paint would look nicer and be more permanent though. It was a hit and they each loved decorating their own owl to take home. Some even named them!

You can of course, name your owl station Eyelops Owl Emporium (like the books), but we kept it simply with Owlry.  There are two sign options you can have if you'd like. Here and here.

I also want to note that a few of our guests showed up in costume.



Of course our little Harry

Actually quite unintentional, but we thought Patrick and his buddy made a great Harry and Ron.

Our party's Luna

If you want some more ideas, I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to Harry Potter party ideas. Some I used and some I didn't but you might find something PERFECT for yours!  Tomorrow we'll cover the incredible potions class!