When I decided to host a Hogwarts party for my daughter's 7th birthday, I knew it would be a lot of fun, a lot of creativity, and a lot of work. The first step to planning any big theme party is research. Luckily, I have read all 7 Harry Potter books so I at least had a head start on what Hogwarts and Harry Potter is all about. So I set forth, in any free time I had, researching Harry Potter party ideas.
If you Google "Harry Potter party" you will get about 37,500,000 results :). Some of them are useful, most of them want to sell you party supplies. Take some time to read through the better ones and take notes of any cool ideas you come across, even if you think them not feasible - you may be able to modify them for your own purpose. Make lists of ideas for food, decorations and entertainment. I used Notepad to jot down ideas as I came across them or thought of them (the mind wanders during the day ;-).
One of the best sites I came across was Britta's Hogwarts Celebration. Britta is a wonderfully creative person who likes to think outside the prepackaged box when planning and hosting parties. Take some time to look around the rest of her site if you get the chance.
Birthday Party Ideas was invaluable for ideas on kids' parties. It took a lot of time to read through all those entries but they gave me great ideas on kid-friendly foods and games. If you are throwing a party for a young child, you will need games or other structure. I actually created a detailed schedule for the day of the party that broke the party down into times for each activity. It really helped to keep things on track the day of the party. If you only have a few hours and lots to do, you certainly don't want to miss out on anything by running out of time.
MuggleNet is a great resource for all things Harry Potter related. Lots to read there including some great recipes for your party.
Once you have spent endless nights researching your party and created a list of decorations, food, party favours, costume and game ideas, the fun part can begin!
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label halloween. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ruby Gloom Costume
Since Halloween is coming up, I thought I'd write a Halloween related post. I like Halloween because I get to be creative. I get to choose who I want to be and then I get to figure out how to be that character. That's the fun part for me - creating the costume.
This Halloween my daughter wanted to be Ruby Gloom. Anyone who is a fan of Ruby knows that her merchandise is few and far between and there are certainly no Halloween costumes for her. So, if you are looking for an easy solution for this costume, tell your kid to choose another character and go to Wal-Mart and buy it for them. For those of you who like a little challenge, read on.
First we need to have a look at the character, Ruby Gloom. Here she is in her cute outfit (which never changes). Really, it is quite simple. She wears a black knee length dress and red & yellow stockings with black mary janes. Simple enough, right? Well, let's start with the easy parts.
The dress is simply a black dress; I chose to get one in velvet for warmth and it was appropriate for the holiday. You could search your local Salvation Army for such a dress but I chose the easier route of going online to Ebay. Ebay is a great resource for used items. You can find virtually anything and for relatively cheap prices. If you live in the US, its even better as most merchants are based in the States so your shipping costs will be lower or in the rare case, free.
Here's a picture of the dress I bid on and picked up for $10 on Ebay. It was actually a Gap dress and in very good condition. It fit my daughter perfectly and with a little hemming to bring it up to knee length, it was ready to go.
The next simple item is Ruby's hair. She has a cute cherry red flip haircut. Since I was not willing to dye my kid's hair flaming red, I chose a wig. Again, I went to Ebay and found an inexpensive wig for $14. They sell them cheaper than that but I wanted something a little better quality and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this wig was. I don't even have to style or cut it - it's perfect as is.
Now comes the hard part - Ruby's stockings. You wouldn't think it hard to find a pair of yellow & red stockings but I guess that color combination is not popular for anyone other than Ronald McDonald because after hours and hours of searching online, I could not find one retailer on the net that sold them, except for clown supply stores. So, I purchased a pair from Clown Antics. Yes, that's right, I bought clown socks =)
The actual pair I bought are called Striped Socks (Red/Ylw Gold A51230).
The good thing about clown socks is that you can buy them in almost any color combination and because they are made for adults, they go way up on my daughter's legs (up to her thighs). So, even though they weren't tights, they still worked out and they were a very thick quality material so they'll keep her warm enough on Halloween. I actually purchased two different types since they were cheap and I only had to pay one shipping price. Its a good thing because the ones they suggested for kids were not as good quality and not the ones we ended up using.
Ruby's shoes are black mary janes and it just so happens my daughter wears those in school as her indoor shoes. So as long as she remembers to bring them home for Halloween, we are good to go. If you do not have a pair of appropriate shoes, check your local Salvation Army thrift shop or Value Village. They have great deals.
The rest of the costume is simple - a little white base makeup for her face, some black eyelashes drawn on and voilà - she's Ruby Gloom. I'll have to get a picture of the final product posted after Halloween but in the meantime, these tips should help those moms who are desperately looking for a solution to their daughter's wishes to be Ruby Gloom for Halloween.
This Halloween my daughter wanted to be Ruby Gloom. Anyone who is a fan of Ruby knows that her merchandise is few and far between and there are certainly no Halloween costumes for her. So, if you are looking for an easy solution for this costume, tell your kid to choose another character and go to Wal-Mart and buy it for them. For those of you who like a little challenge, read on.
First we need to have a look at the character, Ruby Gloom. Here she is in her cute outfit (which never changes). Really, it is quite simple. She wears a black knee length dress and red & yellow stockings with black mary janes. Simple enough, right? Well, let's start with the easy parts.
The dress is simply a black dress; I chose to get one in velvet for warmth and it was appropriate for the holiday. You could search your local Salvation Army for such a dress but I chose the easier route of going online to Ebay. Ebay is a great resource for used items. You can find virtually anything and for relatively cheap prices. If you live in the US, its even better as most merchants are based in the States so your shipping costs will be lower or in the rare case, free.
Here's a picture of the dress I bid on and picked up for $10 on Ebay. It was actually a Gap dress and in very good condition. It fit my daughter perfectly and with a little hemming to bring it up to knee length, it was ready to go.
The next simple item is Ruby's hair. She has a cute cherry red flip haircut. Since I was not willing to dye my kid's hair flaming red, I chose a wig. Again, I went to Ebay and found an inexpensive wig for $14. They sell them cheaper than that but I wanted something a little better quality and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this wig was. I don't even have to style or cut it - it's perfect as is.Now comes the hard part - Ruby's stockings. You wouldn't think it hard to find a pair of yellow & red stockings but I guess that color combination is not popular for anyone other than Ronald McDonald because after hours and hours of searching online, I could not find one retailer on the net that sold them, except for clown supply stores. So, I purchased a pair from Clown Antics. Yes, that's right, I bought clown socks =)
The actual pair I bought are called Striped Socks (Red/Ylw Gold A51230).
The good thing about clown socks is that you can buy them in almost any color combination and because they are made for adults, they go way up on my daughter's legs (up to her thighs). So, even though they weren't tights, they still worked out and they were a very thick quality material so they'll keep her warm enough on Halloween. I actually purchased two different types since they were cheap and I only had to pay one shipping price. Its a good thing because the ones they suggested for kids were not as good quality and not the ones we ended up using.
Ruby's shoes are black mary janes and it just so happens my daughter wears those in school as her indoor shoes. So as long as she remembers to bring them home for Halloween, we are good to go. If you do not have a pair of appropriate shoes, check your local Salvation Army thrift shop or Value Village. They have great deals.
The rest of the costume is simple - a little white base makeup for her face, some black eyelashes drawn on and voilà - she's Ruby Gloom. I'll have to get a picture of the final product posted after Halloween but in the meantime, these tips should help those moms who are desperately looking for a solution to their daughter's wishes to be Ruby Gloom for Halloween.
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