Sophie's Hogwarts Party

My baby turned double digits this weekend. She was thrilled to be officially a "tween". I was filled with nostalgia and mixed emotions over how fast she's growing. I tried to fight the tears by keeping myself occupied with turning our house into Hogwarts for Sophie's 10'th Birthday Celebration.

Earlier that day (before the party started) she opened the family's presents, a.k.a. The Purple Tower, because she was just way too excited to wait till the party that evening.



Of course, she was way more pumped about some presents than others. ;)



Then it was time for the celebration to begin. Here's a wide view of our main area...



Let's take a closer look, shall we?

We had lots of candles and miscellaneous jars filled with curious objects...



A very gothic-looking platform held various test tubes filled with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (in reality they were regular jellybeans with funny names).



Gummy worms of every color made their appearance and some very spooky 2-ft. gummy snakes slithered their way in and out of the test tubes...



Favor boxes held pencils, lip glosses and some Harry-Potter themed gifts...



On our kitchen island there were potions and mysterious fluids. Don't worry, we didn't give the kids any alcohol... these were just for ambience! ;)



Although you wouldn't know it from this picture...



The first activity of the evening was the Sorting Hat Ceremony (see the end of this post for sources). The kids were utterly amazed that the hat actually talked!



Each girl was sorted into the four Houses...









Then we moved into the kitchen where the girls got to use their magic wands to turn clear liquids into surprise new colors. Each color meant something different. Green meant you could switch houses, which made the Slitherin girls very happy! haha



The Dining Hall was decorated in black and purple (Sophie's favorite colors) with candles and star-shaped confetti...



After dinner they decorated their own cupcakes in some Hogwarts colors...



Then it was time to open presents (again). I am always amazed at how much the kids enjoy this activity!





Awwww... hugs all around!







This little group of mischiefs was ready to watch a Harry Potter movie marathon....



And... this is what the adults did while the kids were in the basement, a.k.a. The Dungeon, watching Harry Potter movies, in case you were wondering.



Sources:

• Test Tubes, favor boxes and bottle labels: Martha Stewart's Halloween Collection (bought the day after Halloween for 75% off)
• Platform for test tubes: the styrofoam that held our flat screen TV inside its box, spray-painted black with holes cut into the top for the test tubes.
• Jelly Beans, gummy worms and gummy snakes: we purchased these from our local Chocolatier, which happens to be right around the corner from MODKID HQ (lucky me, eh?)
  
• Favor Box fillers, purple dinnerware and colored icing: Party City
• Sorting Hat: purchased on Amazon with a small walkie-talkie inside of it so Jon could sort the kids into their "houses" from another room. To let him know when each girl was ready to be sorted, Jon's brother Sean would text him.
• Color-changing drinks: squeeze 3-5 drops of food coloring onto the bottom of each cup and let it dry overnight. Before the game begins, fill each cup halfway with ice so the kids don't see the color drops. Give each kid a wand (drink stirrer) then fill the cups with a clear liquid (water, Sprite or 7-up). Tell them to use their wand to magically change their drink color.
• Wands: cocktail stirrers from Party City (on the clearance rack -- 16 stirrers for 50-cents!)