HARRY POTTER PARTY PT.3--HONEYDUKES BUFFET

It ain't a Harry party without Honeydukes!

Gummi Worms--these went quicker than anything else

Mini candy bars=Dementor Relief

Take Home Bags--plain white paper sacks, with the
Honeydukes tags
printed on large sticky labels and cut to size

Dumbledore's favorite---oh, my poor little fangirl heart, DUMBLEDOOOOOOOORE!

Chex's "Muddy Buddies" recipe
labeled as "Sirius Black's Puppy Chow"
This was 2 batches, roughly 20oz of cereal, plus all the yum
The kids barely touched it.  That night, the Big Munky found Tater and I  had
dug into it

. . .and consequently passed out on the comedown

Got froggy molds from Amazon.com for, like, $6
LeNell Chandler made them with melting chocolates and candy eyes

These were a pain in the ass to find out of season--again, it was Amazon to the rescue
Candy Apple, or Fall Flavors candy corn, for "Werewolf Fangs"

Another Amazon find--a box of 48 for less than $12

A buttload of different jelly beans, with a couple of boxes of real
Bertie Botts' thrown in for "flavor"

Ran out of time to do this right--Dum Dum suckers and Pop Rocks
for the "Acid Pops"

Cupcake cake, made by the awesome Carrie Sestina (fresh out of the hospital and STILL
MADE A CRAPTON OF CUPCAKES--what a woman, right?!) who also did the cake last year

Printable/editable labels, recipes, and great ideas can be found  here
Printable signs can be found at this site
This page has a ton of ideas as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS!

I was 18 when I found out I was 3 months pregnant with the Princess.  Things didn't start off too great, but we'll skip all the drama and get right to the day she was born, in May of 2002.  It was hours before dawn when we checked into the hospital, and I was there all day afterwards hooked up to a Morphine pump, so I don't remember what kind of day it was.

What I do remember, besides blurred faces of visitors in and out of the room and begging them to take me off the pump and pull out the evil catheter, was that Anistyn was so tiny, so dark, and already so alert. . .her eyes wandered and focused over and over again, like she was silently taking it all in.

She was the perfect baby, I thought, having had no previous exposure to babies.  She got fat quick, got smart even quicker, and laughed all the stinkin time.

We'll skip over more drama, that of her toddler-grade school years.  I had many proud mama moments, and she made me so happy, but the biggest memories of that time have to deal with her "issues" coming to a head and running rampant.

Tomorrow, she will be 11.  ELEVEN.  She's half grown.  She's an inch shorter than me.  She's wearing bras.  She's shaving her legs (well, no--I'm shaving her legs.  I'm crazy, but not crazy enough to give her a freakin razor) and doing her nails and gettin all girly and crap.  She's made friends and draws a lot and makes her own comic books.  She sings, and plays piano and soccer.  She does daily chores to earn phone minutes every night.  She's so damn grown.  I get so sad thinking about it, and her going to middle school in August. . .crap.  Here, let's just go to pictures.

The purple-haired Princess

First day of preschool
"I'm too cool for this crap"

Attempting a "Care Bear Stare" to get out of trouble

The first time she scared the hell out of me--fell out of her "big girl bed" the very first night she slept in it,
3 stitches.  The scar and consequent bald spot remain.

Santa was not very bright that year

Using my fabric scraps to make her own Barbie clothes.

With the awesome Ms. Rachel

First day of fifth grade--seems like forever ago.

I think she may be a little excited about this.

5th grade graduation and awards ceremony.  She was the only kid in her class to get straight A's all year, and had the most Accelerated Reader points (thanks mainly to the Harry Potter books).

I hate that my computer is jacked up--that's where a crapload of pictures are.  These are just the ones on the Big Munky's laptop.

Oh well.

Happy Birthday, munky-butt, you drive me nuts--but, I guess that's your job.  I love you and am amazed at all you're able to do.

HARRY POTTER PARTY, PT 2--THE SIGNS

FREEEEEEEE, YEAH.

This still makes me giggle.

Had to get an 11-yr-old to get these so I didn't feel weird putting up signs and taking pictures in a boys' bathroom.

Anyway, it says "Entrance to the Ministry of Magic."
Side note: boys are gross.

The "Platform."  I taped gray butcher paper to a cinder-block wall and used a Sharpie to trace the lines.  The 9 and 10 were simply printed out with Word, cut into ovals, and laminated.  This is the entrance to the rink itself, where everyone hid for the surprise.

"Password?"

"Myrtle was here" written with a dry-erase marker in the girls' bathroom.  I'm not sure if anyone got it.
   And DANG, that shirt is NOT flattering.

To download free fonts like Lumos and Harry P, among others, check out http://www.mugglenet.com/downloads/fonts/index.shtml

To print out ready-made signs, books, and other fun stuffs, click
http://dirtandsunshine.com/harry-potter-party.html

HARRY POTTER PARTY, PT 1--INVITATIONS

So the Princess is turning 11 this month, and is a huge Harry fan (hehheh).  Since birthday 11 is such a big part of the Potterverse, I wanted to do something special.  Somewhere along the line, I got a wild hair up my ass to throw her a surprise party.

It turned out freakin awesome.

First, the invitations.  I looked around, hit up Pinterest, and got some ideas, but nothing I found was "just right."  So, I made up this masterpiece:

For text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aRWdsEhPFqlE3qdaDR1qPSfT5YqS0ufhUNgnlks87q4/edit


This was done in green Blackadder font, centered, with the Hogwarts crest at the top, and printed on old-lookin paper (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XG64ZW/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)



Then I folded them using this nifty little tutorial:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Note-into-an-Envelope


and sealed them with a pretty red H, made by a friend on her Silhouette cutter.  I tried to use a stamp and wax, but the results suuuuuucked.  The vinyl H's were much easier and quicker.

I asked the Princess' homeroom and chorus teachers to sneak them to the kids, and to threaten them with their lives if they let the secret slip.

I also mailed invites to the cast of the movies, and J.K. Rowling, with this letter included:

"Anistyn is my daughter, an extremely smart little girl with autism.  Her condition is pretty fascinating, and includes severe emotional melt-downs, self-centered ideals, and an intense focus on books—including the Harry Potter series.

Anistyn and I don’t always get along so well—we have very few interests in common, and there’s little room for negotiation when it comes to her own interests.  When she began reading Harry Potter, I read each book right after her.  This opened up a subject we could both lose ourselves in, and it gave us something we could finally talk about, something we could connect with.  We’ve read all the books, seen all the movies, and can finally have actual discussions, instead of our usual one-of-us-speaks-and-the-other-pretends-to-be-interested charade.

Anistyn is my oldest child, and I hate that we have such a difficult relationship.  I will be forever grateful for all of those involved with the Harry Potter franchise for giving me a way to reach my child, for giving us this stepping stone that has led to other small victories (she now listens to my book suggestions—it may not seem like a big thing, but to us, it’s pretty awesome).  Every little bit of growth is amazing, and you can’t imagine the difference a story like HP can make in a family.

Anistyn is turning 11 this May.  Pretty big birthday, right?  I’m planning a surprise party for her, and, of course, it’s Harry Potter themed.  If you could, Anistyn would be tickled absolutely pink to receive a little piece of Hogwarts.   As much as you’ve been a part of something that’s helped our relationship immensely, I hate to ask for more, but, hey—we’re kinda on a roll here.  I figured I’d try my luck a little more."

Ms. Rowling's assistant or somethin replied with a nice letter--and not an instant, generic reply, either, but one addressing what I'd written about--with pictures and bookmarks.  I was pretty impressed.

Part 2 of this little series thingy will be the signs I made.  Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow.