2 days ago
A Harry Potter-Inspired ‘Return to Hogwarts' Party Is the Best Way to Fend Off the Back-to-School Scaries
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Heading back to school can bring a wave of excitement—and anxiety. What will my teacher be like? Will I make friends? What if everyone is over Labubu and I get laughed out of class for my prized Lafufu collection dangling off my backpack?!
Sixth grade was a huge adjustment for me, so much so that I dreaded every day of it, those first few weeks—but Harry Potter got me through it. Immersed in a world so fantastical, with characters so oddly relatable (despite the giants and thestrals and a certain immortality-seeking, murderous wizard), I devoured each book so quickly that I had to ration how many chapters a day I'd read, just to extend the storyline a bit longer.
So, when my daughter, nieces and nephew seemed less than thrilled at the idea of summer ending—and teacher friends described combatting the 'back-to-school scaries'—I thought, what if we could turn some of that magic into a back-to-school party? Thus, the Return to Hogwarts party was born.
Armed with a little creativity, a modest budget (my goal was to spend $150 or less) and roughly three hours to throw it all together, here's what I did—along with some ideas if you want to take things to the next level. (If you do, please send me your photos! I'd love to see them.)
What to Make
1. Send the Invites
Paperless Post
Nobody has time to train a snowy owl to deliver personalized, wax-sealed letters of acceptance (though for $25, you can score a customized Hogwarts letter and supplies list that's frame-worthy). As a cheaper—and more timely alternative—might I suggest modifying Paperless Post wizard party invites (26 cents each) or creating and sending your own for free with Canva?
2. Create Your Own Platform 9 ¾
original photos: candace davison
Cover the door—or even a portion of it—with brick bulletin board paper ($12), then tape a Platform 9 ¾ sign to the outside to set the tone of the party as people arrive. I made the Platform sign using the DM Serif Display font within a large circle on Canva (which I'll share here), which I printed and cut out. It took less than 10 minutes, but it made a big impact.
3. Set Up the Great Hall
original photo: candace davison
Confession: I had aspirations of buying Poly-fil, sheets and LED lights to create a stormy sky, like this phenomenal TikTok, but given my time and budget constraints, I wound up pointing my projector toward the ceiling, playing a loop of a starry sky, and hanging floating candles ($35; $25). Nobody seemed to mind; they were too busy passing around the wand that came with said candles—it functioned like a remote, allowing you to flick on and off the lights with the press of a button.
There are a few designs like this sold online, but I've found Michaels Ashland candles are the most reliable and easiest to use. (On that note, shoutout to Michaels in general, because their Ashland line inspired half the decor—like this LED-lighted mantel scarf, $25, LED pillar candle set, $30, and ceramic cauldron, $12, all of which I can re-use for Halloween. Also, I saved 30 percent on my entire order by ordering online for a curbside pickup, which saved me time to boot, since I didn't have to scour stores for what I needed.)
original photo: candace davison
To further my theme while remaining budget friendly, I bought eight sheets of felt (67 cents apiece), in each of the four Hogwarts houses' colors. I cut them into four flags, using the other four pieces of felt to cut out a giant letter for each house's name, and glued it on top as decorations to hang on the walls.
4. Conjure Up a Sorting Hat Photo Opp
original photo: candace davison
If you have a statement armchair—or in my case, a swing chair—use it to your advantage. If you don't, you'll have plenty of leftover brick bulletin board paper you can use to cover a wall as a backdrop. To make more of a statement, I flanked the chair with these floating acceptance letter garlands I found on Amazon ($15). They come pre-strung on clear nylon, though I found I needed to use clear packing tape or string them from my curtain rods so they wouldn't immediately (and constantly) fall down. Still, it was worth it, especially when paired with the Official Sorting Hat (at $32, it was my 'splurge,' but it was a must).
What to Serve
5. Concoct 2-3 Semi-Spooky Snacks
original photo: candace davison
There's no shortage of Harry Potter-inspired treats you can serve at your party (Snitch-inspired chocolate bon bons! Butterbeer fudge! Pumpkin Pasties!), but that can get pretty time-consuming. I try to stick to two or three 'statement' snacks (I made green chocolate-drizzled, candy-eye topped "Madeye Moody's popcorn" and pretzel-rod wands) and then round things out with a few kid-friendly basics, like tater tots, pizza cut into two-bite pieces and a basic crudité platter.
6. Rebrand a Few Tried-and-True Classics
original photos: candace davison
To that end, just because you're not constructing the Marauder's Map out of puff pastry doesn't mean you can't infuse a little magic into the food table with a few creative name cards. That veggie platter? Well, it's Professor Sprout's garden, of course, and the mango-pineapple juice? Trade out the bottle for a pitcher and some test tubes; it's a Polyjuice Potion now. (And, as my niece declared, it was 'the key' to turning her into Hermione Granger—not the costume that my brother-in-law had brought her in.)
Even pigs in a blanket can be, uh, Basilisks in a Blanket, with the right signage.
What to Do
7. Make Grade School Pennants (or Charm Bracelets)
original photo: candace davison
Since I was entertaining a gaggle of kids entering second through fourth grade, my crafts were relatively low lift. I put out colored pencils and crayons, along with these printable 'I'm entering ___ grade' pennants our PureWow team designed (which you can use too; just save this PDF). After decorating them, the kids could cut them out and tape them to a bamboo chopstick for their Sorting Hat photos.
If you're entertaining an older crowd, they may be down with a goofy sorting hat pic…not so much coloring flags. In that case, pivot! Backpack charms are having a major moment, and if my crew were a bit older, I would've scooped up these Hogwarts and Horcrux charm sets ($15), basic beads in Hogwarts colors and a few Keyring Lobsters ($5).
8. Visit the Wand Shop
original photo: candace davison
Bamboo Chopsticks ($6) were another Hogwarts party MVP: Not only did I use them for the pennants, but I broke them apart and used them as the base for my wand-making station. Before the party, I used a hot glue gun and glue sticks to design swirls, criss-cross patterns and polka dots along the bottom half of several chopsticks, to give them the engraved and knobby looks of the wands from the Harry Potter series.
I covered my table with posterboard, and let each witch and wizard take turns playing with the wand options, as they searched for their perfect fit. Once 'the wand chooses the wizard,' the kids got to paint them, then we moved onto snacks before returning to embellish them with metallic Sharpie markers. In hindsight, I would've added some rhinestones and glue, just for some extra flair for the Luna Lovegoods and future Beauxbatons transfers among us.
9. Get 'Sorted' into Your New Grade
original photo: candace davison
You're not a regular mom, you're a wizard, 'Arry! Oh, wait, I'm conflating quotes, aren't I? Ah, well. While other parents opt for the standard First Day of School chalkboard sign, I vote that you give your kids a different cheesy photo opp to cringe over in five years! We had fun putting on the Sorting Hat and having kids shout out which grade they were going into, before flashing their pennant (and biggest grins) for a pic.
10. Watch the Movie
original photo: candace davison
One of the nice things about Harry Potter is that the series grows with its audience, so my younger crowd appreciated seeing the first movie, whereas older kids—as in, 10 and up—may prefer to watch later films, like Prisoner of Azkaban and beyond. (Funny enough, we didn't even get through the movie—the kids were having too much fun pretending to be witches and wizards with their new wands.)
The Bottom Line: Don't Overthink It
original photos: candace davison
It's so easy to turn Pinterest into a Portkey, racking up so many DIYs that you'll need three weeks' time and five figures to create The Core Memory of a Lifetime. But the thing is, all you really need are some floating candles, a wand-making station and solid snacks to have a great (and unforgettable) back-to-school party. Promise.
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