How To Make Your Own Wand

~~Wingardium Leviosa~Alohomara~Expecto Patronum~Stupify~Accio~Expelliarmus~Lumos~

Just for fun I made my friends wands for the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Premier last year. My one friend and I used to use our paint brushes in high school watercolor as wands and would recite spells because the class was so boring so I decided it would be funny to make her a real wand for the movie's premier. (The wand shown above is hers.)

Here are the steps I took to make these wands:

1. I went outside and searched for some straight looking branches on our smaller trees. Once I found them I cut the branches and took them inside. (Make sure the branch is neither too thin or thick.)
2. I then cut the branches down to about 12 inches long.
3. The next step is to shave off all of the bark surrounding the now sticks.
4. Once the shaving is down it is time to paint.
5. The first layer of paint I applied was a coat of brown acrylic paint. (You might need two layers depending on how well the paint covers the wood.)
6. Next, I added streaks of a darker shade of brown in order to add dimension to the wands.
7. The last step is decorating the wands. For mine I added sparkles on one end of the wand really thick and then hand the sparkles gently fade into the rest of the wand. I then added on a name of a Harry Potter character to each wand and they were finished to give to my friends at the premier. :)
   
   

The GREAT Sorting Hat

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
a smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
Hor I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will teach you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap!"

An excerpt from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in which the Sorting Hat is singing about itself.

When I went to the Hat Store in Leavenworth, not only did I find a pair of Harry's glasses, but I also found an authentic looking Harry Potter Sorting Hat! The hat even doubles as a puppet so that you can make the mouth of the sorting hat talk (or sing). I was extremely excited to find such an awesome hat! :)

The Book That Started It All

I remember asking my mom to buy this exact book pictured above in the fourth grade. I had recieved a good report card during conferences and the book fair was open at my elementary. I was allowed to pick out one book as a reward. At first I had been leaning more towards an American Girl book or a Babysitters Club book, but as I looked around at the books being sold our school librarian showed me the book above. She told me about how this book just came out and how it seemed to be so popular with all the kids so far. I decided to take a chance and read something that I never thought I would be interested in... a magical world and the characters that fill it. As I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone my eyes were open to adevnture and courage and I couldn't wait for the next book to come out. Little did I know that these books would continue to come out until I was nearly a Senior in high school. Ever since this book I have been a die-hard Harry Potter fan, something I would never have anticipated myself to be, but am so glad that I am. Thank you JK Rowling for your amazing novels!

Through The Eyes of Harry

The round shaped glasses shown above have become an iconic symbol for the modern day folk hero recognized internationally as Harry Potter. I bought a pair of these glasses at the Hat Shop in Leavenworth,WA a couple of days ago and decided to wear them around to see what kind of reaction I would get out of people. I wore them into the safeway in Leavenworth and the cashier immediately recognized them as Harry's glasses. She told me that she liked them a lot and wished they would make them available as prescription glasses. In fact, nearly everyone I talked to that day knew EXACTLY whose glasses I was wearing. I also found it interesting how no one made fun of my glasses. Through JK Rowling's magnificent writing, glasses are no longer the symbol of a nerd or a geek as they had been previously in movies, tv shows, or books. Instead they are the symbol of a boy who stands up for good, fights for the friends whom he loves, and has the courage and heart of a Gryffindor lion.