Thursday, October 25, 2018

Welcome to Diagon Alley


Welcome to Diagon Alley, where you
have to enter and buy your cauldrons and
other necessities before you enter Hogwarts
Castle.


Obviously you can tell that we have a
theme for Halloween at
Purple Chocolat Home this year.
Spend a while with us and see 
what fun we have been up to!!!


My daughter in law came up with the idea to
decorate our porches as Diagon Alley, and
she and my son created my fabulous stacks
of cauldrons from Potages - cauldrons of
all kinds.  We got them for fantastic prices
at Zurchers, and they drilled them and stacked
them with a dowel, keeping them in place with
spray foam and then painting them,
first with a stone texture and then with paint.


They also cut and stained the signs.  I
did all of the Cricut work on the
signs.  It was a super fun project
to do together (although they ended up doing
most of the work).


Invitations went out to the family to
Celebrate 20 years with Harry Potter.

We are all big fans.  When the kids were young
we always had to have multiple copies of the
newest books, as we were all reading them at
the same time.

My niece and I just did a Harry Potter marathon
at a local theater, where they showed three
movies a day for three days, including
Fantastic Beasts.  It was a lot of fun to see
them all again on a big screen, and with 
fun theater food - this theater has great food,
not just popcorn!


Beaulah was quite excited to be a part
of the fun, as we decorated the house
and set up for the party (parties, but that will
come later - hubby always wants to have multiple
parties once I get the house decorated.)

She said she was dressing up as Bathilda Bagshot -
pretty appropriate as Bathilda is a old, ugly witch.
(Hope Beaulah doesn't read that!)

We didn't even get our regular Halloween decor
out this year, as everything is Harry, Harry, Harry!!!




You have to be a Harry Potter fan to appreciate a
lot of the decor.


This is an authentic Pumpkin Juice bottle 
from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
in Orlando.


Beaulah and I found wonderful new plates
on Amazon this year.  We had to buy quite
a few to accommodate this crowd.


The sets contain all four of the house crests.


They set quite a festive table.


Of course we would be eating in the Great Hall.


And all of the houses are represented
(Amazon again).


Chairs were set up for 20,
with all of the houses mixed together.


A tribute was paid to our dear
departed Dumbledore.  You will notice
his blackened hand.


We can see where everyone is on
our new clock, patterned after Mrs. Weasley's.


One of our favorite features is
Harry's old broom flying around.


Should anyone need to head to the
Ministry of Magic quickly, we are set.
(I got a lot of my HP images from Etsy
in SPG files for use with my Cricut.)


And since we have had lots of those
nasty dementors circling Hogwarts lately,
we are prepared with chocolate.
the free printable for these.




An agenda was sent to everyone letting
them know how the festivities would 
happen.



And Professor Mc Gonagall and a
Death Eater were there to greet them.


This is the first sight they would see as they 
finished up at Diagon Alley and entered 
Hogwart's Castle.


Beaulah and I decorated the banister
with an animated sorting hat, a basilisk skeleton
and quotes from Dumbledore.


The doorbell rang to the castle and we
answered the door and found this
little baby all alone on the doorstep.

Little Harry seemed happy to arrive.

That was quite the fun surprise for us
as hosts.  The baby had been dropped
off and the family had hidden.



Their family was the first to arrive.


Dobby was so cute and stayed in 
character all night.



 Of course we had several Harry Potter's.


How nice to have an avid fan.


Gryffindor house is always a favorite around here.


A more grown up Harry and his lovely wife,
who is expecting in December, also appeared.


Only the three year old was frightened 
by our resident Death Eater.


He was glad to see another Death Eater
come, along with a Quidditch player.


One of our favorite Gryffindor students
showed up with her broom cookie creations.


Professor Trelawney was able to make it.
We have such a soft spot in our hearts 
for dear Professor Trelawney, and we were
so glad when Umbridge wasn't able to kick her
out of the castle.


Even Newt Scamander showed up!  He really 
knows how to pose.


 Newt was able to bring his older brother along,
they are a handsome pair.


This little Mandrake is almost ready.
They are growing them cuter these days.




Luna is another one of my favorite characters,
so glad she found her shoes.


And of course, every Harry Potter party 
needs Wonder Woman, in case of a
Death Eater attack!!!



They all received their personal invitations to Hogwarts
after the meet and greet in Diagon Alley.


And then everyone was seated in the Great Hall.


We invited each family to bring a 
Harry Potter themed food.
We had English pot roast, and a
Havarti Ring appetizer.


Cornish pasties,


broom cookies


chocolate frogs




and of course, Butterbeer to drink.
We even made some frozen Butterbeer.



But I get ahead of myself, no feasting took
place until Professor Mc Gonagall read a
headline from the Daily Prophet for everyone
in attendance.


I won't make you read all of them,
but here are a few to give you a taste
for the fun we had.

I just searched for Daily Prophet images
and then used PicMonkey to add my own
photos and headlines.






I couldn't quite contain myself as I read these off.
We laughed and laughed and passed each
newspaper around the table.

Everyone had a wonderful time at the feast
and I think the Daily Prophet news articles
were the hit of the party.


As I mentioned, hubby (our resident Death Eater)
 always likes to see us maximize the house decorations
with more than one party.  So the table was set for
our craft group.  Disappointingly, not everyone
understood Harry Potter (we will have to have
an activity where we get together and watch
the movies - of course they are even better
if you have read the books.)


But they all tried on their Harry Potter glasses.

We had a cauldron class that night where 
Mrs. Mc Gonagall taught them a secret 
recipe for homemade donuts.


We feasted on soups and this really fun
Hedwig appetizer.


Quite a lovely photo of all of our
visiting professors.

Our last party was our Ward Council for
our Young Single Adults.  We left the table
set up in the Great Hall and served them
breakfast before their meeting.  We decided 
to make quiche in honor of the visiting
Beauxbatons.  Of course more Butterbeer
was served.  You can find my recipe for
Butterbeer here.  It is always a favorite.

Thanks for stopping by Diagon Alley
and Hogwarts to visit with our festive
and crazy family.  

We will be posting this party with
Share Your Cup
Dishing It and Digging It








Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

13 comments:

  1. This is the best! I have been a Harry Potter fan since the beginning...it's always great to find other "adults" who enjoy. You really did a number on this, Jacqueline, and didn't miss a trick. Even more fun is all of your family members who showed up in character. How awesome! Thank you for sharing all of your great ideas with us.

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  2. Looks like this was a great family party - with everyone in character - my grandson would have enjoyed this party as he is a big HP fan! Love that you can seat so many people in your room. Cute decorations at your front door, too!

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  3. Jacqueline, your family will be sharing memories of these parties for decades to come. You amaze in all the creativity for these yearly holiday dinners. You should hosts more parties so the decortions are well used and viewed. They are terrific! Love the newspaper idea! Awesome to see how your entire family gets into character.

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    1. That's what hubby thinks - he wants party after party so everyone can see! He doesn't realize there is more to parties than that!

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  4. Merlin's Beard!...I think my head is going to explode! Soooo many wonderful ideas and details and such HP fun! I’m especially lovin’ the floating candles, the STAIRS, Dobby, that ADORABLE mandrake and sweet baby Harry, the cauldron stacks by the door and your porch décor… cute Luna …Broom Cookies, chocolate frogs! The Daily Prophet headlines are a hoot and I love your Hedwig appetizer. I solemnly swear I am up to no good, please set a table for 21 next time so I can apparate to dine in the Great Hall.

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    Replies
    1. Done! You are always welcome at the Great Hall!

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  5. You guys really go all out for your themed parties - fantastic!

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  6. Your parties are always beyond amazing, but this one Jacqueline is simply incredible! The part I enjoyed most was the fact that you worked with your son and DIL to put this theme together and that all your family down to the babies, embraced the theme and participated enthusiastically! I read the first HP book years ago with my son when they first came out, but I haven't kept up with the books and movies after that. I know enough to recognize that your house and tables were packed with endless details, decorations and authentic HP references. WOW is just about all I can say!! Thanks for sharing the fun with us!
    Jenna

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  7. You always do Halloween in a big way but I think this might be your best :) What fun!

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    Replies
    1. I think it is my favorite too! The kids of all ages loved it!

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  8. Wow and more wow Jackie. You, your daughter in law and son went all out to create the perfect HP castle. No stone was left unturned..love the creativity bringing this to life. Your family is wonderful. They all participate quite well with any theme you all decide on. The porch looks amazing! What a great photo of your Great Hall with your new awesome plates.
    Love the Hedwig appetizer. The menu, the cute signs, the stairs and of course your darling family bring this all to life. I agree with your hubby about maximizing the decorations with multiple parties. Kudos to you and yours for a wonderful Adventure.

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  9. OMG Jacqueline.. What an incredible party. Your family is so lucky to have such a fabulous entertainer in the family. What a wonderful time you all must have. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  10. I love that your family all loves this! What a fun time you had, and you all have something in common which is so cool! And awesome that you and your niece did a Harry Potter marathon
    at a local theater. You rock!

    ReplyDelete

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