Despite a suggestion from a MAMMAKAZE reader that I may be over-indulging my child and therefore creating a spoiled brat of a monster who will come to expect everything handed to her and may one day have a public breakdown, shave her hair in front of paparazzi and blame me for all her shortcomings… we continue our party prep.

In for a penny, in for a pound I say.

Today we showcase some of the crafts (handmade and otherwise) that we hope will add to the ambiance of Hogwarts (aka my garage).

As anyone can tell you, one cannot be a witch or a wizard worth their salt without, you guessed it, a wand. And therefore, we have handmade wands for everyone, courtesy of our friend Al E. (Al you rock!) who hand carved all 30 of them. Julia and I stained them and individualized them.

Handmade wands for all witches and wizards. No unforgivable curses please.

Julia staining wands. She was really good at it! And very determined and specific about having a variety of shades.

And since I refused to cough up the $25 bucks it costs to purchase the sign on Amazon, we made our own Platform 9 3/4 Hogwarts sign which was meant to hang in the courtyard, but probably will hang in the house since rain is in the forecast.

And while we couldn’t get life-sized Quidditch brooms for all attendees, we did get them little broom pens with the words “Hogwarts School of Magic” embossed on the side.  A fun keepsake AND amazingly cheap!

As Julia used to say when she was around 18 months, “How you think?” Cool, huh? Tomorrow, house flags, the Hogwarts banner and also the Ollivander sign (if it turns out okay). Have gold spray paint, will…uh, create signage.

Again, feel free to comment on my madness. It makes for controversy and controversy is good for traffic! Until tomorrow!