Jamie Harrington - The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter: 30 Magical Crafts for Witches and Wizards—from Pencil Wands to House Colors Tie-Dye Shirts

Foreword by Dinah Bucholz, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, her publishers, or Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

For Halle. The coolest Mudblood I know. Consider this your Hogwarts letter.

What should we Harry Potterobsessed, well, Potterheads do in between Potter-themed book and movie releases? What to do with our twiddly thumbs? Jamie Harrington provides the perfect solution to this pesky problem in this book on crafting your way into Harry Potters world. It would be almost worth it for me to go back to schoolalmost, because, frankly, who misses homework and droning teachers?to turn an ordinary school composition notebook into a spellbook.

But there are plenty of crafts for young and old alike.

The projects in these pages are not only super cool but also gorgeous. Bring holiday cheer to your Slytherin common room with a Snake Door Wreath that evokes the beauty of ancient Greek carvings of Medusa. Ponder your deepest desire while shaving, brushing your teeth, or applying makeup before an antique Mirror of Erised, and fall asleep each night to the vision of hauntingly spectral Floating Candle Night Lights. Flaunt your house colors with your own hand-dyed shirt and welcome friends into your home with a House Banners Doormat to truly feel like you are inhabiting the world of Hogwarts.

We Potterheads love to feel like we are living inside the Harry Potter books, and there is nothing like eating the food the characters eat and decorating our surroundings with objects like the crafts in these pages that brings this magical world into our lives.

DINAH BUCHOLZ, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

Wands and magic spells. Pensieves and Remembralls. House-elves and monsters.

Who doesnt love the world of Harry Potter and all the adventure and mystery that come along with it? Now, with The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter you can bring a little bit of that magic into your bedroom, locker, and even your own backyard!

Here youll find thirty magic-filled crafts that are simple enough to do even if youre a beginner, but cool enough that youll have fun making them even as an advanced crafter. So many of these projects can be made with things you have around your house already like sugar or toothpicks, and with just an afternoon of free time. This isnt just a book where your parents or other grownups get to do all the crafting while you watch! Whatever your age, youre guaranteed to find lots of different activities you can either do entirely on your own, like the Sugar Quill Headband and Mad-Eye Moody Photo Frame, or with just a little help, like the Mandrake Root Pencil Holder and the Dementor Soap. Youll find some crafts in the book that use materials like spray paint or a hot glue gun. Be sure to check in with an adult before using these items, and for the hot glue gun, I recommend using a cool-temperature glue gun to help keep you safe.

I have spent countless hours crafting and writing about my love for all things nerd at my blog, Totally The Bomb (www.totallythebomb.com), but putting all my favorite Harry Potter crafts together in one place for you is the most fun I have had so far. When I was a camp counselor, I snuck the Harry Potter books off the campers bedside tables while they were asleep, and when my daughter Halle (or as shes known on YouTube, Hallecake; you can find her channel here: http://youtube.com/Hallecake) was old enough to read the series herself, I got to experience the magic again through her eyes. These Harry Potterinspired crafts give us something in common, and when we laugh over what flavors to include in our Every Flavor Beans or argue over the perfect shade of Gryffindor yellow, it means I get to spend the entire afternoon with my daughter, and thats what I love the most. Halle and I both picked out our favorites to share with you. Shes the expert in our house when it comes to all things Harry Potter so I bow to her knowledge, and she personally assured me that each and every craft in herefrom the Spellbook Journal to the Butterbeer Lip Balm to the Floating Candle Night Lightswill blow you away.

Whether youre looking for something totally Potter-tastic to wear, to help you organize your desk, or to personalize your bedroom, you can easily find something to create no matter what kind of mood youre in. Accio crafting materials! Lets do this.

In our house, we are huge fans of showing our Harry Potter love with the things we wear. We like for it to be a little simplesomething that doesnt shout to the whole world youre wearing Potter gearlike the Lightning Scar Earrings or the House Colors Tie-Dye Shirt that might make people do a double-take. These crafts are a lot of fun to make for yourself, but they are also easy enough that you can make a few extras for your friends, too. After all, its important to pack the right robes and uniform attire in your school trunkjust like its important to have a full wardrobe of Potter-tastic attire out in the Muggle worldand the wearable crafts found in this chapter will definitely get you there!

This House Colors Tie-Dye Shirt is always really fun when you have a lot of friends over because its super fast to make and everyone can make a shirt in his or her favorite house colors (scarlet and gold for Gryffindor, yellow and black for Hufflepuff, blue and bronze for Ravenclaw, emerald green and silver for Slytherin) following the same basic steps. Plus, when youre finished, you can all wear them to your next Quidditch game!

Prewashed plain white T-shirt in the size of your choice

1015 rubber bands (The number you use depends on how big your shirt is and how close together you want your stripes.)

2 tie-dye kits in the colors of your house (Note: each dye kit will contain 1 dye color, gloves, and a squirt bottle.)

1 (16-ounce) bottle of water

Paper towels

2 large trash bags

Scissors

Prepare your shirt by holding it up in front of you and scrunching it into a long tube.