July 31st is Harry Potter’s birthday… so why not have your friends over for a Harry Potter-themed brunch? And don’t worry, you don’t have to have a big budget or be a super crafty person to make this a magical experience. All of my ideas below are low cost and don’t take hours to prepare.
And before we begin, special thanks to my sister-in-law, Marin Delmonico (@marinnicole_), for taking some of the photos you’ll see below!
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Easy Harry Potter Decorations
To me, the Harry Potter decorations are the most important part since they spark the magic and remind HP fans of all of their favorite aspects of the beloved story. But just because they’re important, it doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money.
Greet your guests when they arrive with a Platform 9 3/4 sign. Find a design and shape that you like on Google, and then print it out and tape it to a piece of poster board to add thickness.
Remember the exciting scene in the Sorcerer’s Stone when Harry receives hundreds of letters flying out of the chimney, pushing their way through the boarded up mail slot in the Dursley’s home on Privet Drive? You can do that!
Using small square or rectangular envelopes, address the front of your letters to:
Mr. H. Potter,
The Cupboard under the Stairs,
4, Privet Drive,
Little Whinging,
Surrey
Make as many of these as you have time for. Since I did not have a fireplace, I decided to hang Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letters in my entry way. To fit the space, I taped three letters to a piece of fishing line and hung three lines of letters on the doorframe. And voila! Magical entry way mastered!
I didn’t have a stamp handy, but if you do, stamp a red seal on the back of the envelope for an extra touch.
Another easy decoration are Hogwarts house banners. Print Gryffndor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff house crests and tape them to pieces of cardboard to create these simple, but totally worth it, house banners.
(Anzu’s wearing green because he is obviously a Slytherin.)
Throughout my living room and kitchen, I found and made some awesome Harry Potter printables. While some required cutting and taping, this was the extent of my “crafting.” Aka, if I can do this, you can do this!
DOWNLOAD – House Elves on Strike sign.
DOWNLOAD – Watch Your Step, the Stairs Change sign.
Looks like there is a puppy out of bed on the third floor corridor… he doesn’t know his invisibility cloak fell off and we can see him.
DOWNLOAD – Third Floor Corridor sign.
DOWNLOAD – It’s MimOsa. Not MimosA. sign.
For a nice photo background for guests, print out multiple “Have You Seen This Wizard?” posters. And if you have extra time, make some photo props for muggles to take their own Azkaban photos. For my photo props, I found this tutorial from Paper Trail Design helpful.
Have a stairway in your party area? Google Hogwarts corridor art to print out pictures to mimic the school hallway.
Pull your refreshment table together with a Honeydukes sign. I printed one off from Google and taped it to poster board for more support.
And don’t forget the bathroom! Surprise your guests by taping a picture of Moaning Myrtle to the back of your toilet.
Add some Cornish pixies to your flowers.
Gather & Collect Harry Potter Items From Your House & Friends
Free decorations? Yes! By all means, use what you’ve got. Start by gathering all of your Harry Potter books, memorabilia, and trinkets (like a stuffed Hedwig, Triwizard Cup, action figures, puzzles, wands, Sorting Hat). Next, do another sweep of your normal home and seasonal decorations. Pull out any renaissance-esque items that may fit within your magical theme. Candles, spooky Halloween decor, antique trunks, etc.
Use these items as props and decorations throughout your party area. They add a simple Harry Potter feel that appears effortless.
Harry Potter Snacks & Drinks
For drinks, I served Butterbeer, Polyjuice Potion, Liquid Luck, and Gillywater.
Now, there are a lot of recipes for Butterbeer out there, but with some advice from my co-worker, I found and adapted the perfect recipe from Bakingdom to replicate Universal Studio’s Butterbeer taste.
Butterbeer Recipe
Butterbeer (1 serving size):
1 12-oz can of Cream Soda
1/2 tsp. of Imitation Butter
Foam (enough for 6 servings):
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
5 tbsp. of Sugar (Note: I decreased the amount of sugar from the original recipe)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
First, prepare the foam. In your standing mixer (or a large bowl), mix heavy whipping cream for 3-4 minutes until thickened. Add sugar and mix for another 3-4 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Set aside foam until Butterbeer is made.
Next, in a tall plastic cup, add 1/2 tsp. of imitation butter. Pour in 1 can of chilled cream soda. Stir to mix.
Add as much foam as you like to the cup with Butterbeer mixture. And Enjoy!
And for that extra special Harry Potter touch, print these Butterbeer labels and use double-sided tape to stick to clear plastic cups.
What’s a brunch without mimosas? And just to be clear, it’s a MimOsa, not a MimosA.
OJ + champagne = Felix Felicis or Liquid Luck
Peach juice + champagne = Polyjuice Potion
Find the printable labels for Felix Felicis and Polyjuice Potion.
Gillywater = bottled water with labels… c’mon this is so easy. You have to do this. Find the Gillywater label I used from Over the Big Moon blog.
It’s important to note, I have geeky friends who were just as into my brunch theme as I was! Special thanks to Britt-Marie for making these creepy snake breadsticks! LOVE them.
And huge shoutout to my friend Michelle for taking the time to bake these detailed Sorting Hat cupcakes. These are a great way to sort your guests into houses! Topped with an edible caramel hat and filled with M&Ms the color of your assigned house, these treats are sure to leave your guests smiling – even if the Sorting Hat places you in your not-so-favorite house.
And if you’re celebrating Harry’s birthday, you have to make him a cake! Or at least something that resembles Harry’s birthday cake from Hagrid.
Since we already planned to make Sorting Hat cupcakes, I decided to turn Hagrid’s birthday cake for Harry into an oversized sugar cookie.
The best part about this treat is that you CAN’T mess it up! I mean, honestly, I think my lettering could have been sloppier to be more accurate!
Using a round cookie sheet, spread out two rolls of prepared Pillsbury cookie dough. (I had a little left over, and kept that for snacking.) Bake according to the directions on the packaging, but you may need to add a few more minutes to bake all the way through depending on how thick your cookie is.
After the cookie is out of the oven and cooled (slightly warm to touch), frost the cookie with hot pink Pillsbury frosting.
Next, spell out the HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY message – and don’t worry if your letters are cramped or disorganized, they’re supposed to be!
For your guests to remember the event, golden snitches made from Ferrero Rocher candies and paper wings make an easy take-home treat.
Harry Potter Games & Activities
Looking to add some friendly competition to your brunch? Sort your guests into houses and award points throughout your event for trivia, wand duels, and more.
Since guests have varying familiarity with the wizarding world, I asked each person to rate their HP knowledge when they RSVP’d and then I pre-sorted everyone into teams (aka houses).
Set out Harry Potter coloring sheets for your guests. My favorites are these Harry Potter coloring books from Barnes and Noble.
Make sure to have your wands on hand for wizarding duels!
If you have a Nintendo Switch, the 1-2-Switch game has an interactive wizarding duel which is a lot of fun to play and watch. But if you aren’t trying to be that high tech, and if you don’t have wands (which you should!), sticks from your back yard will work perfectly fine.
For all of the Slytherins, and anyone who likes tattoos, have some Dark Mark temporary tattoos on hand.
Have other awesome Harry Potter party ideas? Share them in the comments! I’d love some new ideas for my next Harry Potter brunch because I’m thinking this should be an annual thing!
And good luck on your own Harry Potter brunch or party! I hope it’s a magical experience for you and your guests.
This is such a great idea! I really want to do this now!! Thanks for all the great recipes as well!
Author
It’s totally worth it! Who doesn’t love brunch, right?!
I’ve decided to do a Harry Potter mini party for tomorrow! Thanks for the inspiration!! Will definitely use some of these ideas!
Author
That’s awesome!! Post pictures!
I will!
THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER! *fangirl scream* I’m definitely pinning this for later! All of my Harry Potter fantasies have come true! 😉 Thanks for putting this together!
Author
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the ideas! If you plan a HP event of your own, share pics and let me know if you think of new ideas!
I’d love an invite to your next one in a non-creepy way!! hahaha 😉 I’ll definitely let you know if I think of anything else! 😀
Author
Not creepy at all! Done. 🙂
THIS IS AMAZING!!! That moaning myrtle touch is so good!! AHHH!!! I am just so happy right now haha
Author
It’s the little things! 🙂 I meant to also write a Chamber of Secrets message on my bathroom mirror, but i forgot! Gotta save that for the next brunch.
Oh my goodness this is the most amazing thing EVER! I OVE Harry Potter!!! My favorite though is your Slytherin shibe though! I also have a shiba and happen to be a Slytherin myself (married to a griffyndor husband.) I’ve always wanted to throw a HO party. This is such good inspiration!
Author
My Shiba can definitely get into trouble, so he had to be sorted into Slytherin! And this brunch theme is definitely worth it!!!
I love all the details! Putting Moaning Myrtle on the toilet was genius! I would have loved to have attended this brunch!
Author
Thanks! I’m thinking I might have to plan more themed parties… 🙂
This was adorable. My next birthday? I think so.
Author
Thanks! 🙂 And I totally agree. This would be the perfect birthday party.
So cute, I love the mimosa sign!
Author
Thanks! I’m thinking I should leave that sign out all the time!
Oh my goodness how fun is this? You went all out! I wish we would’ve done something like this for my nephews birthday! I’m definitely going to use that butter beer recipe!
Joy
http://www.basicallyjoy.com/
Author
Save the ideas for his next birthday! And definitely try the Butterbeer. It is DELICIOUS!
Love, love LOOOOVE your post – so much amazing ideas easy to recreate! Thank you for all these great tips, will definitely try them out as soon as possible 🙂
Author
Thanks! I’m glad a fellow Potterhead enjoys them.This brunch was a blast to plan and host!
This so long turned out so amazing!
Author
Thanks! It was so much fun! (I may have gone a little overboard…) 🙂
I don’t believe in overboard when it comes to nerdy parties 🙂
Author
Amen to that!
Wow you did a really great job!
Author
Thanks! I can’t wait to plan more themed brunches!
I recently did a video talking about the Harry Potter x Primark collection that recently launched in the UK! I will be back in London this autumn and SO excited to snag a few bits from the line! I love Harry Potter!
Author
That sounds fun! I’ll have to check it out! Say Harry Potter and I’m in!
I love all of these ideas! Everything looks really great!
Author
Thanks! It was so much fun to plan! Definitely going to bring this back next year.
I just sent this to my friend and who knows we may do this eventually.
Author
It’s worth it! So much fun!
thank you for all the links!! so helpful!!
Author
You’ve got it! I’m glad you found them helpful. Happy Harry Potter planning!
I love the idea of a brunch. All these suggestions look so simple to put together yet are so Harry Potter magical feeling!
Author
It’s pretty easy to pull this together! I had a lot of the items already – some were obviously HP and others just fit the look – so it all worked out! And brunch is the best type of party! Coffee, mimosas, and your guests don’t stay past your bedtime. LOL
Such a fun party. So many amazing Harry Potter details. So amazing everything that you did.
Author
I may have gone a little overboard… but it was SO MUCH FUN! Thank you!
Love every single item 😀 😀 Must have been so much fun.