A Closer Look at the Viral Harry Potter Christmas Tree

Have you ever dreamt of spending Christmas at Hogwarts? Well Kathryn Burnett did, and last Christmas she decided to bring Harry Potter to her holiday decorations with a magical Harry Potter Christmas Tree — that went VIRAL!

(All photos in this article are courtesy of Kathryn Burnett.)

HP Holiday Decorations

There’s a good chance that you’ve seen pictures of Kathryn’s trending Harry Potter Christmas tree. It’s the tree of any Harry Potter fan’s dreams, and it has been featured in a ton of publications and various news stations, including BuzzFeed, TODAY.com, UNILAD, and more.

How did Kathryn’s tree get so famous? Well, after tweeting an image last year from her personal Twitter, it caught the eye of J.K. Rowling herself, who liked Kathryn’s tweet! The rest is viral history! Also, let’s pause and reflect on the fact that J.K. Rowling liked her tweet! Potterhead bucket list = complete.

And now for your viewing pleasure, let’s take a closer look at Kathryn’s amazing Harry Potter Christmas Tree and her magical holiday decorations from the 2016 holiday season… starting with her Sorting Hat tree topper! (Note – I’ve definitely copied this idea! Thank you, Kathryn!)

HP Christmas Tree

The details within the tree’s branches are remarkable, and they include a Howler…

HP Howler
The Weasley’s flying Ford Anglia and collectible Chocolate Frog cards…

HP OrnamentsSlytherin Ornament

A Pygmy Puff, Ministry of Magic memorandum, Hermione’s Time Turner…

Harry Potter Tree Details

Salazar Slytherin’s Locket…

Horcrux Ornament

A Golden Snitch, the Deathly Hallows symbol…

Golden Snitch Ornament

A Hogwarts acceptance letter, Harry’s glasses, a delicious lollipop from Honeydukes…

Harry Potter Christmas Details

The Knight Bus, Delores Umbridge on a unicycle (from Fred and George Weasley’s shop, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes)…

Delores Umbridge Ornament

Ron’s Christmas sweater, Luna’s Spectrespecs, the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, the Hogwarts Express…

Slytherin Ornaments

A Nimbus 2001 broomstick…

Nimbus 2000

The Quibbler, the Marauder’s Map, Hedwig…

Harry Potter Tree Trimmings

And even a love potion pendant.

Harry Potter Love PotionHarry Potter Candy

And for 2017, Kathryn didn’t just bring back her Harry Potter tree, but she decided to add the fireplace from Privet Drive!

Harry Potter Fireplace copy

By the way, she made all of the Hogwarts acceptance letters by hand!

Harry Potter Letters

Not your typical Elf on a shelf…

House Elf on the ShelfMr H Potter Letter

And this year’s Harry Potter tree even has some new ornaments! Kathryn’s favorite Harry Potter book and movie is the Goblet of Fire, so it was only a matter of time until she added an actual Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter’s entry slip for the tournament (complete with burnt edges).

Harry Potter Christmas TreeHarry Potter Tree Topper

The tree also added an edition of the Daily Prophet…

Harry Potter Christmas Ornaments

A Knight Bus ticket…

Gryffindor holiday decorations

A train ticket to Hogwarts, the Goblet of Fire…

Goblet of Fire OrnamentHarry Potter Tree Decorations

A mischievious Cornish Pixie…

Cornish PixieLuna Lovegood OrnamentsMarauders Map

Dre the shrunken head from the Knight Bus…

Knight Bus Head OrnamentRavenclaw Ornament IdeasQuibbler

Scabbers and some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans…

Scabbers in Candy

More Quidditch items…

Quidditch Supplies

And even the Monster Book of Monsters!

Monster Book of Monsters DecorationMonster Book of Monsters

Thank you to Kathryn for allowing me to show off some of her magical photos! I love your tree and decor ideas and hope to include some of these on my own tree next year… or at my next Harry Potter brunch!

If you’re a Potterhead, make sure to visit and follow her Instagram, @kathryn.j.burnett, for Harry Potter Christmas tree updates and more magical ideas!

By the way, Kathryn is a proud Slytherin! Yes — a fellow Slytherin sister! However, she is known to cosplay as Hermione Granger from time to time — and she seriously looks like Emma’s twin!

(All photos in this article are courtesy of Kathryn Burnett.)

 

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22 Comments

  1. December 11, 2017 / 1:29 pm

    I LOVE this! I wonder if I could set up a mini Harry Potter tree at work next year… (I’m a children’s librarian)

    • December 11, 2017 / 2:14 pm

      Yes! Yes! Yes! I think it would be so cool to include a garland made from HP book pages… of course they would be photo copied and not torn out of a book!

  2. December 11, 2017 / 6:05 pm

    The whole set up looks amazing and I wish it was mine! Also House Elf on a Shelf is the trend I’d get behind

    • December 12, 2017 / 10:42 am

      Me too! These are my goals for next year!

  3. December 11, 2017 / 8:05 pm

    OMG I WANT EVERYTHING! I totally followed her on Insta for more pics haha.

    • December 12, 2017 / 10:43 am

      She has awesome ideas! Now I need to go on a HP shopping spree!

  4. December 12, 2017 / 9:56 am

    How creative! I’m not a Harry Potter fan (I’ve never seen it!) but this is super impressive.

  5. December 12, 2017 / 1:08 pm

    I am literally LOL’ing at the House Elf on the Shelf. What a hoot. Harry Potter was my childhood and I love anything that has to do with it. Definitely going to follow her on Instagram!

    • December 12, 2017 / 1:18 pm

      I love that twist on Elf on the Shelf! So clever!

  6. Michelle Paige
    December 13, 2017 / 10:58 pm

    soooo this tree is 100% goals!! i love everything about it!

    • December 14, 2017 / 9:07 am

      It’s quite magical!! I want it in my living room next year!

  7. December 14, 2017 / 1:03 pm

    WOW! I’m in total awe!

  8. January 20, 2018 / 2:21 pm

    Its an amazing tree! Thanks for all those gorgeous close up images, its given me so much inspiration for next year.

    • January 20, 2018 / 2:42 pm

      I agree! I love the idea of the fireplace too! Kathryn did a beautiful job.

  9. November 5, 2018 / 3:01 pm

    She is one dedicate Harry Potter fan. This must have taken her forever to find/make all these cool ornaments. I especially love the letters coming out of the fireplace. Really cool!

    • monicamiller58
      Author
      November 5, 2018 / 7:36 pm

      Right?! I think she adds to her amazing tree each year. I love how much detail is in it.

  10. November 5, 2018 / 5:33 pm

    Wow! That is incredibly impressive. You have so many fun details. I love Harry Potter so much! I think my favorite part of this tree is Luna’s glasses! haha

    • monicamiller58
      Author
      November 10, 2018 / 9:12 pm

      She’s one dedicate Harry Potter fan! I’m just so impressed with her ornament collection — can’t wait to see what she adds this year!

  11. November 6, 2018 / 7:12 am

    omg this is SO cool!!!! It makes me want to redo our entire tree haha! I can’t get over the details! The letters? The books? and of course the ornaments! Amazing!

    • monicamiller58
      Author
      November 6, 2018 / 9:08 am

      SO much detail! I am a little tempted to redesign my tree as well! 🙂

  12. Missy Fisher
    November 21, 2021 / 10:28 pm

    The website https://www.niceeholiday.com/ stole pictures from this Harry Potter fan and posted them on their website. They were selling Holiday Bundles that included these ornaments. I was thrilled to see this because I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I ordered the Harry Potter Holiday Bundle for $45.99. When I received it, the items included were nothing like the description. It was a bunch of junk. I asked for a refund. After many back and forth emails, they offered me 40% or return it to an address in China. The shipping alone was more than the price of the bundle. The Harry Potter Holiday Bundle is no longer available on the website. Buyer beware!
    I am still working on my Harry Potter tree for next year, but I certainly won’t buy anything like this again. This is a beautiful tree, and I hope to have one just as beautiful one day.

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