Ultimate Harry Potter Party: The Cauldron Shop

October 31, 2013 ♥ Posted in: Food, Geek Events, Kristina Makes Things by Kristina Horner

I’m sad to announce that this is the final entry in my Knockturn Alley party post series. The final shop we created in our living room was the Cauldron Shop, and it was made by my friend and roommate Eia Waltzer. I was super impressed with what she did with the theme – the only idea I really gave her was “fill cauldrons with food and drinks”. Great artistic direction, I know.

But Eia is a creative mastermind, and she definitely made this corner of the party her own.

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It was pretty dark over in the Cauldron Shop, but that was purposeful. As you can see above, nearly everything in Eia’s shop glowed in the dark. She had, by far, the most popular drinks and snacks – but I’m not sure if that was due to her masterful cooking skills or the fact that we literally had a light up fountain.

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This fountain was one of my absolutely favorite party purchases. You can buy it for your next party here on Amazon, and it was really reasonably priced. We called this punch Amortencia, the love potion of the Harry Potter universe. They say Amortencia smells different to everyone who sniffs it; similarly, our Amortencia tasted different at various points of the night because it kept getting refilled with slightly different ingredients.

Oh also, I don’t know how obvious it is – but those white things floating in the fountain are eyeballs. It just made sense.

Both drinks at the Cauldron Shop came in punch bowls because, duh, they look like cauldrons. I don’t have a close up picture of it, but if you look at that first picture again you can see the glowing blue punch bowl on the left – that one held Unicorn’s Blood. The lights at the bottom were blue glow sticks. It was a mixture of blue Hawaiian punch and Whipped Vodka and it was delicious. Most party guests said it was their favorite.

On to food! First up are these delicious wrapped hotdogs Eia lovingly named “Frankenweenies”:

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This is a terrible picture, I apologize – but that’s what you get when you try to photograph food in Knockturn Alley. The funny part about these little guys is that for two years now Eia has been calling these Frankenweenies… but it occurred to us this past weekend that there’s nothing “Franken” about them! They’re mummies! It’s too late though. The name has stuck, and they look creepy enough to be served at a dark wizard gathering, so they got to stay.

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I found these great little mini cauldrons at the local party store, so Eia fashioned her own version of Cauldron Cakes out of them: vanilla pudding died green, crumbled oreos, and gummy worms. Don’t pretend like that doesn’t sound AMAZING.

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I believe Eia’s greatest conquest to be these Pumpkin Pasties. She made those cake pops entirely by hand and they were wonderful. I really appreciated the unique approach to more “common” Harry Potter treats, and it was greatly appreciated amongst party guests.

Now that I’ve shared the entire party on this blog, I’m curious what your favorite parts were? Which shop did you like the best, or did you prefer one of the other aspects of the party more? What was your favorite reference to Harry Potter?

I can’t tell you how much fun we had planning this party. I feel like I’ve preparing for this party ever since I was 13 and started reading these books; ever since I first fell in love with Slytherin house. The night of the party will go down in history as one of my favorite events of all time, and I only wish I could have shared it with ALL of the Harry Potter friends I have made over the years.

Thanks for following along as I recounted the experience, and I hope you’ve been inspired to throw your own themed parties. Themes parties are the best parties.

Also, before I end this party series forever, I feel like it’s prudent to admit that somehow, a party guest dressed as DUMBLEDORE won the costume contest. No joke.

I guess good really does always triumph over evil. Humph.


4 Comments

4 Comments

Kari Kristine says:

WOW! That Amortentia fountain looks so cool! I can’t decide which shop I liked the best, but I love the fact that you managed to expand it beyond just “Borgin and Burkes” and while your whole livingroom was a creepy Harry Potter extravangza, you guys also put effort into the house as a whole! Like in the hallway and bathroom. Truly mindblown!

I wish I had friends who would join me in something like this. Harry Potter has kind of only been me and my little sister’s “thing”, and while some of my friends enjoyed the books and films, they are not really nerdy Potterheads like the two of us!

MERLIN’S MOST BAGGY Y-FRONTS. There aren’t words.

The drinks are my favorite part, I think–everything from Veritaserum in vials to Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent with salted rims. I just can’t get over it. But I also loved the Chamber of Secrets messages on the mirrors, and that Hand of Glory was an impressive piece of work.

The brain in your bathtub made me think of IT from A Wrinkle in Time. Which is definitely creepy 🙂

Jenny says:

Bravo! I really love the variety of drinks you all created. Did you get a chance to try them all? I know I would want to try everything. The labels on everything really gives it that perfect final touch. I also think working within the world of Harry Potter made it that much more awesome. So creative, I want to try and host a similar party!

Andrea says:

Well, isn’t that just the coolest thing ever. You guys are so creative! I am bookmarking this for future party ideas.

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