Dear readers, I am sorry if you are not a fan of the awesomeness that is Harry Potter, because for the next three weeks there is going to be a lot of Harry Potter related ramblings posted on this blog. If you’ve never read the books or watched the movies, I suggest you run to your local library and catch up with the rest of the world, because really, truly, honestly—-you are missing out.
The summer of 2007 was the Greatest Summer Ever if you were a Harry Potter fan. The fifth movie premiered in July and a week later the seventh and final book in the series (which I dramatically referred to as DH: THE END) was released. Fans around the world celebrated with midnight release parties, dressing up in costumes and listening to Wizard Rock. I celebrated the Great Summer of HP by making nerdy crafts and sharing them with my friends—-and now I want to share them with you. After all, just because we know THE END doesn’t mean the excitement & celebration has to end (we do have THREE more movies to look forward to)! So for the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing tutorials & ideas to show off your love of the great HP through simple crafts that anyone can make.
Back in 2007, I was a bit sad and disappointed when I heard the story line of Ron Weasley joining the Gryffindor quidditch team had been cut from the from Order of the Phoenix film. To show my support for Ron, I made a handful of “Weasley is our King” badges that I forced my group of friends to wear to the midnight release. Happily, Ron & quidditch seem to have made it into the soon to be released Half-Blood Prince movie, so to kick off my series of HP crafts we are first going to make “Weasley is our King” badges/pins, because Ron can use all the support he can get.
First, download the PDF with my very low-tech badge pattern & instructions. All of the supplies can easily be found at your local craft store.
I think the pictures are pretty self-explanatory, but I’m going to quickly explain anyway! Cut out the crown pattern and trace it directly on the foam. I think I got 10-12 crowns out of one sheet of foam. Cut out all your crowns and use a small dab of glue to attach the rhinestones/sequins, I like to use one color to represent each house from Hogwarts. You could also just use glitter or any other sparkly doo-dads you have lying around the house. You could even make one using all pink & gold in the spirit of Lavender Brown, hahaha!
Use a fine Sharpie pen to write out “WEASLEY IS OUR KING”. I say a Sharpie because when I tried using a regular felt tip marker or gel pen the ink bled all over the foam and it looked terrible. So stick with a Sharpie or a similar permanent marker (when in doubt, test it out on a scrap of foam). You could make the font as fancy as you like—but I was sick when I made this and felt that my messy scrawl would do for the purpose of this tutorial.
To make the “KING” pop, go over it with a red glitter pen. White glue and red glitter works—but I find I can get a cleaner look with the fine tip of a glitter glue/paint pen. Once the front has dried, flip the badge over and glue your pin back on. Make sure you let it dry completely before handling.
Ta-da! Now wear your badge with pride to the midnight show Half-Blood Prince! Bring along extras to pass out to other fans who wish they were cool enough to make a badge like yours. Spread the nerdy love—it’s the HP way.
Wishing I was at Hogwarts,
AMAZING!!!!!
Hey! A fellow ravenclaw
I’m trying to convince my boyfriend (who hasn’t read any of the books and has seen some of the movies when my sisters make him watch) to take me to the drive-in theatre to see it!