Harry Potter Finale!

As I'm sure you all could have guessed, Grant and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part II. And of course there was some preparation for the big event, including making my costume :)

I went as Luna Lovegood (my favorite character) and for my costume, I was determined not to spend any money. So for my costume I just wore jeans, my blue button-down shirt, Grant's blue striped tie, and my black v-neck cardigan. I printed off the Ravenclaw crest, cut it out, and pinned it to my cardigan to make it look like the school uniform.

I then made (with Grant's help of course) my wand! We actually ended up making 4 wands in total, because I couldn't decide which I wanted to use. I made the wands by first going outside and picking some sticks I thought would work well, and then making home-made modeling clay. Grant used a knife to help me take the bark off the sticks and smooth them out, and then I sanded them with some sand paper we've had for a while. Afterward I used the modeling clay to shape a handle that I liked, then baked the wand in the oven, then painted it after it cooled. It worked out pretty well! When Andrea came over and saw them, she thought I had bought them from a store :)

In addition to my wand, I also made a copy of The Quibbler that Luna Lovegood always carries around with her. I wanted to make the specific issue with the free Spectrespecs inside because it turns out that I have a pair to match :) I made The Quibbler by first printing this out, and then taping it to the cover of a small book I have, so that it looked like a real magazine.

I also made my own Hedwig carrying a letter. I got this idea from my sister Andrea, and I'm so glad I made it! It turned out perfect and I loved carrying it around with me! You'll see from the picture that I made Hedwig by drawing on a white balloon, and then scrolled up a page of newspaper and tied it with a ribbon. Pretty simple to make, and a great outcome!

And to top all of that off, I also brought with me the Harry Potter Usage Dictionary that I made two years ago, and my 20-Questions Golden Snitch. I was all Harry potter and I completely loved it!

I had a lot of fun making everything and had so much fun at the actual premier! We went with a group of 13 in total: Grant and I, Justin and Holly, Jamie and Nicole, Preston and Lindsay, Ben, Danny, Nikki, and two other girls that were friends of Ben. And because I got the tickets as soon as they came available online we had such great seats!! Right in the middle :)

 I re-read all the books each time a new book or movie comes out, and this time was no different. I finished the seventh book on Tuesday night, just in time for the movie on Thursday night. And even though the movie wasn't as good as the book (they never are), I still really enjoyed it! I always have certain issues with the movies, since they don't include everything in the books, and a lot of the time they actually change things. And this movie was the same -- they left a ton of stuff out, and jumped to the end so quickly, but I still think it was really well done and I'll admit I even cried during it (and not just a little bit either). I'm really sad it's over and there will be no more premiers to go to, but I'll always have the books. I've honestly read all the books probably 30 times, and yet every time I read them, I always pick up something new and I just absolutely love them! Nothing has ever captivated me like the Harry Potter series and I won't soon be forgetting them!