Harry Potter Forever

HarryPotter.com

Today is the release date of the FINAL Harry Potter movie. I've grown up with these films and books, so it's definitely bittersweet to see it all over.

Last fall, my family and I went to a craft fair at L.L. Bean and at one of the tables I spotted hand-made Harry Potter wands. Although I did want to buy one, I thought I would give Ollivander a run for his money (even though I have virtually no woodworking experience).

Materials: a stick (from outside), saw, scraper, sand paper, steel wool (for woodworking), electric sander, and wood stain

I found a perfect stick outside and then cut it off to the appropriate length (I did a little bit of research) and then I scraped off most of the bark. (Inspired by Harry's wand, I decided to leave the bark on the handle.)

After I determined that it would take me forever to sand it down as far as I wanted by hand, I got out the electric sander (which you can see a little of in this photo).

Then, I used the sand paper and steel wool to make it nice and smooth!


To finish it off, I stained it. And, here's the final product:

Any other Harry Potter fans out there? What are you favorite Harry Potter memories from over the years?

Happy Fourth of July!

After seeing Martha Stewart make delightful fireworks cookies on the Today Show, we were inspired to try it ourselves along with some of our own patriotic designs (the stars). Also, we took this opportunity to test-drive our new mini cookie cutters (we used the star shape here). They were a big hit!

THE STARS:

 

THE FIREWORKS:

BIG FIREWORKS: Flood the cookie with just a layer of white royal icing. Then, using 2 squeeze bottles (one with blue, one with red), make about 3 circles over the white icing while it is still wet (alternating colors). Then, take a tooth pick and lightly pull out from the center (do that at least 4 times). 

LITTLE FIREWORKS: Again, flood the cookie with white icing and then just make a dot (or filled in circle) of color on top while it's still wet. Use a tooth pick to pull out from the center making a firework design.

Happy Birthday, America!

For additional posts about our sugar cookies see:
Hoppy Easter!
Cookies Inspired by Barbie!
Purple, Purple, Purple
Sugar Cookie Recipe
Holiday Baking