MAGICAL REAL LIFE
Sophie Brown, 37, threw a Wizarding World birthday party for her little boy –no muggles allowed!
Walking around the park, I stopped to pick up a stick – examining it closely, I added it to my bag.
This one will make the perfect Elder wand, Ithought to myself happily.
It must have looked abit crazy –a grown woman wandering around the park collecting twigs. But it was all for a very magical reason.
My son Lachy’s eighth birthday was coming up –and Iwas throwing him a magical Harry Potter themed extravaganza of aparty.
Although truthfully, as Ispent painstaking hours whittling wands, crafting a Hogwarts Express sign, arranging a gallery wall and planning abuffet banquet fit for Dumbledore himself, I wondered if it was more for him or for me!
Taking my stick collection back to our home in Melbourne, Australia, I got straight to work.
Stripping back the bark, I sanded and stained all 18 wands into their own unique shapes and colours, and then sculpted and moulded them with expoxy clay.
Adding marbles to top, I stained and painted the clay, finishing with aglossy seal.
Assessing my handiwork, I felt so proud –they looked just like the real thing from Ollivander’s store!
And speaking of Ollivander, Iplanned to recreate his iconic wand shop from Diagon Alley.
Finding an old cabinet from Facebook Marketplace, it was in apretty bad way.
I’m up for the challenge, I thought to myself, rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck in.
And by the time it was done, with all the wands placed inside, it looked really incredible.
Growing up, I’d always been ahuge fan of Harry Potter –and Iwas thrilled I’d passed that love onto Lachy, too.
In fact, my husband Cam, 37, would probably have said my love actually bordered on a bit of an obsession!
Idid realise Iwas getting a little insufferable.
But Iwas just so pleased that Lachy was finally at an age where he could enjoy
Harry Potter as much as me. Re-reading my favourite chapters with him at bedtime, he was hooked. ‘If Iwas Harry, I’d keep the Elder wand,’ he declared.
My youngest Teddy, five, was still abit too little –but he loved wand battles with his big brother!
But the Wizarding World and all the childhood wonder that it brings, aworld full of possibilities and excitement, is truly magical.
The magic is real for kids, and childhood is such ashort time –I really wanted to capture that for Lachy. And of course, live vicariously through him, too! Ron Weasley has always been my favourite character – I love his dry sense of humour and he’s abit of adork, which I really appreciate.
But although he’s a Gryffindor,
