Expelliarmus! Alohomora! Petrificus Totalus! Accio Chocolate!
Halloween around our house has become something very magical… Quidditch, Diagon Alley, Platform 9 3/4, floating candles, wizards and absolutely NO MUGGLES allowed.
For anyone who’s read the Harry Potter books, you know exactly what we’re talking about. For the past four years, we’ve spent the entire month of October transforming our home and yard into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For two very magical nights, we invite friends and neighbors to join us for quidditch matches, Honeydukes sweets, wizarding wars and of course, our homemade brews of butterbeer and pumpkin juice.
The costumes are epic and mandatory. People have been known to start working on them in July, and there are always prizes for the best-dressed witches and wizards! (Here we are as Scabbers the rat and Rowena Ravenclaw’s ghost).
For this Halloween post, we thought it would be fun to give you a little tour of our “homemade” Hogwarts. If you get bored of looking at photos, (you’re a party pooper), just scroll to the bottom for our Pumpkin Juice recipe. Yum.
Of course, you have to enter through Platform 9 3/4…
The thestral will be guarding the front door to Hogwarts, and Dolores Umbridge (a.k.a. Grandma Beautiful) will greet you once inside.
Pick your wand at Ollivanders, grab some favors from Wizard Wheezes and head into the Great Hall for treats…
Be careful what you find in Knockturn Alley…
Sirius Black will be waiting for you in the Gryffindor Common Room, and if you’re brave enough to enter the Chamber of Secrets, you may find Moaning Myrtle howling her song while you try to use the loo.
Toward the end of the evening, the dark mark appears, and the wizarding duels begin.
And if you love geeking out on Harry Potter like we do, you may want to check out this video recap Sarah’s husband put together from our fun night…
Whatever YOUR party plan is for the holiday, Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice will please absolutely everybody! Pumpkin, apple and mango are surprisingly a pretty awesome combo, hot or cold, and, with just five minutes of prep, you can be ready to serve every one of your thirsty goblins and ghosts.
And so, to quote Albus Dumbledore, ‘”Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” HaPpY HaLLOwEeN!!! We hope you have a safe, fun and very magical night.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon apple cider
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 32 oz. peach or mango nectar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cloves, ginger and nutmeg
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to large beverage container. Stir to combine.
- Can be served cold or hot!
15 Comments
UMM I can’t even contain my excitement for this. Thanks for sharing
Aundrea, glad you liked it! Hope you have a great Halloween!
I love all of the details of this party! You really put your all into it! I can’t wait to try the pumpkin juice!
Thanks, Ari! Hope you love the pumpkin juice. Happy Halloween!
How can anyone ever get bored of looking at your photos?!? I love them!!! This juice looks so yummy and I love the combo of mango and pumpkin. Mmmm gotta try it out myself =]
Danielle | FollowMyGut.com <3
Danielle, thank you so much! Hope you love the pumpkin juice!
Wow this is absolutely spectacular! This looks like just the type of Halloween Party I would love to go to!
You guys go all out! So cool. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Leanne, we hope you love it! Happy halloween!
The pumpkin juice is fun but I seriously cannot get over all the Harry Potter decorations! Holy moly, I am so impressed. Absolutely gorgeous and so many details!!!
Valentina, we are a bit crazy this time of year! But it’s a fun project, and we actually do it as a fundraiser for needy families. That helps us justify the craziness:) Hope you try the pumpkin juice! It’s a fun twist on cider or wassail.
This looks amazing! I, uh, haven’t read any of the HP books… But they’re on my list of books to read once I get through the Game of Thrones series!
Emma, I’m glad it’s on your list, because it’s truly a life-changing book series haha. Let us know how you like the books once you read them!!
What did you use for the wizard duels? I could not figure it out by watching the video.
Roman candles! Sooo not safe (eek) but it does provide a good show haha.