What if I told you it was possible to have a Harry Potter Party that was sustainable?

You might reply (with wand out) “Ridiculus”.

Well we did it! For our daughter’s 11^th birthday party.

First of all we grabbed some cardboard from an old box and non-toxic paint and got to work on Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express.

We ordered in some cotton fabric for Platform 9 and ¾, Hogwart’s Great Hall and the Enchanted Indoor Sky above the dinner tables, complete with floating candles.

We ordered printables for the Chocolate Frog Cards, used hot glue to give chopsticks a new wand feel and then there was all the organic baking – cauldron cakes, caramels, a unicorn birthday cake, pumpkin and vegetable soup, pumpkin pastries, pumpkin juice (with soda water and nectarine, pear and mango juice), chocolate frogs, the joke jelly beans and fruit kababs to complete the feast.

We hired and borrowed costumes for Dumbledore, Mrs Weasley, Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. We planted seeds with our Mother as Professor Sprout, borrowed a sorting hat from a friend and made bunting from old Harry Potter-themed pyjama pants.

We greeted our daughter on the morning of her birthday with an owl carrying her Hogwart’s acceptance letter.

And we had a Harry Potter quiz.

It was tremendously successful and the party was a hit!

All the invitees dressed as Hogwart’s Students, except for the girl who came as a Unicorn, and they left with big smiles and a bag full of homemade goodies.

It will take a spell like “Obliviate” to erase these happy memories.