magic — Witchcrafts — Half Blood Princesses

The Doctor said it. We agree. Whether you're looking for an easy, cheap, DIY party favor or an adorable addition to your wardrobe, look no further! These felt bow ties can be made faster than you can say Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

What you need:

Felt

Hot glue gun

Glue sticks

Scissors

Barrettes and/or clips and/or headbands

Leftover Halloween candy

What to do:

If you're doing two-color bow ties like we did, you'll have the larger piece in one color, the smaller piece in the second color, and then the middle wrap-around-thingy piece in the same color as the larger piece.

As for the size of the pieces:

For the larger piece (maroon in our example), we cut a piece of felt into two hot dogs, then cut each of those hot dogs into 4 hamburgers.

For the smaller piece (blue in our example), we cut a piece of felt into three hot dogs, then cut each of those hot dogs into 4 hamburgers.

For the middle wrap-around-thingy, we took one of the maroon hamburgers and cut it into three tiny hot dogs.

Now to make your bow tie feast, put a blue hamburger on top of a maroon hamburger, and scrunch in the middle like a baby accordion. Take your maroon hot dog and wrap it around the middle, making sure that the end winds up on the back. Use hot glue to secure.

While glue is drying, eat some Halloween candy. It'll keep you from touching the glue too soon to check if it's dry and burning your hand.

Now decide which type of accessory you want! If you want it as a clip-on bow-tie, hot glue a clip to the back.

If you want it for your hair, hot glue the bow tie to a barrette or head band.

While glue is drying, eat some more Halloween candy.

You ate too much Halloween candy. Put the candy away.

For today's example, we used the Ilvermorny colors to have cute accessories for the Fantastic Beasts premiere next week! Also shown below are Hogwarts House-colored bow ties we made for a Harry Potter party we threw last year. A cute way to sort your guests into "Houses" is to have them draw their bow tie.

And voila! With your new bow ties, you'll look as cool as the Doctor and as wise as a wizard. Win win win.

Whether you're throwing a child's birthday party, an adult's birthday party, or just having a typical night in, you're going to need some wands. Rather than being born into a life of witchcraft and wizardry, traveling to England, finding someone that knows the entrance to Diagon Alley, making your way to Ollivander's, and having the wand choose you, take matters into your own hands and just make one.

What you'll need:

Chopsticks

Chinese food

Hot glue gun

Glue sticks for said hot glue gun

Acrylic paint

Paintbrushes

What to do:

Once your hot glue gun has had time to heat up, take one of your chopsticks and start squeezing the hot glue around the end of it. We recommend spinning the chopstick slowly as you squeeze out the glue as it will keep the glue from dripping.

You can encircle the last few inches of the chopstick if you want a wand with a handle, or you can do any number of designs with the glue along the chopstick should you feel so inspired.

Once the glue starts to cool a bit, it becomes semi-malleable so you can work with its shape to your liking. After the glue has fully dried (which doesn't take more than a minute or two), you are ready to paint!

Use browns and maroons with some gold accents if you want something more earthy. Use pinks and purples and glitters if you're a princess witch. Wait for a full moon if you're patient and think it might help. While you wait for the paint to dry, use your leftover chopsticks to eat some lo mein and ponder the ways in which you might incorporate your wand into your everyday life (hint: there are literally a million ways).

Once the paint has dried, make some magic duh.