How to Patch Jeans

Patching Jeans is easy. You don't have to have any great sewing skills either.

My two little boys & somehow my husband all get holes in their jeans. These jeans got this hole in less than three days!  I wasn't thrilled. And they are even nice thick quality.

So instead of constantly buying more jeans, I patch them up. 

It is fast... about five minutes and easy.

To patch jeans you need a scrap of Jean material large enough to cover the hole AND the "weak" area around the hole.


Also, thread to match the jeans you are stitching on. (my thread looks white in these pictures, but it is a matching denim color)


Cut the appropriate size of jean scrap & place it underneath the hole, on the inside of the jeans.


Pin to secure.
(If jeans are stretchy, pin extra well.)


Using sewing machine. Sew forward and backwards (reverse) over and over until all areas of the hole are covered.


Your stitching should cover more than just the hole.  Stitch past it on all sides, because the area around the hole is weak and prone to ripping.


As you can see the stitching is far from perfect, but it really doesn't matter.
When I looked at my name brand jeans that come with "patched holes" their stitching is also imperfect.


*These jeans were little boy super skinny jeans,
so fitting it into the sewing machine was a HUGE struggle.
I had to scrunch it really tight, so you can see a better example of proper stitching on the bottom jeans pictured.  I had a little more room to work with those than the first.



So in the future try patching your jeans.  It saves money...and the lifespan of the jeans.
With little boys, it has saved me so much.  And the patches last as I pass the jeans down.

Harry Potter Daily Prophet & Quibbler Tutorial

So a few more details from the Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party.

I was trying to make the whole house feel like part of the Wizarding World.

So, having plenty of Daily Prophet newspapers and Quibbler magazines around seemed appropriate.

I also pinned them up all over the walls, layered them under books and as floor coverings under the owl cages, etc. 

I first thought I would have to make them from scratch myself, so I perused the internet for images of them as inspiration and ideas to duplicate.  But then I found these ideas from, Grace's Scrap Attic...I mentioned her in my first Harry Potter Party Post, found: Here. 

So, to make them I just found several images off the internet and blew them up, printed them off, trimmed and glued them together...it was really quite quick and simple.

The Daily Prophet printables can be found: Here

The Quibbler printables can be found: Here

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, and tutorials look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Flying Key Tutorial

For our Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party I thought it would be fun to bring in some extra details from the different books to help create the mood and atmosphere of the party. 

And flying keys were a simple addition.

Some old keys, then the Wings Print Out,

a little glue, tape and string.

And they even spun as they hung, so it was great.

Here is the printable: Harry Potter Flying Key Page

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Banner Tutorial

These banners were one of my favorite decorations of the entire Harry Potter Party.

Luckily they were pretty simple to make too.

I have explained the sewing steps and needed materials below, but

before you begin you need to make the House Applique and House Name Applique.

For mine, I found some images on the internet I liked from Nicholas Hyde found here.

They made some pretty cool Harry Potter Banners, but they weren't quite the style I was going for, but they were part of the inspiration.  So I blew the images up and cut out the animals. The printable link is below.  

Then for the House Name, I hired my neighbor, who has an embroidery business and at excellent cost, so I just went through him.  But, had he not been around, I was going use Iron On letter.  So be creative.

Harry Potter House Mascot Pattern Printables found: HERE.

(it doesn't show a preview image, but they are just black and white images. 2 pages per animal, so it will print 8 pages)

Then for the banners, they were the easiest part of the whole process, here are the steps:

(you can click on the image and save it to your computer to print out)

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Wand Tutorial

You can't be a Wizard without a wand.

So, for our Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party I made a bunch of wands for out Olivander's Wand Shop. This way, the guests could get a wand if they didn't come with their own.

But I was more than impressed with all the wand people brought.  Some were authentic to match their character, others were just cool hand made ones, and we also found "originals" you could buy online, for most every character.

Either way I decided to have some wands.  Most are just generic, not fit for exact characters, but they were still so much fun. I got my inspiration from these two websites:

 http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-awesome-Harry-Potter-wand-from-a-sheet-of-/

and

http://canwehaveanewwitchoursmelted.blogspot.ca/2012/06/harry-potter-wands-for-kids-easy-peezy.html

But in the end, I used what I had on hand...again keeping the price of this party down, since it was getting extravagant and everything adds up.

So I used Chopsticks, paper, foil, pipe cleaners, beads, string, tape, etc.

Plus a whole bunch of hot glue!  Then I just painted them up and let them dry.

There was very little rhyme or reason, I just did whatever looked fun as I worked.

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Broom Tutorial

So, I personally loved these!  And I was so excited to make them, because even after our Harry Potter Mystery Dinner, I will still use them in the future for Halloween Witch Broom decorations, or for a witch costume, etc.  One of the few decorations from our party I will get to use more than once.

This was also a simple project, and very inexpensive.

In fact, the hardest part was finding a long stick for the broom stick.  I ended up using some old Tiki Torches I bought this summer at the Dollar Store.

But otherwise, it was a little wrapping/tape job, painting, and gluing.  The longest part was waiting for the paint on the sticks to dry.

You can paint these with spray paint or craft paint, I used both.

Also, for the twigs, I just got them from my sister's tree, but any will do.

Instructions for making witch/wizard brooms:

For more Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party details and printables check: HERE.

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Wood Signs Tutorial

Some of the "extra" decorations that added to our Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party, were the Wooden Signs.  For me it was all of these little extra details that added the most.

Luckily these were another inexpensive project.

I had the wood, paint, and tools on hand.

I got the wood for free before on Craigslist, so I would bet you could find some free too.

But if not, or if your wood isn't old, I added some links for aging the wood below.

I just "eyed" this project, cutting my wood based on the sizes I had on hand.

I also, just free hand painted the words, but you can print it off, and trace it onto the wood to make it easier.  Or I have a some links below for some added tips and ideas. Both would probably look way better, I was just in a big hurry so I didn't bother.

How to Age Wood Link:

http://sugarbabyboutique.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-weather-age-wood.html?m=1

Painting on Wood Links:

how to trace and paint on wood- http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.com/2011/07/f-is-for-food.html

how to transfer printed letters onto wood- http://www.domestically-speaking.com/category/how-to

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4 Tutorial

For our Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party, we had to have a Platform 9 3/4...so after a little thinking this was the easiest idea I could come up with.

This was a really simple project and very inexpensive project.

I went to the dollar store and bought a black plastic table cloth,

a set of sponges, and some dollar paint at Walmart.  (Country Barn Red, Craft Paint)

The whole process took me about 45 min, but I was watching a movie as I worked.

So it definitely slowed me down, but I would say it should still take about half an hour, unless you can get someone to help sponge at the same time.

Here are the Instructions:

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, tutorials and the Murder Mystery Dinner Script look: here

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party

After the fun and success of our previous Harry Potter Party found here, we recently hosted a Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party. I searched all over for a Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Game to purchase and hardly found any choices and the two I did find weren't great.  One included some rather mature topics I felt inappropriate to use and the other didn't make much sense.  So I ended up writing my own, but it is written for guests who have read or watched Harry Potter.  I will post it soon. Here are the details of the night:

 It was a blast, the guests we invited got so into their characters that it made the whole thing a tons of fun.

**Updated 08/19: Sorry for the delayed reply.  It has been a long time since managing this blog and I am sorry many of the links for the HP party are not working.  Follow this link to a google drive folder with all of the files. I'll have to update all the posts, but in the meantime use the link below. Enjoy and have a fun party!**

**Click here for LINK to ALL MURDER MYSTERY FILES on google drive**

First we sent out Owl Invitations:

I adapted my old Harry Potter Party invitations found here and reworded the inside.  Then I attached them to some balloons with printed out some owls.  (Check back for: Printable invites and owls for invitations)

Then once they returned their RSVP, we sent letters explaining the Details, the Character they were to be, Polyjuice Potion,  a Hogwarts Express Train Ticket, etc. (Printable Mystery Dinner Character Invites, inserts and Polyjuice Potion DIY found: here)

Then we did a ton of decorating for the final night.

I will soon post all of the tutorials for the different parts I made and downloads for the printables I used and made. It is just taking me a little while to compile everything.  But check back soon, I will continually be updating.

And I will also include all of the downloads for the Harry Potter Mystery Dinner. (Including the parts, the evidence, etc.)

So now for the Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Party

First we started outside.  

On the driveway with a chalk outline of the victim, signs for directions, headstones, cobwebs, glowing stairs, silhouettes of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade in the windows, and a Portkey (doorbell).

(I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy)

 (I couldn't get a good picture of the silhouettes, due to my flash...and the front steps were glowing with dripping green mixture, but they weren't done until just before the guests arrived, but here and here where I got the ideas.)

Then, main floor of my house was transformed into Hogsmeade. 

It was filled with random Harry Potter Themed Decor.  Tons of books, cobwebs, Quibbler Magazines, Daily Prophet Papers, Broom Parking & Brooms, Birdcages, Moving Portriates, Old Wooden Signs and other Creepy Decor (thanks to halloween).

It included The Three Broomsticks:

Here we served Drinks and Butterbeer and appetizers.

(Each guest brought an appetizer, to make my job a bit simplier...but I took pictures before they arrived) The appetizers shown below are only the few I made for the party along with the Butterbeer. The recipes came from my previous Harry Potter Party all can be found: here

Zonko's Joke Shop:

Here we had Sticky Eyes, Extendable Ears, Candy Lips/Teeth/Mustaches, Gummy Stretch Fingers, Sticky Spiders & more. (I will update with how to DIY all of these but here are the Printable Labels)

Olivander's Wand Shop:

Now, I know Olivander's is actually located in Diagon Alley, but we added it.

Tutorial found: here.

Honeydukes's Sweets Shop:

This was a fun shop.  Since we had our party right by Halloween, there was a ton of fun candies available. I did make Cockroach Clusters and Chocolate Frogs as seen in this post. I also was excited to find this Printable Box with Dumbledore Trading Card.  And here is a link to the Labels.

Madame Puddifoot's:

We had all kinds of drinks served here and mixtures to make your own potion/drinks.

I found tons of fun Potion Printables and made some fun concoctions that I will post about soon.

All around Hogsmeade I posted Daily Prophets, Posters, Wanted Posters, Etc

As well as Lots of Cobwebs, Spiders, Skeletons, Books, Candles, Etc.

The bathroom was one of my favorite parts of the house.  It had spiders crawling towards the faucet with a sign "Follow the Spiders", under the toilet seat I made a sign, "Ministry of Magic this way" pointing down, and best of all...we played clips of Moaning Murtle, so that way as guests used the restroom they got to hear her talking to them.  I loved all the fun little details.

Also, here are more Wood Signs and the picture of the Portkey Label.

Then for the Guests:

We had the pleasure of serving Draco Malfoy, Gilderoy Lockhart, Ron Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, Luna Lovegood, Mrs. Weasley, Filch, Dolores Umbridge, Rita Skeeter, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Professor Snape, Ginny Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Professor McGonagall (not pictured) and a very short appearance of 2 house elves. 

The costumes and little details everyone came with amazed me! And it made the party a success.

Then after everyone arrived and visited in Hogsmeade we headed to the train station.

First everyone collected their Interdepartmental Memos from the ceiling fan.

And proceeded to Platform 9 3/4.

Here are a few, more pictures of decorations.  The flying keys, extendable ears over the stairs, Floo powder over the fireplace and the Brick wall of Platform 9 3/4.

(Printables and Tutorials found in text links & at bottom of post)

After taking the Hogwarts Express down to the basement...we entered 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Having a large unfinished basement came in very handy.

Most of the walls were cement, but anywhere that had framing, we attached cardboard and painted to be the stone walls of the castle.

Then the first room included, Dumbledore's Pensive (the silver bowl on the round table, but in the picture it didn't have the dry ice going), The Mirror of Erised, Potions class, Divinations Class, Trunks and Books, etc.

After Traveling down the Hallway, we entered the Great Hall, where we had our feast for the Mystery Dinner.

 

The each guest was given an assigned seat for their character.

Water glasses had worm filled ice cubes. And the tables were covered in books, skulls, birds, fruit, candles, gourds, etc.  You can just hardly see the "fireplace" in the background.  It was a Large television, surrounded by curtains, with a Fire DVD playing.

The room was filled with Fog, which you can see in these cloudy pictures.  The windows had curtains made from plastic table cloths, the Enchanted Ceiling was made of tulle and twinkle lights, And House Banners floated in the back. 

The walls held House posters, Sconces with Candles, and Room Labels. And we had a small table with Lanterns, the Marauders Map, & the Elixir of Life (so guests could easily refill their glasses)

For Dinner we served 4 courses, not including the Drinks and Appetizers up in Hogsmeade.

Menu:

Course 1: Caesar Salad, in a Lace Parmesan Cheese Bowl, with a Balsamic Vinaigrette Reduction making a lightning bolt on each plate. You can see the plates a few pictures above, before the salad was added to the Parmesan Bowls.

Course 2: Palate Cleanser, Sorbet with Sugared Lemon Slices

Course 3: Entre, Fettuccine Alfredo with Butternut Squash & Rolls

Course 4: Dessert,  Apple pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Treacle Pie (berry pie) served with Ice Cream

And here are the floating House Banners!

These were one of my favorite decorations and the tutorial is linked at the bottom. 

Other fun Decor included The Sorting Hat (Tutorial found: here)

Trunks, School Books, & Owl Cages.

In the Hallway, Professor Sprout's Herbology Class was passed, an Educational Decree, and more books, Trunks, and Cauldrons. (Printables for the class, the wall posters, the trunk labels, etc. found: in text links and below.)

Here is a close up of the Divination Class.

Glass ball, Tea cup, Taro Cards, etc

(Printables and directions found: here and in text links and below)

Potions Class:

Cauldrons, Potions, Ingredients, Potion Books & Directions, etc.

(Printables and Tutorials found in text links and at the bottom of post)

Here are a few of extra wall decor and printables shown up close:
(Hogwarts banners, Maraurder's Map, Butter beer labels, and more printables found: here)

And finally, here is a sneak peek at the Mystery Dinner Scripts, Evidence, Etc.

The Printable Harry Potter Mystery Dinner posted below.

 

So after lots of writing, planning and decorating...the night went off well and was so much fun.  It was a ton of work, so I figured I would share it and hopefully make it less work on some of you.

 I will get everything updated on here and hopefully someone else out there will enjoy hosting a party and can use some of the things I share. 

Throughout the blog you can find all of the tutorials and printables for this party,

but here is one long list of all the links below.

Harry Potter Invitations & Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Script & Printables found: here

Harry Potter Hogsmeade Printables found: here

Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Printables and Labels: here

Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery Dinner Printables found: here

Harry Potter Quibbler and Daily Prophet Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter School Trunk Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Divinations Printables found: here

Harry Potter Hogwarts Sorting Hat Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Flying Keys Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter House Banner Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Wand Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Broom Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Wood Sign Tutorial found: here

Harry Potter Platform 9 3/4 Tutorial found: here

Tons of Hogwarts Printables and Recipes, Etc found: here

More tutorial still coming! So keep checking back.

And for the original Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here

Linked to these Parties: Here

Come check them out and share what you post!