A Harry Potter Halloween II: Wizarding Biscuits

A few months ago I found a neat thing on Pinterest (link further down), and thought it might work well for biscuits. I then thought of another thing that would look nice, and so I made biscuits in two varieties for the party:

- owls, because they are very important in the wizarding world, not least so as messengers

- green-and-purple ones, as these colours are supposed to be symbolic of the two sides of magic, and is often combined in clothing to show who you are when out in the Muggle world.

I used the same dough for both biscuits. It’s a common Swedish recipe, but I’m sure many other recipes would work just as well, or better, for this.

Ingredients:

About 300 grams plain flour

100 grams caster sugar

200 grams butter

1 egg 

Instructions:

- Mix the flour and sugar – don’t put all the flour in at once, it’s tricky to know exactly how much you’ll actually need!

- Cut the butter into pieces, add to the flour mix.

- Add the egg and work into a dough.

- Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.

- Make the biscuits.

- Bake in the middle of the oven at 175-200C for 8-10 minutes.

For the owls I took inspiration from this, but used something more food appropriate than a pen for the feathers on the tummy, used a pastry brush dipped in cinnamon to decorate the wings, and chocolate for the eyes. I chilled them well before putting them in the oven, to prevent them melting too much, but I still think I need to find a better dough for them in future, or put a bit more flour in them.

For the green-and-purple ones I just put a bit of green food colouring in the dough. When properly mixed, I rolled the dough into a log. I turned this in sugar I’d coloured purple the day before. I put the sugar coated log in the fridge to chill a bit, before cutting it into biscuits.

And that's it: yummy biscuits with a wizarding twist – they were very popular with the kids.

A Harry Potter Halloween II: Pumpkin Juice

Halloween is over and I can now start blogging about it properly.

Pumpkin juice is mentioned loads of times in the books, and I always wondered whether it would actually taste good – pumpkin and squash on their own doesn’t really taste all that nice, I think. As always internet is very helpful, and I found loads of recipes inspired by the pumpkin juice sold at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. I looked at a few of them, considered what we like (and don’t like) in our family, what we had in the cupboards, and tweaked the recipes accordingly. 

The pumpkin juice was by far the most popular refreshment I made for the party, and vanished quickly. I got requests for the recipe, so here it is.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

1 large pear, or two smaller ones

2 decilitres apple juice concentrate

1 litre water

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

A dash of vanilla sugar

Instructions:

- Split the squash in half, and let it roast in the oven at about 175C until soft - about 40-60 minutes.

- Remove the skin from the squash and pears, then put the fruits in a blender, together with the apple juice concentrate. A hand blender also works – if you use one, you can at this stage put everything in the pot you will later use for cooking it, saving on dishes. Mix to a purée.

- Stir in the spices and add the water.

- Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for a while – I let it simmer for 45 minutes, but I’ve seen them doing it for about half that time in other recipes.

- Strain the juice from the surplus pulp. The pulp can be used when baking bread, so no waste here.

- Serve hot or chilled – both are delicious. If too strong for your taste, dilute with a bit of water.

As it turned out, I liked this a lot better than I thought I would. It's slightly spicy, and neither the apple, pear or squash dominate too much. I'm sure to make it again!

Lace-on Sleeves for the Cinderella Dress

One of my all-time favourite dresses (that's not historical or some kind of costume) is the olive green “Cinderella dress” I made a couple of years ago. I love to wear it with delicate blouses in the summer, but adding sweaters in the autumn takes away from the look I think. 

I decided to add detachable sleeves, and thus extend the season for it a bit. I asked for advice as to how best to go about it, and the lovely Alessandra told me of her experience with something I was leaning towards, and ended up doing.

 

I did have a bit more of the dress fabric left, but not enough to make full length sleeves without piecing. I decided to make short puffs at the top, and the lower sleeves are cut on the bias. The puffed part of the sleeves have a slightly shorter, fitted lining, attached to the lower sleeve, which makes sure the puffs are keeping their shape nicely.

I put piping at the sleeve head, the seam between upper and lower sleeve, and at the wrist, matching those on the dress bodice.

The sleeves are attached by lacing strips around the armscye and sleeve head. I stitched down the strips on both sides, but left openings every three centimetres, with those of the sleeves staggered from those in the armscye. I braided a cord from cotton yarn, and that was it – works a charm.

For now I use laces in a shade close to that of the dress, but for variety I could use different colours and materials. How tightly I lace can also be varied, from being so tight the sleeves look stitched on, to a wide gap between bodice and sleeve.

 I think this dress will need more upgrades to be perfect: it’s a bit tight across the bust - breastfeeding can have that effect - so I’m thinking of opening up the front seem and adding lacing there too, with a modesty panel from the dress fabric behind it….

A Harry Potter Halloween Party II: Wands

The Harry Potter Halloween party we hosted last year was so fun that I plan to make it an annual thing. I’ve been working on the preparations since the summer in the hope that by adding a little each year, sometime in the future I’ll be able to transform our whole home into that of a common wizarding family in the Harry Potter universe. Here is the first post on what I’ve made this year.
 
As wands are such basic things for witches and wizards, I wanted hubby and me to have one each, though it’s unlikely we’ll be carrying them with us very much at the party. I tried the hot-glue-on-a-stick method, but didn’t like it much. I wanted neater wands, made from real wood.

 I got wooden dowels (10 millimetre diameter) from the local craft store, and as they were too short to make nice wands on their own, I searched my stash of craft supplies for the other things I needed. I found wooden beads and other turned wood shapes – if anyone have a good name for them, please share. I meant to assemble these different elements with a combination of screws and glue.

First I played around with the materials a bit, deciding how I wanted our wands to look. I didn’t want them to look identical, but a as I had a limited choice of materials, I had to work with what I had. I decided that the wand with the larger handle would be hubby's, as he has larger hands than me. I also chose wooden beads of different colours, as I thought that could be a nice touch.

 

After I had decided on the basic design, I whittled patterns on the dowels. They are similar, but not identical. As I’ve said before, I’m not very good with woodwork, but all in all, I’m happy with how these turned out. After the carving was done it was time for sanding. I used round objects of different diameters (knitting needles and a round building block borrowed from the kids) to wrap the sandpaper round, to help get a nice, even finish to the carved areas. I also sanded the dowels to taper towards the tip, and made mine a smidge thinner than hubby’s, for a more feminine look. Unfortunately I only remembered to take a picture of one of the dowels at this step.

 

I drilled holes in the “handle” ends, and drilled corresponding holes in the turned-wood-things.

With a screw I then attached the wooden bead and the turned-wood-thing to the dowel of what would become hubby’s wand, adding a bit of hot glue for strength. I would have preferred wood glue for this, but we didn’t have any. With hot glue I attached the other turned-wood-thing, and the first wand was assembled.

For mine, I screwed the turned wood thing to the dowel, again securing it with hot glue, and then added the bead and small peg with more hot glue.

After that I painted the wands with acrylic paint that I had diluted with water for more of a stained than painted effect. 

When they had dried I sealed them with two coats of a semi glossy varnish. Ta-da! 

 The different coloured beads worked out well, especially as I painted the wands in shades to compliment them.

 The finished wands are rather pretty, and comfortable to handle - a very important feature, I would think, for objects that are allegedly used countless times every day, and are always within reach of their owners. Hubby's wand is 12 5/8" long and mine is 11 3/4". What wood type and core they are supposed to be made from is still undetermined.

 Sometime I’ll need to make wand boxes for storage (or display – I plan a very nerdy curiosity cabinet with "souvenirs" from books and films I like), with the Ollivander label on them, of course.

Green Plaid Skirt

The blog has moved and this post can now be found HERE.

Fuchsia Dress Makeover

When I was expecting B, I bought a dress. I don’t often buy dresses, preferring to make my own, but once in a while it happens. It has been used a lot since, mostly during my two pregnancies, but on other occasions as well, as it’s very comfortable, and cool in summer. However, it had a few issues. For one it was too short. I don’t wear clothes shorter than below the knees, and, as even skirts of that length show off my stubby legs to disadvantage, I most often wear them a fair bit longer than that. When I’ve been heavily pregnant the dress became almost indecently short in front. As a result, it has always been worn over a longer skirt, like it is here.

 Aren't the mice adorable? I made them for Halloween last year, 

and liked them so much I just had to leave them out.

Second, the neckline was too low in front, especially when the bust increased a size of five during pregnancy and early nursing. I needed to wear it over a tank top so as not to fall out during those times. (Alas, the difficulty of being "well endowed"; the slightest décolletage will make you look like a wannabe exhibitionist, at least if you're wearing anything more supporting than a nursing bra.) Also, the elastic was too wide, making the neckline warp in a weird way where it curved.

 Third, the sleeves where a bit too short for my liking, for a similar reason as the overall length.

After thinking the dress needed a makeover for the past four years,bu never getting round to it, I finally decided it was time. I found a piece of fabric in my stash, a gift from a friend, which would work well. There was just enough of it to make the changes I wanted.

I unpicked the seams at neck and sleeves, and removed the elastic. I cut the neckline a bit lower at the back and sides, as that was high enough already, but left the front be, as I wanted that raised. In retrospect I could have cut away a bit more at the back and sides. I then stitched a strip of the new fabric to the edge, and inserted narrower elastic. I did the same for the sleeves, except that I did not cut them shorter.

For the skirt I just sewed a strip to the hem. I didn’t have enough material to make it curved like the skirt, so I had to very lightly pleat a straight strip. Not the neatest job I've ever made, but it does the trick. I can now wear the dress as it is, with only a light petticoat under it – the material is quite thin. 

 

 I wish the sleeves were a bit longer though – as it is I still prefer to wear a cardigan with it. 

Yet, all in all I’m pleased with how it turned out. I did all the sewing by machine, a very rare thing for me. As I did, for once, make a New Year’s resolution this year, to become friends with my sewing machine, it felt very nice. I have another dress like this one, in a greyish black, that also need a makeover. I must consider how I want to go about that, as I want a slightly different design than to this one.

A Nursing Friendly Nightgown

The blog has moved and this post can now be found HERE.