Whew! Wasn't that a party!!!
Like many other libraries, we held a release party this past Saturday for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Lisa Collins, one of references librarians, and I teamed up (with a lot - a LOT - of help from other staff members) months ago and started, basically, geeking out. As it turns out, neither one of us is really a "no" person, so when one of us would come up with a semi-outrageous idea, instead of the other person saying that might be a bit much, she would add something to make it even more outrageous. So. We start with the
Decorations and Photo Ops
There were a few things we had to sadly cross off the list because we simply ran out of time. Platform 9 3/4. A rock in the garden saying, "Here lies Dobby, a free elf." Next time?
This wall had held the summer reading t-shirts until the day before, and now it was huge and blank, so i quickly covered it with proclamations:
Pinterest idea:
The stage area, which was later used for the costume contest, but throughout the day was a great picture-taking spot:
I just threw some things over the TV to cover it, since I didn't have anywhere else to put it, but I saw several people take pictures of it, too!
The trees were from our Grimm's Fairy Tales Halloween, and Rashal made the owls that were flying everywhere.
Add a few miscellaneous bottles from my kitchen,, with labels from this awesome web site
Floating candles from the Dollar Tree and winged keys made by Lisa, all hung by Missy
A joint project by Cathy and Lisa, on the other side the willow is grabbing papers from the copier.
It tried to snatch a couple cute kids, too!
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The reference area was the Burrow, complete with a Mrs. Weasley (who was out running the Quidditch matches when I took this)
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| Is that clock not incredible? Great job, Lisa! |
Lisa also created the Mirror of Erised - this photo doesn't show how wonderfully 3D the designs are:
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But it looks even better in black and white!
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It even looks good upside down.
Amanda got to know the new copier quite well, making figures that were hidden in all corners of the library:
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| This one may or may not now be hanging in someone's desk area. |
Last but not least, the Moving Paintings:
where you could poke your head through and chat with the other paintings,
or with the non-paintings,
Or just look all cool and serious-like:
These were very popular, and pretty easy to make! Some quick instructions for anyone interested:
1. I started with some old sign boards, but basically you need a sheet of plywood on a 2x4 frame.
2. Find a couple large frames (yard sale!) and cut holes the same size.
3. Cover the boards with wallpaper (or, in this case, contact paper that looks like wallpaper!)
4. Attach braces to the front and back. You don't want them toppling over, so spend the extra bucks on good, stout ones!
5. Resist drilling holes in the head of the patron who makes sexist remarks while you are holding your cordless drill.
6. Glue and/or screw the frames around the holes.
7. Attach other picture-type items from the local Dollar Tree.
8. Hot glue a piece of fabric to the top back of the open spaces.
Stand back and watch the fun!
And then there were the
Activities
When patrons came in, they were greeted by a Dementor passing out a checklist of activities (there were things all over, so we didn't want them to miss anything!), clues for the Horcrux Hunt, and coupons for Honeydukes.
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| Because, really, who wouldn't want to stop and take something from a Dementor? |
Most of the stops were in the Multipurpose Room, aka Hogwarts.
First up was Defense Against the Dark Arts, overseen by Professor Snape.
Here you could find your patronus,
and make it with silver glitter.
There. Is. Glitter. Everywhere.
I like to think of it as meaning there are patronuses swirling all over the building, keeping us all completely safe. Probably forever. Although I may need extra protection from the wrath of the custodian now.
And, yes, we know Snape did not teach them the Patronus charm, but I didn't have a giant Lupin cut-out.
Next up, Divination.
Reading tea leaves was, of course, our first thought, but then we thought about sticky messes everywhere...so we went with an alternate (and prettier!) route of fortune telling:
You choose three beads from the bowl that 'speak' to you, then the Divination Professor tells you what the colors mean for your future. Then you get to duplicate a couple of the beads, and make yourself a necklace.
Or, if you're really sweet, a necklace for your mother.
I wasn't actually running the booth, but when this was snapped I was subbing for the teen volunteer, who went to get some pizza. Papa John's was great, making my $25 gift card earned at the Blood Drive stretch to feed 20 volunteers and staff!
After Divinations, you could go to Herbology, and plant something to take home.
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| Photo credit: Lucid Dreams Photography |
And THANK GOODNESS for teen volunteers. This young lady and one other even stayed late cleaning and sweeping! They rock!
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By the time I went out to buy seeds, nobody was selling them. Several patrons came to my rescue, donating some they had left over. Whew!
Last class of the day: Potions with Tonks (artistic license - we used a LOT of it).
You could make your own ink, to take home in these teeny bottles,
or create concoctions such as slug slime or lethargio crystals.
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Here we have a Ravenclaw student apprenticing.
Also in the same room we had Ollivander's Wand Shop (like I said - artistic license!)
The wands took WEEKS to make, but were totally worth it. We started with 140 pencils bought at a back to school sale, sharpened by srp volunteers during slow times. Lisa's family spent an evening adding hot glue in fun designs, then I painted. And painted. And painted.
Many layers of brown spray paint - it won't cover and stick at first, so you have to spray and let dry and turn and repeat. They were sticky to the touch at first, but when they 'cured' for couple days that went away. Wizards could then add colored jewels if they wanted to, and try sparring with Harry.
One corner of the room was The Three Broomsticks at Hogsmeade.
Plenty of authentic Harry Potter sweets,
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Some less authentic but VERY sweet:
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And, of course, Butter Beer (vegan, at that!)
Our friends Kim and Logan volunteered to run The Three Broomsticks AND the Magical Menagerie, and they did a fabulous job. The Butter Beer even had dry ice in it, so it stayed fizzy and bubbled away magically all afternoon!
They run an organization called the Island of Misfit Morphs, which uses reptiles and arachnids in educational programs all over the area. Many of them are animals with some sort of birth defect that might otherwise cause them to be put down. All of them are COOL!
No cruciatus curses were performed on these lovelies!
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Dora, here, has no front legs...but, she has WINGS!
And, of course, you have to have Nagini! (that really is her name!)
We love Kim and Logan.
Rumor has it, they kind of like each other, too!
Back out in the main part of the library, we had the Owl Post.
You could write a letter (owl delivery not included)
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| Wait...you already HAVE a zebra?! |
Or send a howler
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| I'm dying. And, no, this wasn't one of my kids. |
Or make your own sorting-hat-cootie-catcher (pattern found here.).
You could pin the scar on Harry
Or put your memories into the Pensieve.
Outside we had water Quidditch -
which mostly disintegrated into a water balloon fight, but it was all good! Big thanks to the Webelos who helped pick up all the balloon pieces!!
A favorite stop was Honeydukes, where Cliff and I spent most of the day.
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| Love this picture from Lucid Dream Photography! |
That meant I got to see most of the people who came, and their fantastic costumes!
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| The tall Muggle in the back has NEVER read a Harry Potter book or seen a movie - yet he has produced all these fine young wizards! |
Several people asked me if I had seen "that cute little Luna?" Why, yes, I believe we've met.
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| And yes, there is pudding in her purse. |
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| I think I drove his parents crazy, asking everyone, "have you SEEN the baby in the onesie??!!" |
Pretty sure this was a sister or cousin:
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| Just when you thought you could never fall in love with Draco... |
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| or his big brother the Dementor! |
Which of course brings us to the costume contest. These three girls won an honorable mention.
As did Dobby!
Our Ravenclaw apprentice took first place - I think his explanation of how he knew he was a Ravenclaw swayed the judges!
First place for adults went to one of our former pages, now a librarian herself up at the college.
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| Here she is with the judges (THANK-YOU, guys!) and Professor Snape, who she got to take home with her! |
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| And here is her hand-made Monster Book of Monsters - which is also a hollowed out treasure box! Thanks again to Lucid Dreams for the photo. |
So, how did we pay for all this?? Well, most of it was made/found/scrounged/borrowed, but the rest we funded through the sale of raffle tickets. Our Friends group spotted us $100 to purchase these prizes, and local cosplayer extraordinaire Jana Carstaedt created a hand tooled leather cover for the first Harry Potter book. Tickets were sold for $1 each, and winners were pulled after the costume contest. We made enough to cover this event, and hold one or two more in the future!
We were VERY busy, in a wonderful way, so many of the pictures here are shamelessly stolen (okay, with permission) from friends who were there, and who posted them to Facebook. Thank-you so much everyone, and I hope you all had as much fun as we did!
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