Potions Class - The Decorations

The specimen jars and staging area for potions class.


The inspiration for our blackboard - from the movie.


A very handsome toad I got from the toy store.


Some funky pods my friend Janet brought.


A plastic creature from the toy store, in colored water.


A finger ball I got at the Goodwill for $.99


A crowded glimpse of the potion classroom.

I had to take the liberty of combining elements of different rooms into one. Obviously we didn't have enough space to have a Great Hall, hallways with art, and a potions classroom. I knew Potions class could make quite a mess. I considered the kitchen but I didn't think I could pull off the decorating. So we decided to use our dining room but to remove all the chairs to make it easier for the kids to move around. I hung the 4 house banners from the ceiling. We added to the gallery style artwork that I already had by removing family portraits and hanging the painted eye my father painted and the Shakespeare holograph.

I took a picture of the blackboard from the movie and replicated that as best I could using artists black mat board that I got from Utrecht on Capitol Hill. I did the lettering in real chalk. Steve made a very simple frame that we then stapled the mat board to (using a construction staple gun)and hung screw eyes from to hang it.

I covered the table with a protector pad, a black sheet and a black plastic table cover on top (from the party store). That worked great to protect against spills. I put three metal trays (that I already had) in the center of the table, full of ingredients. It looked really cool. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures before the party started.

I used the same metal trays that I already had to protect my sideboard from spills. I set some specimen jars on one of them for something interesting to look at and to help make my dining room look less like a dining room.