Harry Potter Wands

Who here loves Harry Potter? If you responded no, feel free to leave and never return. In early February, I did a post on how to create your own Butterbeer to transport you to the magical world of Hogsmeade, but now I'm back to take down the perilous path of dueling (for all you muggles out there; wand dueling). Harry Potter wands can be bought at a variety of stores on line and in real life, but their prices can range from twenty to fifty dollars. These wands are factory made to look like wands from specific characters in the movies; they allow you no creative wriggle room, and you know there are hundreds of thousands of identical ones in the world. By making you own, you can lower the cost and make them unique using only chopsticks, a hot glue gun, beads of various sizes, and acrylic paint. While you can buy packages of chopsticks at a fairly inexpensive price, you could also just take a road trip to your local Hy-Vee Chinese store, and get some for free. I only suggest this if you're making 4 wands or less.  The acrylic paint can be in any color: in the movies the wands were made out of wood so they ranged from light brown to dark brown to black, but as I said, the best part about these is that you can make it however you want!

Start by applying hot glue to the chop stick. I prefer the wand getting thicker towards the handle end, so I applied more glue to that end of the stick. The tutorial I read suggested waited for the glue to glue but still be pliable, and shaping it how you would like, but I either ended up burning myself or waiting too long until the glue was no longer malleable. Instead, I applied excess amounts of hot glue and moved the chop stick until the glue moved into the shape I wanted. Next, the beads need to be applied before the glue has a chance to dry.  If you have miniature beads, you can roll them in the hot glue, giving it a different feel. For larger beads, apply them to the tip of the wand on the side of the wand that you plan to hold it by.

Don't be afraid to play around with different patterns from the glue and beads, like making swirls or deep crevices. Wait until the glue is stiff- not just until it had cooled. Then use a small children's paint brush to apply the paint, making sure to get into all of the crevices created by the beads. Since I chose the cheap, 97 cent acrylic paint, it took 3 coats to cover the color of the beads. Once they're dry, play to you hearts desire!

The more wands you make, the better they'll look, and at such a low price, you can afford to try it over and over.

Anchor Bracelet

Remember in 7th grade, when every girl and her best friend made each other charm bracelets. They were like the colored bandanas of 12 year olds: everyone knew who was friends with who by what bracelet they were wearing and if you had an arm full of bracelets you were the most popular girl in school. Well, now its time to put your friendship bracelet-making to use in a more mature fashion. Start with a small anchor charm, 2 different colors of twine, and a clasp. I found my supplies at Michael's craft store: only $0.37 for each color of twine, $4.00 for two of the anchor charms, and $3.00 for a packet of 30 clasps. I chose blue and white twine to add to the 'sea' feel.
Start with 2 strips of each color about twice the length of the circumference of your wrist. Fold the strips in half and put it through the hole at the top of the anchor charm, creating a loop. Pull the lengths of the string through like loop, as pictured below.

Tape the anchor to your working surface. Create a chevron pattern using the strings with that ole' information from the 7th grade. If you happened to forget how, refresh your memory with this YouTube video. Once the pattern has reached half the length of your wrist, clamp it closed using the clasp and a pair of needle-nose pliers according to the instructions on the clamp packaging. Create 2 more strips of each color twice the length of your wrist. Instead of folding it through the top of the anchor charm, put wrap it around the arm of the bottom of the anchor, pictured below.
Continue the chevron pattern until it is once again half the length of your wrist. Close it using the loop that your clamp connects to.
Stand back and admire your work!