If you ever need to put together a Harry Potter party…stick around. I have been buried in the ol’ internets the last few weeks, culling ideas for Em’s party this Saturday. First craft on deck – the invitation. I found this cool “owl delivered invitation” on Pinterest and couldn’t find the source, or the original creator of the invite. I’m embarrassed to admit, I became a bit obsessed about these adorable balloons. I even googled “owl balloons” until it dawned on me. “Uh? Ohhhhh….it is just a white balloon with the owl drawn on it with Sharpie markers.”

Ahem. Yes. So…we got to work.

We started with an invitation that ripped off the acceptance letter to Hogwarts printed on some tan paper.

I wanted it to look old, weathered and parchment like, so after I printed them out I tried to use some vinegar and was about to bake it when I realized that it was just smearing the ink and making me crazy. I couldn’t “parchment” the paper up first – because then it wouldn’t go through the printer.

So I crumbled them up and started to wander through the my craft bins for something that would help age the paper.

Score! My parents got me this distressing kit that I had forgotten about. It has a little brown chalk pad that is perfect for rubbing over the wrinkled paper and makes it look perfectly aged.

And then I burned the edges a little bit to make them look officially old.

And rolled the scrolls and tied each to an owl balloon. All of the owls here are just waiting to deliver their invites…

We even got an owl rsvp back!

NOW…on to the list of other crafts that have to be done by Saturday’s party.