Harry Potter Christmas Tree Advent Calendar DIY Project

Welcome to my Harry Potter Christmas tree DIY advent calendar project-blog! 

It is a special Seasons blog, please read on below for more information!

I first discovered Harry Potter in the summer of 2001. Sure, I'd heard about this hugely popular phenomenon, but I was busy with medical school and having my first baby, and had never really gotten around to check it out. During our family summer holiday in Denmark in 2001, though, I thought I'd finally see what this Potter-fuss was all about. And from the moment I opened Philosopher's Stone, I was hooked. We had to trawl several Danish bookstores to find Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire so I could keep on reading, and I just could not put the books down until I'd finished them.

After that, I was first in line for every book release, every movie premiere (for Half Blood Prince we even scored tickets for a special outdoors pre-premiere screening), every DVD-release. When Philosophers Stone was released, we didn't even have a DVD-player yet, and got a VHS copy. My daughter, who was about 2 years old at the time, was a very clever little girl and knew perfectly well how to operate the video cassette player all by herself, thank you very much! Though she undoubtedly was way too young to watch, I wasn't too mad nor felt too much like a horrible parent when she started to put on Harry Potter, because obviously (in Snape's voice) I wanted my child to become a Potterhead!

15 years later, I am proud to say that I succeeded! She read the books for the first time when she was 8. For her 11th birthday of course she got her Hogwarts acceptance letter. Her room has Harry Potter quotes stickers and Hogwarts and Gryffindor banners on the walls. For the last couple of years she has attended a Harry Potter cosplay camp twice a year. We own several copies of all the books both in English and Norwegian, as well as audio books in both languages. We have worn out multiple copies of most of the movies. We've got several wands, movie props replicas, a broom, jewelry, many LEGO-sets, stuffed animals and various clothing and... I can't even remember it all, and refuse to think about all the money I've spent.

Her brother and father likes Harry Potter too, but they are not quite as geeky about it as the girls in the family. Nevertheless, they have to tag along for anything Potter, and we have travelled far and wide. We've been to London and visited several locations from the movies. We've visited the Warner Bros Studio Tour outside London - twice. We've been to Universal Studios Hollywood, and twice to Universal Orlando, most recently this summer, to experience Diagon Alley and ride the Hogwarts Express. It was truly magical! Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to finally score us all tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the two-part London West End play, in January 2018. I can't wait to see the play, visit House of Minalima and the Studio Tour again to experience Hogwarts in the snow!

But before January comes Christmas, and this year I'm doing a special project for my daughter's advent calendar. She's a big girl now, and in less than 2 years time she might be moving away from home... Among the many things a girl needs when she gets her own place is a Christmas tree, and that's what she's getting this December. Her very own, special, Harry Potter themed Christmas tree! On December 1st she'll get the actual tree, and every day after that some Harry Potter themed ornaments to decorate it, with a very special surprise on Christmas Eve (in Norway we celebrate Christmas on the 24th). I have googled extensively for inspiration, and various ready-made Hallmark ornaments are available for purchase. But for me that would be much too expensive, since I'm filling a whole tree at once. On Etsy you can buy various gorgeous home made ornaments, but that still cost quite a lot of money, it's cheaper plus it's more fun to make them yourself!

So I give you, my DIY Harry Potter Christmas tree advent calendar project 2017! Stay tuned for new posts on preparations during the last days of November, and daily presentations of the ornaments in the advent calendar in December.

As far as I know, this blog is the most extensive collection of complete Harry Potter Christmas tree ornament DIY tutorials/guides you can find online. Enjoy!

Wishing you all a very Harry Christmas!