Tag Archives: easy

Bird, House, Hat

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bird house hatEvery bird needs a home, and this deluxe house has everything one needs – doors, windows, a chimney, flowers, and a white picket fence. Best of all, it’s a HAT!

We read Brimsby’s Hats by Andrew Prahin (Simon & Schuster, 2014). Brimsby the hatmaker lives in a quiet cottage. His life is full of making hats and chatting with his best friend over tea. But one morning, his friend announces that he’s off to pursue adventures on the high seas, and Brimsby becomes very lonely. Trudging through the snow on a solitary walk, he finds some birds who might make good friends. Unfortunately, they’re too busy shoveling snow out of their nests to chat. That gives Brimsby a tremendous idea. He eagerly sets to work, making hat houses for all the birds. Once the hat houses are in place, there’s no more snow shoveling, no more freezing nights, and the birds are free to visit their new friend!

You’ll need:

This is an incredibly easy project that only involves a few steps:

  1. Circle the crown of the hat with construction paper and/or patterned paper
  2. Create a hatband using the white picket fences from the template
  3. Cut, color, and attach the windows, door, and welcome mat from the template
  4. Add tissue paper shrubs (hot glue is best when attaching these to the hat)
  5. Attach flowers from the template to pipe cleaner stems, then tape them to the hat

If you’d like a chimney, roll a piece of construction paper into a 4″ tube, cut three, 1″ tabs in the bottom, spread the tabs, and attach them to the top of hat using tape or hot glue.

finished house hatNow for the bird! Wrap a toilet paper tube in white construction paper. Then, wrap another color of construction paper three-quarters of the way around the bird, thus creating a white tummy. Add wings, eyes, and a beak (our beak was a snippet of self-adhesive foam). Tape a small feather to the top of the tube.

bird for houseIntroduce the bird to its new home (if the hats are a little big, stuff them with tissue paper)!

bird meets house

A Real Howler

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a real howlerMessed up on a test at school? Misplaced your toad? Stole your father’s flying car? Brace yourself – you might be getting a Howler in the mail.

You’ll need:

  • An 8.5″ x 11″ piece of red poster board (or red card stock)
  • Extra red poster board (or red card stock) for pop-up elements
  • A few pieces of white card stock
  • Markers, pens, and/or color pencils for writing and decorating
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Optional (but fun!): sparkle stems, foil star stickers, and bits of red mirror board

While there are templates and patterns for the Howlers you see in the Harry Potter movies, some of them can get a little complicated. The folks who staffed the Howler table at our Harry Potter event wanted something kids could do with minimal instruction and assistance. As it turned out, kids of all ages loved making these simple pop-up cards. The table was hopping for 5 hours!

Our Howler is an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of red poster board (or card stock) folded in half. We offered 4 pop-up elements for the interior of the card: 1) Basic accordion fold; 2) Clustered accordion fold; 3) Spiral; and 4) Zigzag accordion fold.

four pop-up elementsTo make the basic accordion fold, take a strip of paper and fold it back and forth until it resembles a stair case. Attach one end to the card with tape. We cut a number of different size strips and let kids pick and fold the ones they wanted. We also had rectangular pieces available in case kids wanted to cut and fold a cluster of accordion folds.

To make a spiral, cut into a circle of poster board (or card stock), circling inwards until you reach the center. Attach one end to the card with tape. We prepared large and small circles in advance, and let kids pick and cut their own spirals.

To make a zigzag accordion fold, cut a zigzag into a strip of paper, and then fold along the straight points of the zigzag, like so:

zigzag foldWe had sparkle stems, foil star stickers, and little bits of red mirror board available to decorate the cards (the idea was to make it look as explosive as possible, so lots of red and gold)!  Finally, write magical crimes and consequences on pieces of white card stock and attach them to the card or pop-up elements. Feel free to add illustrations as well (like Marissa’s fantastic broomstick in the image below? And did you notice the little exclamation marks popping up on accordion folds?).

a real howlerTsk tsk tsk Beatrix. You really should be more responsible with your broom.

Welcome Back, Potter

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welcome back potterIt’s Harry Potter week at Pop Goes the Page! Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 will be released this weekend, and there will be launch parties and countdown events galore. I thought it would be helpful to compile all of Pop’s Harry Potter posts and projects, just in case you find something that might come in handy at your wizardly celebration.

Let’s start big. This is a Spell Simulation game Princeton University junior José M Rico created for our Wand Works event. It was amazing. You can see videos of the 6 spells, and find a free download of the game here.

wand works spell simulation game by jose m rico, background by jeremy goncalvesAnd now for more amazing-ness. This Magical Miniatures post features an interview with Sally Wallace, a miniaturist and artist who constructs astounding Harry Potter dollhouses and miniature scenes. Feast your eyes on Hogwarts!

greenhouse1 smallerHowever, if your magical real estate aspirations need to be on a slightly smaller scale, try this Gothic votive castle. See the greenhouse to the left of the castle? Peek inside and you’ll see that the mandrakes are ready for re-potting!

greenhouse3 smallerHerbology continues with this little dried herb amulet…

amulet smallerAnd these dashing, yet simple, snapdragons. You only need a paper cup, construction paper, and pipe cleaners (more ambitious gardeners can try these magical “growing” box gardens).

get-snappy smaller

We also have portable potion studio for all your brewing needs…

witchy kitchy stackedAnother Harry Potter post I dearly love is this suitcase boggart. I designed it for a Defense Against the Dark Arts table. The secret to making the suitcase thump and bump convincingly? A battery-operated pet toy called “The Weazel Ball!”

the-perfect-boggart smallerWe’ve also made plenty of dragon and monster projects in the past, from this food chain to a black light tin foil dragon. Representing the forces of good, however, is this phoenix puppet. You can make it out of a tissue box, and stroll around with it cradled in your arms.

fantastical-phoenix smallerMoving on to school supplies, try these simple, but immensely popular, quill pens.

quill-pens smallerIf it’s a wand you need, take a look at the custom wands we made at our Harry Potter Wand Works event (and if you’d like to meet Lane O’Neil, a real-life wandmaker, take a look at this post).

wizard with wand

Also necessary for any Hogwarts student is an inexpensive PVC pipe wands (with your choice of core, of course). There are also flying books, and things that fly OUT of books.

these butterflies can book

And don’t forget your wrist owl to deliver the mail (but not a Howler)! These handsome little fellas are made out of toilet paper tubes and pipe cleaners.

wrist owl examples

Once your school supplies are assembled, hit the classroom with the Chemistry of Magic!

chemistry-of-magic-web- smallerOr, learn some smaller spells. A pair of Slytherin students joined us at our School for Scoundrels program and taught kids Aparecium, Furnunculus, and Inanimatus Conjures. But Confundo was definitely the most popular. Also, there’s this special paper that allows you to set your spells on FIRE and watch them fly!

And, if Muggle Studies is full this year, you can always take a look at our online exhibit, which includes photos and information labels on everything Muggle.

muggle studies 101

Deluxe Chicken Grooming Kit [c.2011]

Wanting to bring a little Potter into your own home? Well, you can crank it to ELEVEN like this amazing family, or host a smaller party like the one concocted by Hope, our kid tester, which includes inexpensive decor ideas, templates, recipes, and useful links.

owl balloons

You could also go ALL OUT and recreate Knockturn Alley in your basement, like Corinne Adams did here. This is AMAZING:

WIN_20190917_15_05_35_Pro_2And what would Harry Potter be without some treats? Check out the gourmet pumpkin pasties crafted by Melody Edwards, a Princeton University graduate who is currently in culinary school. They were yummy.

birthday potter croppedWe also tested a couple recipes from the The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz (Adams Media, 2010). Including Hagrid’s famous rock Cakes!

rock cake testingThose wanting a more academic perspective on Harry Potter (not to mention a look at some goodies from our rare books vaults) should check out the Harry Potter and the Mystery of the Author’s Name post on Cotsen’s curatorial blog. It shows the different ways J.K. Rowling’s name has been spelled (and misspelled!) over the years.

If you’re wondering about the image that started this post (like how I magically manage to appear 9 years younger?), it’s a promo photo from a Harry Potter event we hosted in 2007. You can read more about the image, as well as some of my hints for promoting programs, here.

I also mentioned Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Well ladies and gentleman, Katie, Marissa, and I actually went and saw the play on Broadway. You can see our complete (and spoiler free!) post here.

full theater 2