Harry Potter Fans: Make a Magic Wand

magic wand Good day young wizards!

Are you in need of a magic wand? Well you have come to the right place. What I have for you today is two different ways to create you very own Harry Potter wand. Cool, right? This comes at the best of times because the author, J. K. Rowling, will be celebrating her birthday on July 31st. I’m sure you know this already since you are one of her greatest fans. So let’s get to making your wand and make sure to include your mom in on the fun (and for a little help in some steps), especially if she likes Harry Potter, too.

Harry Potter Magic Wand (Wooden dowel method)

What you will need:

8 to 13 inch wooden dowel (available at crafts stores)
Sandpaper or craft knife
Paint
Paintbrush
Glue gun w/ glue sticks
Spray paint (optional)

Let’s make some magic:

Take some sand paper or a craft knife and try to make the dowel get smaller along its length, ending up with a larger end (where you will hold it) and a smaller end.
Paint your dowel with a base color such as brown, black, maroon, or any color you’d like. Allow it to dry.
Using a hot glue gun, add designs to the wood, such as dots, stripes, knots, and swirls.
Repaint the wand with the same color as before. If you’d like, you could add glitter or paint a different color, such as gold or silver, over the glue designs.
Another optional thing is to take a brightly colored or metallic spray paint (Use bronze, blue, red, or gold) and you can create a “fading” effect with your base color and spray color.

Harry Potter Magic Wand (Paper method)

What you will need:

A4 or US Letter sized paper
Elmer’s glue
Paint
Paintbrush
Glue gun w/glue sticks
Mod podge (optional)

Let’s make magic:

Start by rolling the paper into a tight, narrow funnel, with one end a bit wider than the other.
Stick the end into the narrow end of the funnel first. Fill the entire tube with glue, and make sure not to miss any parts, or the wand will be too flimsy. Squirt glue into the wand until you can see it 2/3 to 3/4 ways full through the entire tube.
Allow it to cool for a moment. Then, fill it the rest of the way, through the wide end. Allow it to cool entirely, and it should be pretty darn unbreakable.
Squeeze a small bead of glue on the narrow end, rounding it off.
Once it has completely cooled, lightly brush your base layer of paint.
Skim a second layer of paint on, which could be the same as before or a different color.
When the paint has dried, use your glue gun to draw designs like swirls, flowers, stars, etc. on your wand.
Now mix some base color and top color together and paint over the glue once it’s dry.
Apply metallic color anywhere you want it to stand out. Let the glue design really pop!
Optional: You can brush some Mod Podge if you’d like to seal it off.