5 DIY Gifts for the Harry Potter Nerd in Your Life
Harry Potter fans are fans for life. Whether young or old, a Harry Potter fan will forever revel in satisfaction when Snape’s controversial morality is brought into question and are likely one step away from embarking on a quest to the magical (yet fictional) Hogwarts castle themselves.
If you know one of these dedicated Harry Potter nerds, the following DIY Harry Potter gifts are sure to make them joyfully shriek like a Howler.
1. Hagrid’s Birthday Cake
For Harry Potter’s 11th birthday, Hagrid gifted him with the unforgettable misspelled birthday cake pictured below. Recreate a personalized version for the Harry Potter lover in your life!
You will need:
- A delicious tried and true cake recipe or cake mix and all the ingredients/materials that come with
- Red food coloring or pink icing for the top of the cake
- Green decorating icing
- Start by baking your preferred cake variety in a round cake pan. I recommend chocolate (it’s the best!)
- When the cake is cool, frost with pink icing. If you can’t find pink frosting, make your own frosting and add a few drops of red food coloring to achieve the perfect rose color.
- Write the words ‘Happee Birthdae [Name]’ with green decorating frosting on top of the cake and it’s ready to go!
2. Hogwarts Acceptance Letter
Do you often find yourself wondering why your Hogwarts letter never came? Do you still look to the skies hoping that one day your owl will arrive? Well, I can guarantee you most Harry Potter lovers feel the same, making a Hogwarts acceptance letter the ultimate Harry Potter gift.
Make someone’s dreams come true and ‘forge’ them their own Hogwarts acceptance letter!
You will need:
- A printer (or a pen and some quality penmanship skills)
- A piece of paper
- A tea bag (preferably black or earl grey)
- An envelope
- Find an online copy of the Hogwarts acceptance letter displayed in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Type out the letter with your friend’s name and address and make sure to choose a magical-looking font. Sign the letter as if you were Professor Minerva McGonagall herself. Print out the letter and make sure to include an ‘official’ Hogwarts seal on top.
- Lightly soak a tea bag (black tea for best results) and trail it gently over the edges of the letter, making sure not to get the page too wet. If the color is light enough, spread the tea over the whole letter: this will give the letter an old-timey and magical feel.
- Once it is dry, fold the letter and place it inside the envelope with your friend’s address. For an extra fun touch, predate the letter to the year they turned 11 and write ‘lost in mail’ on the backside of the envelope.
3. Harry Potter Phone Case
Harry Potter gifts like this phone case idea are relatively easy if you know your friend’s phone type and can find a solid-color case online.
You will need:
- Harry Potter stickers
- A phone case
There are plenty of Harry Potter stickers you can find online. If you’re looking for something unique and affordable, try this Etsy link. Some sellers on Etsy also offer personalization options for their Harry Potter stickers.
4. Harry Potter Trivia
As a well-established Harry Potter nerd myself, I have found that is it hard to find appropriately difficult and fun Harry Potter trivia online that challenges my existing knowledge. Also, buying a legitimate Harry Potter trivia game can be pricy.
Creating a trivia game is incredibly affordable and requires minimal supplies; however, it may require some time and research.
You will need:
- Multicolored index cards
- An index card box, which you can decorate
- Pens
- Markers
- Decide on categories for each of the colors. Standard multicolored index card sets have five colors, so there can be five categories. Some ideas for good categories are movies, characters, plot, fun facts, and obscure.
- Research possible trivia questions or Harry Potter facts and create your own questions for each category. Write down the question on one side and the answer on the other (make sure the answer can’t be seen through the card).
- Take a white index card or another color (depending on what you have) and write out the instructions for the game you created. Include a chart of categories with their corresponding colors and points awarded for each question. Spice it up by including some rewards and/or punishments for the winners and losers.
- Place the cards inside the box. Decorate the top with the title of your game; for example, “[Insert Name]’s Magical Harry Potter Trivia Game.”
Interactive Harry Potter gifts like this one can also be super fun activities to enjoy with your friends, family members, and/or significant other. If you don’t know much about Harry Potter yourself, don’t worry, the Harry Potter nerd in your life will love a guaranteed win ;).
5. Harry Potter Calendar
A personalized Harry Potter calendar makes an excellent Christmas or back-to-school gift. While there are plenty of ready-made Harry Potter calendars available for purchase, creating your own adds a little bit of magic and personal flare nonexistent in a mass-produced calendar. Also, this Harry Potter gift idea requires minimal craft skills!
You will need:
- Color printer or access to a printer (optional)
- Paper (optional)
- Internet access (a must)
Canva is an excellent resource for your calendar needs. Visit their website here and design your own photo calendar. You use various Harry Potter images for each month, including cover designs of books, screenshots from the movies or images of your friend’s favorite characters. Their customizable calendars start at just $4.99.
Microsoft Office also offers its own calendar template, which you can download here.
There are also plenty of other businesses ready to meet your customizable calendar needs. Find one you trust online or visit your local drug store to see what they offer!
