Hogwarts, Class of 2017

A few months ago, I went to Universal Studios Florida with some friends—mainly to visit Hogwarts. (These are the same friends that I made the Yule Ball costumes for last year. We do love us some HP.) We had an amazing time, as expected, and so I have memorialized some of my favorite parts of our trip in a cut-paper diorama, as expected.

Featured scenes include the Jurassic Park water ride, chasing the Lorax through Suessland for a photo op, the guys getting stuck on the broken E.T. ride for 20 minutes, the Red Rip Ride Rocket or whatever it’s called (by far the Best Rollercoaster Ever Made), and—of course—Hogwarts, Weasleys’ joke shop & Gringott’s Bank), as well as the Hogwarts Express that connected Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

The green Hulk rollercoaster is attached to the bottom of the box. It’s also a great rollercoaster, but the inside of the box was too crowded for a second one. I really needed a bigger box tbh, but I wanted to incorporate this particular box, because it came from the St. Augustine Distillery, where we stopped for a tour and some samples en route to Hogwarts. I highly recommend you pop in there if you enjoy adult beverages and are in that part of Florida.

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Yule Ball

Back in early December, our local Barnes & Noble store hosted a Harry Potter-themed Yule Ball event. Being the geeks that we are, we got excited… There was a casual mention of perhaps helping a friend with her baby’s costume. By the end of the week, I had whipped up costumes for the entire family of three… as I do.

The baby (9 months) was the cutest Hedwig you’ve ever seen. Mom dressed as a Cage, as she’d primarily be holding the baby bird all evening. I was only half-joking when I suggested that dad dress as a broom. He objected at first, but after we described how the sleek, aerodynamic Nimbus 2000 was the top-of-the-line in flying technology and the real MVP of the action, he was totally on board.

Costume photos after the jump…