Mini Happy Planner Tutorial

I decided to do a quick little tutorial about 

decorating a Mini Happy Planner.  Figured we

could all use a little something to take our minds

off recent serious events. Arts and crafts to 

reduce anxiety and have some fun!  A special

welcome to anyone visiting from the 

"Harry Potter And The Order of the Planners"

Facebook group. Yes, that's a thing!  We love

the Harry Potter books and it's a friendly,

welcoming group. Click on any image

to enlarge for a closer look.

The planner that I'm using has pink accents in the

gutter and for dividing the days of the week.

We will change the color combinations as

we decorate.  The pages are about 7 inches

high by 4 5/8 inches wide.

Collect your supplies. I'll be using Washi tape in

both 3/16 inch width, and 1/2 inch width, Mildliner

markers, and Harry Potter themed stickers.

For the month of March, the Harry Potter group

has been celebrating each Hogwarts House. This 

week I decided to go with a Ravenclaw theme. 

(Even though I'm in Gryffindor, I like to change

things up) Ravenclaw's House colors are blue and

bronze.  The first thing I did was use the wide tip of

my blue Mildliner marker to color in the outside

edges of the pages. 

 I also wanted to cover the pink center of the

 page with Washi.  The tape was a bit wider 

than I would like, so I lined up the edge

of the tape with the end of the daily box, and the 

other edge of the tape ran off the edge of the page.

Then I just trimmed it with scissors.  Do this for both

pages. 

Since the page holes are now covered, I used a hole

punch to punch holes in the tape. (If you have a Happy

Planner punch, that's even easier!) Punch the holes from

the back side so you can see the spacing. Then also 

trim the tiny strip from the hole to the edge of the 

page with your scissors.

Next, I used the narrow (brownish colored) tape to 

cover the pink lines between the days of the week.

I numbered the days of the week with the blue Mildliner.

Then I outlined the numbers with an extra fine point

pen. ( .01 Pigma Micron)  You wouldn't need to 

outline them, I just like the look better.

Probably my favorite part is adding the stickers!

I used symbols and objects that suggest the 

Ravenclaw House.  In the upper right corner 

is the raven (or eagle depending on which you

 prefer) that is my own hand-drawn

illustration. I try to vary the placement of the 

stickers for interest, keeping in mind I need to 

leave space to add my "to do" lists.  I also covered

the 'weekly  highlights' and 'notes' with 

stickers and Washi tape.

Here I've used the wide tip of the Mildliner to 

make small check-boxes for each day.  You could

certainly use sticker check-boxes if you

have them on hand.  In the

Facebook group we have daily challenges

that we can choose to participate in, so these

are the events that I want to make sure 

I complete!

You may have noticed that I added another strip

of narrow tape at the bottom of the page.  I thought 

the page needed it to look complete. Since I had 

already put down stickers, I used the tip of an x-acto

knife to lift the tiny legs of the telescope so I 

could apply tape underneath. You may even have

the specific tool that is used for that. 

Write in your lists for each day, and you're done!

Well, ok. I thought it still needed something more,

so I added diagonal stripes at the top of the 

pages in a different color of blue Mildliner.  Blue

and Bronze Ravenclaw pages...did you spot 

Luna Lovegood  and the radish earrings?!

There are many ways to decorate a planner, and

this is just one. You can obviously get a totally

different look with the use of different colors,

designs, and themes. 

Happy Planning!

Harry Potter Christmas Feast

As requested, I'm sharing some photos from our family's 

Harry Potter Christmas Feast on Christmas Eve, 2018.

Lots of photos, so be prepared. Grab a warm 

beverage and enjoy!

Our granddaughter had a list of things to help get

ready, and she did a few things each day

 preceding Christmas Eve. She pasted

the emblems on the house banners, colored the 

labels for the Potions, mixed the potions, 

(had a grand time mixing water and food coloring!)

and helped cut and glue wings to the flying keys.

 On Christmas Eve, she was the one

to set the table and decorate each place. Pretty 

impressive for a 9 year-old, I think!

Each person got a golden snitch, made from a

foil-wrapped Ferrero Rocher chocolate, with gold 

wings (cut from a gold plastic poinsettia) hot-glued

onto the foil to create the 'wings.'

The jars of Honeydukes sweets were placed down

the center of the table, and Christmas crackers were

placed on each plate. We had a fun time popping

them, and everyone was pretty cooperative

about wearing their tissue-paper crown and

reading their jokes! Our granddaughter even made

Place Cards for each person, with their name 

and a little Harry Potter drawing on each. There

was a lightning bolt (scar) flying broom, snitch,

and a 9 3/4 sign, to name a few.

I just picked likely-looking candy to place in each 

Honeydukes candy jar. The 'Cockroach Clusters'

 were peanut-butter chocolate Munchies, 

and the 'Nougats' were Cookies and Cream

Munchies.  The acid pops are Caramel Apple suckers,

and of course the Licorice Wands were red licorice 

sticks. My daughter also made chocolate covered

pretzel 'wands,' but I didn't get a photo of her chocolate

and sprinkled goodies...they disappeared pretty

quickly!

The 'Every Flavored Beans' were just gourmet

jelly beans -- no vomit or earwax flavored beans

in this jar!  Gummy worms were 'Flobber Worms'

and plain old Salt Water Taffy.  My mom was 

delighted to discover the pink taffy was

cinnamon flavored!  Coons Candy is where I

purchased the taffy and Zots. (I buy sugar-free 

chocolates for my Mom from this delightful family-run

 candy makers every year) Zots is a candy that 

fizzes in the mouth, so that's why I chose it for 

the 'Fizzing Whizbees'.  No levitation occurred,

however!  I refrained from buying the actual 

Ants in a sucker, or the crunchy 

crickets that Coons Candy sold! 

One nice thing for the feast

 was being able to re-use many of the 

various-shaped glass jars and bottles that

we had used as decor at our daughter's wedding!

The potions lined up on the kitchen counter, in

front of the row of candles. I had a lot of tapers in

holders, but forgot to light them before dinner!

The mad rush to get everything ready, you know.

The granddaughter colored these labels, and chose

what to put in each bottle. She had fun choosing

the colors for the contents.

She used scraps of silk flower leaves in the jar of

Gillyweed, and the Mermaid tears had black glitter

in the colored liquid. (black glitter being the only 

color I had, leftover from Halloween!)

Golden Snitches are the magical flying balls that are

the object of the game Quidditch. Young wizards fly

around the Quidditch pitch trying to catch the Snitch

to win the game. There's more to it than that, but

I'll spare you the complicated details!

We had fairly normal food for our feast which included

roast beef, turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy,

green beans, a relish tray, and sausage, cheese,

and crackers. Pecan pie is the granddaughter's 

favorite, so it definitely had to be on the menu,

along with Treacle Tart.

In the Harry Potter books, Treacle Tart was said to 

be Harry's favorite dessert. This is my second try, and

I must say I am rubbish at the topping! I couldn't 

manage the lattice crust, so I tried to do Harry's

round glasses frames and the lightening bolt.

There's a star thrown on there too, and even though

it looks very messy, it tasted very good. I was careful

not to overwork the crust this time, and it was more

tender. We don't have Golden Syrup where I live,

and instead of ordering it online (which is a bit 

pricey) I used Karo syrup, a tablespoon of molasses,

and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar in the

lemony filling. Tasted quite good if I do say so

myself.  Just gotta work on that topping, or

leave it off completely!

The Hogwarts Wizarding School

House Banners: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor,

Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Just drawn

and cut from cardstock. I used images from 

the internet to draw from. The Grandkids decided

to hang them from the curtains. Please 

excuse my dust!

Flying keys were hung from the 

kitchen/living room pass-through.

Flying keys were one of the challenges that had

to be solved in order to reach The Sorcerer's Stone,

in the first Harry Potter book.

View from the kitchen, candles lit, Potions behind

the array of food. This only shows the desserts,

cheese and relish tray. I didn't get a shot of the

main courses, (buffet style on top

of the stove) as we wanted to eat it while it

was still warm! I don't know how my mom 

has successfully done all those family dinners

for 30 plus years, and get everything done at the

right time! My son helped a lot with the cooking,

so that was key to getting it all done. Oh, and

we had the stuff to make Butterbeer (Creme

soda and ice cream floats) but everyone

was too full!  The grandson did enjoy the 

Pumpkin Juice. (actually apple juice, orange

juice, a few tablespoons of pumpkin, and 

pumpkin pie spice)

Linking up with Elizabeth's T Tuesday blog post,

and hoping my Potions will 'count' as a 

beverage reference. In case you want to be able

to breathe under water, you can have some

Gillyweed!

Happy New Year 2019!

www.instagram.com/dbcarey_2000

Planner Mash Up

It's a bit of a 'mash-up' today, of Planner

Pages that I've been decorating.  Above, is

the evidence of a more traditional style

planner that is dedicated to Harry Potter

style decorations.  I know, I know. You'd be

surprised how many adults out there are

obsessed. Anyway, I've had the bright

idea to have a 'Harry Potter feast' for our

grandkids this year, and fear I've bitten off

more than I can chew, as the saying goes!

A 'Hufflepuff' themed spread for the week of

Dec. 3-9. Hufflepuff is one of the Wizarding

Houses in the Harry Potter series of books.

Students in the imaginary wizarding school are

divided into Houses for living and educational

purposes. (There are some similarities to

 college fraternities or sororities, but the Houses

are co-ed with separate sleeping quarters.)

Sharing a few highlights today, since I've 

been so remiss in posting.

A few of the October drawings are

some of my favorites...

As we near the end of the year, it gets 

more difficult to write in my Hobonichi, as 

it has gotten quite chunky, and more difficult

to scan or photograph!  It's grown to 

about 2 1/4 inches in thickness.  Maybe

a few too many added layers of

collage?!

The December monthly pages in this mini

Happy Planner depict the impending Christmas

feast.  I even bought Christmas crackers this

year, which is a first.  Hope they have a nice

pop!  Click on the image, to see details of

the gold gnome in a tutu!

I don't make Christmas Cake myself, but my

son makes fruitcake, so we will have that for

Christmas Eve dinner. I also wanted to make

Treacle Tart, but the granddaughter wants

pecan pie, so we will see if it all gets done.

I made a treacle tart at Thanksgiving, (I just

used Karo syrup and the suggested lemon 

juice) as a kind of practice run, and

 thought that the cookie-like crust 

was a bit tough. Did I knead it too much?

Add too much flour?  Leave me your advise

please! 

Linking up for T Tuesday over at 

Altered Book Lover's blog, where we share

our beverage-related posts on Tuesdays.

Stop by to join in, or just visit!  My 

beverage drawings are hidden on some

of these pages. I think I counted six coffee

cups...did I miss any?

Thanks for stopping by...leave me a 

comment and give me your advice on 

making a more tender tart crust!