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Harry Potter Friday Roundup

Well, it’s finally here. The END, I mean. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II has launched and with it we here at GeekCrafts bring you an entire week of Harry Potter themed posts. Let’s start things off with a roundup, shall we?

Remember the “Whereabouts Clock” that Mrs. Weasley used to magically keep track of her various family members? Most often they would be at home, work, or traveling, though there were occasional brushes with “mortal peril”, as well. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use your loved ones’ Twitter feeds to track their whereabouts? With your own Magic Clock, you can!

One of the more interesting side characters is Luna Lovegood. She’s so quirky and more than a little odd, but has a good heart. She also has a unique fashion sense. Channel a little Luna with this pretty crochet scarf from Sabina24 on Etsy. Also check out this lacy Luna scarf pattern from Melissa Helton on Craftster.

This Instructables tutorial shows you how to convert old encyclopedias into Hogwart’s style spellbooks.

The “Daily Prophet” doesn’t just tell you the latest news in the wizarding world, it shows you – complete with moving pictures. Create your own digital moving pictures with this tutorial from Photojojo.

Not everything in Harry Potter’s world is sparkly magical fun. There are Death Eaters, and they aren’t very nice. For those days when you feel a little “not nice” yourself, perhaps you should don your own Death Eater Mask. You can also make your own version of Bellatrix’s Death Eater Mask.

In his first game of Quidditch, Harry had a heck of a time catching his first Golden Snitch. Perhaps this origami Golden Snitch will be easier for you to get your hands on.

Hopefully you have heard of the insanely popular and highly amusing Potter Puppet Pals. If not, go watch some videos, then come back, because you’ll definitely want to make your own crochet Potter Puppet Pal finger puppets, thanks to a free pattern from Melissa at Inner Child Crochet.

Speaking of PPP, check out this fantastic Snape puppet-plushie on Craftster! Doncha just wanna cozy up to it?

Another interesting side character is Mad Eye Moody. I would LOVE to read some backstory on him! Maybe Pottermore will provide that? Until then, maybe I’ll just have to stitch up this fabulous Mad Eye-patch from Kelly on Ravelry. There’s also a tutorial for a more realistic Mad Eye on Instructables.

And finally, we’ll wrap up this week’s roundup with some spellcasting. One of the more commonly used spells is “Lumos”. But what good is that spell if your wand doesn’t light up? Enter DadCanDo‘s tutorial on how to make a wand that lights up!

What other Harry Potter crafts have you seen or tried yourself? Feel free to Submit a GeekCraft to let us know!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Tutorial Tuesday: Colour Changing Drinks

This is a must for any of you who are having a Harry Potter movie party.

However you’re preparing for the return of your favourite wizard, whether it’s having an epic 6 movie marathon, getting dressed up, or reading one of the books to your kids (friends/dog?). You can really add a touch of the supernatural to it by serving up some magical colour changing drinks.

Amigurimi Coraline

“I have no plans to love you,” said Coraline. “No matter what. You can’t make me love you.”
— Neil Gaiman (Coraline)

That may be what Coraline said to “the other mother”, but you won’t be able to say it to this adorable amigurimi by Ravelry poster, Sharon Rose, aka Homemade Obsessions.

I love her little yellow boots, her key necklace, and the drapey blue hair, and of course the button eyes are perfect. (Even though, I have to admit, they creep me out a little bit.)

The blog post includes the pattern, and stepped-out photos for attaching the pieces and hair.

Also be sure to check out Sharon’s patterns for Wybie and the Ghost Girl.

In case you haven’t heard about Coraline, it’s a fantasy/horror novella by British author Neil Gaiman, published in 2002. There was a graphic novel adaptation, published in 2008, and illustrated by P. Craig Russell. The stop-motion animated film was directed by Henry Selick, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2009. [Historical facts per Wikipedia]

Now, unrelated to Coraline, but related to Neil Gaiman…have you seen the footage of the Minnesota Public Radio interview with Neil Gaiman, where they call Mythbuster’s Adam Savage and he does a short singing stint in the voice of Gollum? According to theonering.net, it “contains so many different brands of geekery it might shut down the internet.” You simply must see.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Crochet Coraline Doll Pattern at Homemade Obsessions blog
Crochet Wybie Doll Pattern
Crochet Ghost Girl Doll Pattern
Movie website
Coraline on IMDB
Wits with Neil Gaiman, Adam Savage, and Gollum: “I Will Survive“
More amigurumi crafts on GeekCrafts
Other book posts on GeekCrafts

http://homemadeobsessions.blogspot.com/2011/06/ghost-child-doll-inspired-by-coraline.html

Flickr Pool: Marvin Night-time Embroidery.

In my household reading the Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy is a rite of passage. It’s lexicon is the language of our everyday social interactions within the house. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s very confusing for visitors.

So looking in the Flickr pool for today’s feature, there was only one choice for me.

Amazingly LadyHazard has never read the books, but she certainly captured the spirit (or lack thereof) of our favourite paranoid android. Its a beautiful piece (but just a slight warning, her photostream is awesome… but NSFW!… there you were warned, now go there anyway :-) )

Awesome work LadyHazard

An Evening with Neil Gaiman

Last night, I had the extraordinary pleasure of attending “An Evening with Neil Gaiman,” in Berkeley, CA.

Not only was the audience graced with the company of the author himself, but the surprise addition of Mythbusters host Adam Savage as moderator made the night even more extraordinary.

Though the initial focus of the program was the 10th anniversary of American Gods, the conversation meandered through topics ranging from the pitfalls of publishing to Neil’s unabashed fanboy love for Dr. Who.

The night held a beautiful congruence of numerous energies, from the deliciously geeky to the downright mystical (hearing Neil read a passage from American Gods in a historic church made my scalp tingle).

If you ever have the chance to hear Mr. Gaiman speak, do yourself a favor and go. Between his dry sense of humor, his amazing storytelling abilities, and his easygoing manner, he’s remarkably fun to listen to.

In honor this wonderful night, I found this simple, yet lovely letterpress print of a Neil Gaiman quote. It’s available from Fate Hope Destiny Luck Machine, an Etsy shop “operated by a circus artist and printmaker out of Portland, OR.” How friggin’ cool is that?

These may not be Neil’s exact words from last night, but the quote definitely captures the spirit.

[Sketch via Neil Gaiman’s WhoSay.]

Shel Silverstein Embroideries

Shel Silverstein’s stories and songs were a big part of my life when I was growing up. He seemed like a fun, cool uncle that never got tired of spinning yarns and cracking jokes, and he was always as close as my nearest bookshelf.

I got that warm, fuzzy childhood feeling all over again when I spied LilyVanilli72‘s spot-on embroideries depicting Mr. Silverstein’s wonderfully weird illustrations.

I love how this traditional blackwork method of embroidery lends itself perfectly to Shel’s art style. Lily’s meticulous stitches don’t hurt the sketch-like effect either!

So far she’s done “Razor-Tailed Wren,” “Who Ordered the Broiled Face?” and “Running Giraffe.” I’m hoping she’ll stitch some more, like the classic “Boa Constrictor” (a personal favorite of mine).