Harry Potter wand tutorial

I saw a tutorial for these wands several months ago and knew I had to do them. I finally bit the bullet and attempted them a few days ago. The first tutorial I tried ended in burnt fingers and over all disaster. The idea was to roll the paper and pipe it full of hot glue. It was a great idea in theory but in practice it caused me to curse and throw glitter in the air in a very angry way, which is probably the biggest sin in the religion of crafting. Happy glitter throwing is a gift to the Crafting Gods but angry glitter throwing? That's a no-no.

Before giving up I decided to google and see if there was a better tutorial. There was! This guy laid out the instructions wonderfully. For step by step pictures and instructions go to his Instructable site and also gaze upon his beautiful wands. I think he sells them too.

I'll lay it out for you here as well.

1.First grab a few sheets of white printer paper.

2.Take one sheet of paper and put some double sided sticky tape across it diagonally.

3.Start rolling the paper from one corner to the other tightly and so that one end is more narrow than the other.

4.Once you roll past the sticky tape use some Elmer's glue or Mod Podge and apply it to the the end of the paper and then finish rolling it up. Hold on to the wand until the glue dries. The glue is important because it keeps the edges of the paper sealed down, making the seam less noticeable.

5.Next take another piece of paper and repeat only making it tighter than the first one. You don't need to glue this one closed, just use a little tape to keep it from unwinding and then shove it inside the first one. This builds a pretty solid foundation for your wand.

Here is where I differ from the designer of these particular wands. He didn't want to put a chopstick inside of the wand because he worried it could poke some one's eye out. I on the other hand think that eye loss by a Harry Potter wand would make an awesome story and honestly, chop stick or not the double paper roll is strong enough to poke some one's eye out.

6. I didn't have any chopsticks but I had bamboo skewers so I took three of them and shoved them in to the rolls as hard as I could and then broke them off at the end.

7. BTW, if you want to put something special in your wand it's best to do it before the skewers.

8. After the skewers are in, take the hot glue gun and pipe it in, sealing up the paper and skewers and filling what little empty space there is left.

9. Next pipe a little hot glue on to each end to make a nice round little ball. This gives both ends a finished look.

10. Next take your hot glue gun and pipe a pattern, or non pattern on to the wand. The trick to making your wand look really cool is not to get weird about making it perfect. Tree branches are nobby and rough so if you want a wand with a lot of character don't think too much about what you are doing.

At this point you might look at your wand and think it looks horrible but if you get over the imperfections you will see it's amazing potential!

11.Next, seal it up with a coat of spray paint. Doesn't matter what color. I used white.

12. After the spray paint dries brush on the base coat of the color you choose with an ACRYLIC paint. I used brown. I used a sponge brush and after painting with stokes I ended up dabbing the next coat on to give it a more textured look. Let the paint dry.

13.Next take your distressing color (I used black) which again should be ACRYLIC and put a little water on it and stir. This is your wash color. You are going to paint in onto your wand and then wipe or dab it off. I used a paper towel to dab mine but I suggest a sponge or washcloth as some of the paper towel I used stuck to the paint. The distressing color gives the wand dimension and age.

If you find that the paint is not staying on all of the hot glue pattern don't worry. The last step will cover that.

By now you should be pretty dang excited because it's looking finished and if you like it the way it is, it can be done. But if you want to give it some more character go to the next step.

14. For the gold and silver sheen you see on my wand I used Rub N' Buff gold leaf. It come in a little metal tube for about $3.99 (Michael's Craft Store) which might seem like a lot but it lasts forever. You need the tiniest amount to finish your project. You just put a little on your finger and rub it over the hot glue patterns.I even used whatever was left on my fingers to rub the rest of the wand and give it just the slightest tint.

That completes your wand! I am really impressed with how solid this wand is. I made 4 total. One for myself and each of my girl friends who are all HP fans.

I have never had so much fun working on a project. Even at 27 years old I looked at the finished wands and couldn't help but pick one up and give it a flick while whispering, "Stupefy" at my cat, which was kind of pointless because he's pretty clueless already but I swear, for a few minutes, he was acting like a complete moron.

I plan on making some more wands in funkier and brighter colors next week.

Are you wondering what the core of these four sister wands are? Well, I walked to the farthest reaches of the Mystical Forrest's of Narnia and collected the most magical substance known (or unknown) to man. The menstrual blood of a Unicorn. The process of collecting it wasn't pretty so I wont go into the details but it was promised to keep my friends and I bonded for the rest of our lives, so it was worth it.

When I told my Mom about my project she said, "I had no idea you were such a nerd." I told her I didn't either. I guess if there is one superior nerd it's the HP one. I will proudly wear my badge!