DIY: Harry Potter Wands

     Today will be the first Harry Potter thing I'll be posting, and I will be making a tutorial of Harry Potter wands. But first of all, I would like the give the credit to Potter Projects, with the YouTube user name tonks1989  since she was the original idea maker, but this time, I'll be showing more examples of the other characters' wands. Without further ado, let's get started! 

*If you're a child, you'll be needing adult supervision with the glue gun part.

Materials you'll be needing:

1. A pencil

2. Black or brown paint (depends on the character's wand) (can be acrylic paint or poster paint, but acrylic will need multipe strokes, and will be water proof) 

3. Glue

4. Oslo paper

5. Molding clay

6. A paintbrush

7. Glue sticks and a hot glue gun

8. Hairspray 

I think that won't be very hard :)

Step 1: Get the oslo paper and your pencil. Put the pencil in any corner of the paper and roll it until it gets thin. Don't worry if it isn't straight, wands are really like that. 

Step 2: Get your glue and paint the wand using your paintbrush and glue at the corner of the rolled paper to keep it stable. After that, cover the wand with glue and let it dry for about 5 minutes. For best results, use your finger instead of a paintbrush.

Step 3: Get a small ammount of molding clay and stuff it into the end of the pencil, but make sure to leave a little bit of space. After that, get the glu gun, with a glue stick inside and fill it until the top. Let it cool down for a minute.

Step 4: Now off to the customizing part! You can make your own design or get one of the character's designs and create the wand. To do that, I'll be showing an example of how we did Hermione's wand. Get the glue gun again and swirl it around the bottom of the wand like a handle (ONLY do this IF your design is Hermione's. If you've got other designs, follow the pattern.), then let it cool for a minute.

Step 5: Get your paint and your paintbrush then go wild! 

Step 6: Let the paint dry for a little while, then add the hairspray.

Ta da! Easy peasy, lemon squeazy! 

DIY Harry Potter Wands
From left to right wands: Hermione, Draco, Umbridge, Luna, Ginny

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today was a very special day. Today was once again one of the days I'll remembering and treasuring forever. Me and my mom woke up early in the morning and got the party supplies she bought from the mall. We had ordered two pizza boxes from Pizza Hut, and a Cake from Conti's. We set up the green polka-dotted paper plates along with the purple, teal, pink, and yellow forks. Then, we put the orange and white paper cups along the table and put the blue candles. My mom woke up my dad, and as they went out, me and mommy started singing Happy Birthday to him. He looked awfully tired, but we were all happy to spend his birthday altogether. We started eating the pizza happily.

 

     We took a bath after that to go to church, but sadly, we didn't make it. We went to my Grandma's house to pick her up as we were going to celebrate Daddy's birthday and her birthday since she just had her birthday a few days ago. We gave my grandma a red shirt with white stripes from Mango. Then, the adventure in UP town, or as we sometimes call it, Uptown, finally began. First, we visited a small store in the entrance and Daddy went to the Comfort room. Then, we checked a nice store up ahead. It had the nicest notebooks in the world and it was a really great achievement, since it was surprisingly a local brand. We ate lunch at a Singaporean restaurant, and I ate Siomai. Then, me and my mom went to a small Magnum (Ice Cream) booth in the ground floor where hundreds of people were in line. It was a registration for a raffle to win an i phone 6 (and the winner would be texted later at 9pm), and the chance to become the first two hundred people to taste their newest product for free. Minutes later, my dad and grandma came and we made four entries. As our talked-about-contract said, if I won the new phone, it would be all mine. If either mommy or daddy won, I would still get the i phone 6 and let them have their old i phone 5s. And if my grandma won the raffle, I'd get her old i phone 5 and she would get the new i phone 6. We laughed along with each other like crazy while people just stared. After feeling like we'd actually win, we went to Cotton On to check their 50% off sale. And, I was totally amazed to find out that they also owned Typo - a nice little store with all sorts of stuff in it. Bags, headphones, notebooks of all kinds, stamps, water jugs, pens, and everything quirky! I strongly recommend you to visit it. We went back to the small store we went at earlier and my dad bought a few items. Then, my grandma bought me two notebooks from the nice store across the other store (Okay, I know it is quite confusing). At first, I didn't want to pick anything since they were all so expensive, but she forced me to choose two items anyway. And, I really love her for being kind. Here are the notebooks:

After that, we went to a small Belgian Waffle store nearby to have some snacks and rest. Meanwhile, I visited National Bookstore which was just across. My dad gave me five hundred pesos to buy anything I wanted (And I was really happy about that. Buy me something when it's his birthday. I have more than I deserve.) Then, I ended up buying The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms, which cost four hundred and ninety nine pesos, so I only got one peso left with me. (Just so you know, I did a book review about the first book of the series months ago. Check out my other blog posts to find it) 

 From left to right: Me, my grandma, my mom, and my dad. We were
at the notebook store in this pic

Then, we still continued our mall ratness when we checked out a few other stores like Herschel, Terranova, Artwork, and Quirks. You think we stopped there? NOPE! We went to the grocery and did some shopping. We were there for like forever! Then, we still went to Chef Tony's to buy some Caramel flavored popcorn. Call us mall rats if you want, it's so true! But everything was all worth it. As simple as it may all look, we thank the Lord for everything we receive and be contented with little things. Happy Birthday Daddy, I love you beyond words! 

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

     The four extremely smart kids are back for another deathdifying adventure! Say hello once again to twelve year olds Reynard Muldoon and Sticky Washington, thirteen year old Kate Wetherall, and three year old Constnce Cotraire! If you haven't heard about the first book, The Mysterious Benedict Society, then you'd probably be like "I'm sure I'm smarter than these children. Come on, a three year old? Are you kidding me?" Nope! You read me, they're smart, smarter than any boring inside-the-box-thinker adult. 

     Reynie, Sticky, and Kate were invited to Mr. Benedict's house for a surprise. Each of them with their families gathered at Kate's house. After what seemed like forever on that fine September morning, the children finally saw each other once again. What they have been through wasn't just any piece of an adventure, it was a mission. Even if they've only been friends for a year, you really couldn't blame them for missing each other. They were in their car, with big grins on their face, ready to go to Mr. Benedict's. And off they went. And then the worst thing that could happen happened at that exact same day. "CHILDREN YOU MUST NOT COME STOP DANGEROUS" It was sent by Rhonda Kazembe, an associate to Mr. Benedict. But the children had gone away. Moocho Brazos, Kate's old friend from the circus, and now her caretaker as well, was left at Kate's and he received the message. Because of this, Moocho came rushing to Mr. Benedict's. 

     The children arrived with a wonderful feeling inside each of their hearts. They were back where everything had all started. Nothing was going to stop them. Not until they find out what had happened. Rhonda let them in and stay with their friend, Constance, in her bedroom. And this was where the society started to hold meetings. I introduce to you, the Mysterious Benedict Society. The whole house was swarming with people. Why? Mr. Benedict and Number Two were kidnapped while they were trying to fix a scavenger hunt, which was going to be the surprise for the children. It feels like buying that Ice cream cone you've saved up for days only to find out that they didn't have that flavor anymore. Heartbreaking. Without anything to waste, the Mysterious Benedict Society started the scavenger hunt to save Mr. Benedict. They arrive at the "Shortcut", which was the ship they were to use for the scavenger hunt. They meet a guy named Joe "Cannonball" Shooter, otherwise known as Cannonball, one of the crew members of the ship. They also meet Captain Phil Noland, more recognized as Captain Noland. They tell Captain Noland about what happened to Mr. Benedict, and also find out how Captain Noland and Mr. Benedict became very good friends. To a castle far far away, a library where the clues are found, a subway once passed by, a hotel to where they rest their heads, and a big advantage they've brought with them all along, the adventure begins. But the only problem they're about to face is Mr. Curtain, and his so called Ten Men. Mr. Curtain is Mr. Benedict's twin brother who is his complete opposite. They may look alike outside, but you'll surely change your mind when you get to know him. The children find out that he kidnapped Mr. Benedict, and now its all up to them to save him. Children against evil. I wonder how they plan to save him, when Mr. Curtain has a new weapon called the "Salamander", as he lost his whisperer last year due to Mr. Benedict. 

     In my opinion, I think that the first book is better than this one. It had more surprises, and it just made you want to stare at the wall, full of amazement. I even expected even more surprises, even more in the third book, but I do have to say that the first book is so much better. On the other hand, Trenton Lee Stewart never left out the whole mystery in the story. Filled with puzzles that'll make you explode of curiosity, future detectives will not one to miss this. It'll just make you want to say "We were so close! Yet still so far!" This book is still extremely nice, so read it, if you've even got enough nerve. 

Rating: O  O  O  O  O

Suggested age of Readers: 9-12 years old

Genre: Young Adult Literature, Mystery

The Mysterious Benedict Society By Trenton Lee Stewart
Illustrated by Diana Sudyka 

*Book Review

Inkheart By Cornelia Funke

     Ever since Meggie Folchart was a little kid, she had always lived with her father Mortimer Folchart. She called him Mo. Mo, and nothing else. Mo never talked about his wife. Whenever Meggie would ask about her, he would ignore her or change the topic. Meggie and Mo love books. That was one of the few things in common they had. Mo was someone who repaired damaged books - that was his job. They lived in a house, just the two of them. But all that is about to change when a man named Dustfinger appears in front of Meggie's house. With him, the adventure finally begins. Dustfinger calls mo as "Silvertounge", as Meggie overhears. During the next day, Meggie and Mo get away from home to visit one of Meggie's great aunts, Elinor, who has an even higher passion for books. They end up bringing Dustifinger, and Meggie discovers his pet marten named Gwin, and an enemy named Capricorn. Once they arrive at Elinor's place, the four become a gang and go to Capricorn's village to save Meggie's mom, whom she discovers was sucked into a book by her father, and in exchange, Capricorn and his men get out of a book (which includes Dustfinger), Inkheart. Up until now, Capricorn's men are still in search of Silvertounge to read them back into the story. But at Elinor's house, Mo becomes kidnapped by Capricorn's men. Some of his men are named Basta, Flatnose, and Cockerell. And with that, Dustfinger suddenly disappears. Elinor and Meggie go to Capricorn's village to rescue Mo, but things get worse and they become prisoners as well. As Mo is asked to read to test his powers, he accidentally reads out a boy a few years older than Meggie from the book "Treasure Island". They also find the writer of Inkheart, Fenoglio and ask him to help them find a copy of Inkheart to make Capricorn get sucked into the book. But sadly, he also becomes a prisoner. Meggie slowly discovers that she has powers just like her dad as well. She read out Tinker Bell while reading Peter Pan at Capricorn's village. Will each of the prisoners ever get out in one piece? Will Mo get to read out Meggie's mom out of Inkheart? But most importantly, will Capricorn ever be defeated? 

     Inkheart has touched my life as a writer at a young age. If you love reading books and writing, you will be able to relate in Fenoglio's part as an author and how we feel as readers whenever we're reading a book. We feel as if the whole world is in our hands and time is stopping for something as significant as this. 5 out of 5.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

*Book Review

"I have loved the stars to fondly to be fearful of the night."

     Whenever you love something or someone, do you ever let it go? Will you let anyone else borrow it? What would you do if someone approaches you and wants to borrow that hair clip your mom told you to take care of? And worse, what if she was a total stranger? What would you do?

     Well, the good news is that you're not alone. We all love something, and we can't always say yes to let someone borrow our stuff. But in Galileo Galilei, the famous Indian mathematician, astronomer, physicist, engineer, and philosopher's case, borrowing is a bit different. Just with his beautiful saying, "I have loved the stars to fondly to be fearful of the night." Perfect words. Perfect. If we're all afraid of sleeping in the dark, would you still be afraid if you had your dear little puppy with you? If you're afraid of studying, would you still be afraid if your friend sat next to you during classes? Or if you were afraid of eating vegetables, would you still be happy if I told you that if you don't, you could be sick? Now out minds suddenly change and we would want to overcome our fears. You love your puppy too much. You like the feeling of being with that person you call as your "bestie". And you also like the life of being away from sickness. What if these things were borrowed? Then you'd be afraid again? 

     We all have fears. It is deathly hard to get away from them, and having a bit of optimism in them could make things better. If you loved the dark so much and welcomed it like an old friend, would you still be afraid? If you loved studying and having high grades so much, would you still need your friend (only in the class of course)? And if you loved eating vegtables, what would be the meaning of fear? The unknown thing we imagine beyond death and darkness. Nothing is to be frightened of. With the Lord and your positive attitude, you'll surely love everything too fondly to remember the meaning of fear.

Photo from Google Images

By the way, this is my first post that follows the new schedule I have posted a few days ago. This will continue until the days to come.