Conjuring Harry Potter

After decades of work and 7 films, the last (#8!) Harry Potter movie is out this weekend:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

AND WE ARE EXCITED!

I checked out a recent review at EW, by Lisa Schwarzbaum saying the film "leaves us with the dawning, awesome recognition that the world is huge, fraught, enigmatic, magical, dangerous, delightful, and, ultimately, the responsibility of young people who must first find their own footing. That's quite an accomplishment for a story about a boy with a wand." Indeed.

I saw this nice little photo spread in the NY Times magazine over the weekend too (photographer, Levon Biss, Set Designer, Claudia Parker, Stylist, David St. John-James) and it inspired me about all the magic going on in our lives all the time.

 

(Stephanie McMillan, set decorator; Stuart Craig, production designer; Barry Wilkinson, property master pictured among props)

--- p.s. we have lots of awesome birdcages just like those! ---

 clockwise from upper left: David Heyman, producer of the Potter series;  a sampling of the nearly 600 wands, used during filming; the snitch, which must be captured as part of a game Quidditch; Nick Dudman, special-makeup-effects artist, left facing down Griphook, a Gringotts Bank goblin.

In the write-up, Julie Tottman, the head animal trainer, imparted that Hedwig the owl used to get fanmail. “We always sent them a feather back,” she said. How awesome is that? I love when adults take a little extra time (on top of an already creatively over the top job like this) to ignite and encourage the magic in the young folk. It’s beautiful.

We can’t lie, we’re hopelessly under Mr. Potter’s spell, and to celebrate these films of magical forces and all the creative machinations required to manifest such wonderment, we conjured up a little Harry Potter à la Paris Market style.

 

Church lantern (we have 2!) right above you when you walk in our front door.

 

clockwise from upper left: Broom, for riding or sweeping, Amber glass bottles of an apothecary nature, Old oil painting that might talk, Glass frog tray sure to charm a princess. 

Let the Magic Live!