Loot Crate Wizarding World Unboxing | May 2017

 

It's that time again, and I'm SO EXCITED!!  Loot Crate's bi-monthly Wizarding World box is the only licensed Harry Potter box out there, and they never fail to disappoint.  This month's theme was centered around the Dark Arts, and as a Slytherin I was all about that. 

Usually there is a little Muggle Worthy sticker that goes here, a la Newt Scamander's briefcase, but this month we got this fantastic Dark Mark sticker.  I guess the nod to Newt wouldn't exactly be appropriate this month, as Hufflepuff's are generally the sunshine and light of the world!  I did the best that I could to keep this sticker pristine.  It's definitely a keeper!

And then the inside of the box happened.  AAAAAHHHHHH.  I am in love!!  As I've mentioned before, I'm totally one of those people who turn these boxes inside-out and keep them, and this one is certainly no exception.  It's that perfect fine line of creepy and cool, and I'm the biggest fan!  I love it so, so much.

I will say that I was genuinely so excited for just the actual box itself.  Not even faking it or being over expressive about it.  I really love that they go the extra mile with these to make them special and fit the theme!

But enough with my blabbering about boxes.  You're here for what's inside the box, right?  Let's take a look!

First up, we have the t-shirt!  Excuse the cat hair.  Macaroni made her home on it as soon as it came out of the box, which is fine since I'm honestly not crazy about this shirt.  I'm usually a villains fan, especially when it comes to Harry Potter villains, but Percival Graves didn't do much for me.  The text on the shirt reads "We've lived in the shadows for far too long."  If nothing else, it will be a good night shirt or workout shirt, or if Macaroni has her way a cat bed.

Next up is this pretty awesome pencil case!  This has Sirius Black's Azkaban number on there, and I think it's pretty cool!  So far this seems to be a lot of people's favorite thing from this box.  I may use it in my purse since I have my cool Have You Seen This Wizard compact mirror that I received in an old Fandom of the Month box.  I can have a whole Azkaban themed makeup situation!

This one is my favorite item from this box, even though I don't know that I'll use it a ton.  We received a stationary set all based around the Chamber of Secrets!  It included these cool black cards with the door to the Chamber embossed on the front, as well as black envelopes, and this cool wax seal set!  I've never tried doing a wax seal before but I'm looking forward to giving it a try!  Plus I also enjoy that I can use my white gel pens on this stationary.  It's going to look pretty badass!

 

 

Speaking of the Chamber of Secrets, our pin for the month is this cool Tom Riddle's Diary pin that has already been destroyed for you!  No need to worry about Tom trying to get you to kill your friends.  And just incase he's still able to try, you have a Basilisk fang handy to kill the diary!  But in all seriousness, I think this is a really neat pin.  It's definitely different and reminds me of something you'd find at Universal Studios!

 

 

The last item is another fan favorite!  We got replicas of Umbridge's cat plates!  As a cat person, I am SO STOKED on these.  Seriously.  My Aunt Ginny gets this box as well and sent me her's since she didn't see herself using them, so I have eight cat plates to hang up!  Crazy cat lady status:  Reached (as if I hadn't already).  The only thing I wish is that they would have made them lenticular so they looked like they were moving, but it certainly doesn't ruin them for me!  I love them so much!

 

Let me know what you thought of this month's box in the comments!  I want to hear what your favorite item is.  It's a tough choice, to be honest.  I feel like this was a really solid box!  The next box comes in July so make sure to keep an eye out for my unboxing!

Battle of the Boxes | Harry Potter Edition

Hello!  And sorry for the absence.  I got a new computer so I was working on getting everything switched over, and adapting to it as it's my first time having a Mac, but we are back in business!  And I wanted to come back with a new series I'm thinking about doing:  Battle of the Boxes!

It's no secret that there is a subscription box for pretty much anything you can think of these days, but not every subscription box is created equal.  I'm going to break down two boxes and let you know which I think is best, but also give you enough details to decide for yourself.  This isn't going to be a super regular thing, as that can get quite costly, but a couple times a year I'll definitely be giving it a go.  For the first edition, I thought it would be natural for me to start with two that I'm already subscribed to:  Geek Gear's World of Wizardry and Loot Crate's J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.

The Basics

I have been subscribed to the World of Wizardry box since the summer, and at the time, it was the only option available.  I enjoyed it, but when Loot Crate announced at New York Comic Con that they would be coming out with the official box to represent all of J.K. Rowling's wizarding properties, I was hard pressed to pass this up.

The World of Wizardry box is by Geek Gear, which is a company based in the U.K.  Obviously this means that if you are living in the States like myself, you'll be paying a little more to have the box delivered to you.  The box is £19.99 per month, which obviously fluctuates outside of the U.K. depending on the conversion rate of the currency.  For this reason, I go with a three month plan, which is £56.97.  That way I lock in on one conversion rate for a few months.  If you really want to go all-in, you can get this for 6 months for £107.94, or 12 months for £203.88.  This is a monthly subscription box and they usually ship between the 20-25 of each month.  The only downside with their shipping is that we don't receive tracking numbers.  Especially with things coming from overseas, I like to be able to know where my package is and when I'm going to receive it.  

As I mentioned earlier, J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World box is the official box for Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts merchandise and is ran through Loot Crate, which was to the best of my knowledge one of the first geeky subscription boxes out there.  I was subscribed to the original crate for a while, but unsubscribed only because the boxes were so vague and I was getting things from properties that I didn't know anything about.  Everything in this box will obviously be from the Wizarding World we all love!  This is a bi-monthly box and is $34.99 (plus shipping and handling), however they also offer bundle packages if you want to pay for several months in advance.  

So that's all of the boring stuff.  Let's get onto the unboxings!

World of Wizardry

The "format" of the boxes is generally the same:  you tend to get some posters, there's always a t-shirt, something for the home, and then a couple other goodies.  The posters are generally pretty cool, and they have also been sneaking in some original art the past couple months.  The last two I didn't love, but I really love the one this month with Harry's patronus.  I'm super excited about the Slytherin pillowcase!  I love the design, which we actually got a print of a couple months ago, and I will happy to have it somewhere on display in my house.  

I'm unsure about the jelly beans, as they don't say whether or not they're Bertie Bott's and I don't play around with those!  The socks pair well with the gloves and hat we received last month, and the t-shirt is actually a design that we had on a sticker that I got in one of my first boxes.

One thing that I think this box does perfectly is house-specific merchandise.  While both boxes ask you to choose your house when you sign up (you don't have to and you'll receive random houses every month), this one has house-specific stuff in every box.  Granted, the Loot Crate box is fairly new (the first box was in November), there hasn't been anything house-specifc yet, although the theme of the next box (March) is house pride, so one would think there will be house merchandise in there.

J.K. Rowling's World of Wizardry

I love the shirts we get.  Just the quality alone is lovely, but the designs have been great too. I'm surprised they went with Snape this month, as he's a pretty polarizing character, but I am Team Snape so I shan't complain!

I really love the pocket watch we got.  I think the design of it is really beautiful, on the inside and out. The time turner isn't my favorite, as it doesn't properly twirl and there's no sand in the middle.  The World of Wizardry box has done the time turner quite a few times and I'm a much bigger fan of that one.  I think the prophecy button is neat and will hang well with some of my other buttons at work!

The socks are super cute, although they seem like they're going to be a little big on me (these are for size 10-13 and I'm a 7 1/2).  And then of course, there's Sirius!  We seem to be getting a Funko in every box and they have four or five that you can get.  I just wish they would start doing exclusives because I am totally one of those people who buy them all up once I see them in stores.  I already had Sirius, and I received a Niffler last box, which I also already had.  The Niffler is hanging out with me at work and I gave Sirius to my friend Noelle, so it all works out.  Hopefully there are some exclusives in the future, though!

So, now it's up to you to let me know which you like better!  Personally, I think I'm more on Team Loot Crate.  While you definitely get less stuff than the other box, I think it's of higher quality.  Plus I generally don't really know what to do with most of the stuff in the World of Wizardry box.  But that's just me.  Tell me in the comments below which one you'd rather be subscribed to!

Knit Your Own Harry Potter House Scarf Blanket

Guys.  Remember how I've been saying for like, months, how I was working on something I was super excited about but couldn't really talk about it because it was a Christmas present?  Well, this is it.  This is the thing.  It's a Harry Potter House Scarf Blanket.  Now, I don't know if this is something that's been done before.  It probably has.  It doesn't seem like it's the biggest revelation in my life, but I was determined to try to figure this out on my own-ish.  I say "ish" because I did end up modifying a scarf pattern, but I didn't go out of my way to find a pattern for this specific project as I really wanted to try to figure it out.  And I did.  And I loved the journey!

Now, if you know me and/or have been following my blog, then you know that I'm a Slytherin, so obviously, it did hurt me just a little bit to be going on this adventure with a Gryffindor scarf blanket, but I really wanted to make this for my Aunt Ginny, as she's one of the biggest Harry Potter fans I know and was the one who ended up convincing me to start reading the books when I was trying to find myself a new fandom.  I thought it would be appropriate that she be the first recipient of this, but you better believe that I bought myself some yarn to make a Slytherin one for myself in the very near future!

Something worth mentioning is that I'm still very much a beginner knitter, so if you are as well or you don't even know how to knit but would like to learn and give this a try, don't let it intimidate you.  Switching colors is really easy; more than anything it's just more annoying at the end having to weave in so many ends.  This is a really great project for beginners, I think, since it gets you used to knitting, purling and switching colors.  There are tons of great tutorials on YouTube that you can seek out to help you learn if this is something you'd like to try!

So as I mentioned, I did modify the blanket from this pattern, but since I wasn't using the exact yarn she was using I had to do some modifications as far as the gauge went.  There was a lot of math and I was so happy to have the gauge calculator I mentioned in this post handy because I don't know that I would have figured everything out as easily without it! 

Initially I had planned on making the blanket 81" x 60".  Because apparently I had planned on working on this for the rest of my life?  I think I ended up making it 60" wide, because that's as wide as my measuring tape went.  I think the blanket ended up being 50-something" long.  It would have been helpful to measure before I actually gifted it, eh?  But I didn't, so I'm unsure.  But you can make it whatever size you would like.  If you want to make it small for a baby or large for a blanket to put on your bed, you can do it all.

Also.  I feel like yarn is such a personal thing.  There are people out there who feel very strongly about only using natural fibers (like my knitting teacher annoyingly was), and there are people who don't care.  I'm in the don't care boat, only because natural fiber yarn can get quite pricey and when you're making a large project like a blanket, that can end up adding up really quickly.  So use what you're able to afford.  

For this blanket, I used the Red Heart Super Saver Economy Yarn in Burgundy for the red and then Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Gold for the stripes.  I found this did me well, as I think I probably spent less then $20 on all of this and still have some left over for some future Gryffindor projects (which, sadly, there are).  Both of these skeins are Size 4 yarn and I used a 8 US sized needle. 

Since I was using the intended needle size for this yarn, I was able to see off the label that the gauge was 23 rows in a 4x4 square and able to figure everything out from there.  Again, you can refer to my gauge post if you're using a different yarn or needle size.  I will say that in the middle of making this blanket I started working on a bigger scarf for my brother using Size 5 or 6 yarn and 13 US size needles and everything worked up so quickly that when I came back to working on this blanket I wanted to cry over how long it took to get a row done!  So if you don't feel like spending a ton of time on this, you can certainly use bulkier yarn to have it work up super quickly.

The pattern I worked with is as follows:

MC = Main Color (Red, Green, Yellow or Blue depending on your house)

SC = Stripe Color (Gold, Silver, Black or Bronze/Silver depending on your house)

- Long tail cast- on (or cast-on of your preference) as wide as you would like.  I did mine to 60".

- 28 rows of MC working in stockinette stitch (alternate between one row of knitting/one row of purl).  Slip 1st stitch on each row purl-wise and knit last stitch on each row, on every single row after you cast on.

- 4 rows of SC

- 6 rows of MC

- 4 rows of SC

- Repeat 28/4/6/4 pattern as many times as needed.

- 28 rows of MC

- Cast-off

Again, use your gauge to figure out how long you're going to make this, or just work on it until you think it's going to be long enough.  Sometimes that's kind of fun to just keep working it up.  For instance, I thought I would be repeating the 28/4/6/4 nine times, but I think I ended up only doing it 6 or 7 times, both because I was running out of time and I also forget that my Aunt is quite a bit shorter than I am so the blanket didn't need to be from my head to toe to cover her.

Also, the sides and the bottom of my blanket ended up rolling up.  I'm not 100% sure why that was, but it isn't the biggest deal.  It's just an aesthetic thing, it doesn't really affect anything and honestly I don't even know how to begin to fix it even if I wanted to.  Hopefully on my next go I can try to correct it or figure out why it's rolling.  If you have any idea please let me know!

Also, if you plan on gifting a blanket that you make, I thought this was a cute little tag to attach!  On the back side I put the care instructions from the yarn labels just in case anything happened, which is something I always do when I gift knitted goods.  There's nothing more frustrating than not knowing how to care for a garment you receive!

So that is it!  I really, really hope that this all made sense.  This is my first go at writing a pattern or really writing in-depth about a project that I made so I apologize if it's confusing.  Feel free to ask for clarification if  something confuses you!  And let me know if you plan on making this or if you have made something Harry Potter-inspired yourself!

10 Gifts For Your Brave Gryffindor | A Very Merry Harry Potter Christmas

We have come to the end of our Harry Potter gift guide and we are rounding it out with Gryffindor!  Granted, not all Gryffindors are like Harry Potter and his gang, going off on endless missions to bring down Lord Voldemort and excelling at Quidditch, but there is a touch of adventure in every Gryffindor and that is where I drew my inspiration for this gift guide!  So let's see the last of the lot of things that I have found!

 

1/Sword of Gryffindor

There is nothing more Gryffindor than the Sword of Gryffindor.  It comes to those in need and it was a definite help to those  trying to bring down Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.  Now you can have one in your home!  The life-size one is on the pricey side, but they make a letter opener that will also represent your Gryffindor pride quite well!

2/Harry Potter Wizard Chess Set

It seems like Harry and Ron were always playing Wizard Chess in the Gryffindor common room, doesn't it?  Not only that, but it played a pretty big part in the Sorcerer's Stone.  Turn your own home into the Gryffindor common room by having this sitting out all the time!  There is a more budget-friendly version of this set that you can find here, and also my review of here!

3/Gryffindor Quidditch Sweater

So, when your house is winning at pretty much everything, you have to show off your pride, right?  So when you have one of the best seekers in Hogwarts history, you're going to be winning a ton.  Much to the chagrin of the other houses, I'm sure.  So, when you're sitting outside, freezing in the rain and snow to watch your Quidditch team kick some butt, be sure to be comfy and cozy with this sweater! 

4/Luna's Gryffindor Hat

You can't let a Ravenclaw show you up on the love of your house, so here is a way to represent your house just like Luna!  There is no doubt that this hat was one of my favorite things Luna did, and there are plenty.  So be sure to rock it whenever!  If you're looking for something a little less expensive, you can check out this absolutely adorable version instead. 

5/Hogwarts House Points Necklace

It was always a crapshoot in the end whether or not Gryffindor was going to pull ahead in points and win the house cup, but somehow they always managed to do it.  Grab this necklace to show off that you are pretty much always winning.

6/Gryffindor High Top Shoes

These will pair quite well with your sweater when you're on your way to Quidditch, or just walking around Hogsmeade with a warm cup of Butterbeer.  Either way, these are going to keep you looking super proud of your house!  

7/I Party With The Weasleys Shirt

No matter when you went to Hogwarts, odds are that there was a Weasley for you to party with.  I can only imagine that any of the Weasley's kids were definitely party animals well after the Weasleys we grew to know and love graduated.  Let everyone know that you can hang with some of the best!...

8/Marauder's Map Coasters

...But for goodness sake, put some coasters down under those drinks!  That is some super antique furniture at Hogwarts.  Don't make the House Elves work extra hard to clean up after your mess!  Plus these coasters are so gorgeous it won't be too hard not to want to use them.

9/Fat Lady Portrait

Want to keep your annoying brother or sister out of your room?  Need a little privacy from your roommates?  Leave it up to the Fat Lady!  She will keep out anyone who doesn't know the password, so hang her on your door and leave the rest up to her.  Just maybe keep you dog away from her.  She might have a little bit of an aversion.

10/Wounded Warrior Project

These guys are the bravest people in the world and they need all the help and appreciation we can give them.  If you aren't familiar with the Wounded Warrior Project, they aid wounded members of America's armed forces and their families, which is so important as they go through such a difficult time.  If you don't live in America, do some research to see if there is an organization in your country that does similar work for your wounded service men and women.

 

A VERY MERRY HARRY POTTER CHRISTMAS INDEX

general | slytherin | hufflepuff | ravenclaw



 

I hope you guys have enjoyed these since I had an absolute blast putting them all together.  Just when you think you've seen all of the Harry Potter merchandise that could possibly be out there you stumble upon so much more! 

10 Wise Gifts For Your Ravenclaw | A Very Merry Harry Potter Christmas

Ravenclaws, you are up!  Whether you're a quirky one or a super bookworm, or a little of both, I have you covered!  As I mentioned in my previous posts, I tried to find things that not only represented house pride, but also things that the people in the houses would actually enjoy.  So let's get into it!

1/Ravenclaw Diadem

The most famous piece of Ravenclaw history is the lost diadem, which as an extra added bonus happens to be absolutely gorgeous!  This comes with a collector's case for display purposes when you're not rocking it on the regular.  If you aren't really looking to spend the money on the actual replica, you can always get it in necklace form.

2/Ravenclaw Notebook

Ravenclaws are always thinking, right?  Always coming up with great ideas or just deep reflections.  So it's only right for them to have a fancy notebook to keep all of these thoughts and ideas in.  There are a lot of gorgeous notebook options, but this one is by far my favorite.  It's very clean and classic looking, plus it will hold up well with its faux-leather cover.

3/Ravenclaw Wax Seal

I always think of Ravenclaws as the classiest, most dignified house in Hogwarts, which is why I think this is a perfect fit for a Ravenclaw.  If you get a letter with a real wax seal on it it's pretty darn special.  Plus this looks gorgeous.  Granted, it is the movie colors and not the book colors, but it's still pretty cool.

4/Ravenclaw Messenger Bag

When you're on the go, there's nothing better than a smart bag to carry your tablet, books and all of your other belongings.  Enter this really pretty messenger bag!  You can take all of your reading and writing with you wherever you go!  

5/Ravenclaw Spa Kit

Where is the absolute best place to be alone with your thoughts?  The bathroom.  Or a nice hot shower.  Either way, you can definitely enjoy this spa kit!  The set includes lotion, bubble bath, bath salt, a soy candle, soap and a tube of lip balm, most of which smells like Butterbeer!  Perfection in a little kit.  This is the easiest way to get your relaxation on!

6/Juniper Books Personalized House Books

One thing any bookworm loves is a nice set of books.  This is one of my favorite set of Harry Potter books out there.  You can get a set for each house and they are all beautiful.  They come in a box to protect their gorgeousness as well.  Just in case you don't want to keep them out on display.  Because these probably wouldn't be for reading anyway.  They're too pretty!

7/Hogwarts Great Hall & Astronomy Tower 3D Puzzle Set

Who doesn't love a good puzzle?  And who doesn't love a good puzzle that turns into Hogwarts?  This undoubtedly will be a pretty big challenge, but imagine how amazing it will feel to have it done!  And how awesome it will look on display.  

8/Look Human's Book Nerd Merchandise

What is worse than people trying to talk to you while you're reading?  Nothing.  Nothing is worse than that.  But you can absolutely let people know that you don't want to be interruted by wearing a shirt telling people as much.  Or that you love to read.  Or that reading with your cats is your favorite.  Whatever your voice, let it be heard with this range of shirts!

9/Celestial Clothing & Accessories

It's said that the Ravenclaw Common Room's carpet is covered in stars.  Plus they're up in their own tower, so I can only imagine how beautiful the stars must be from the windows.  I could stargaze all night!  Bring these celestial vibes into your wardrobe!  Like this starry dress, this moon and stars cardigan, this moon choker, or these earrings.

10/Room To Read

Room To Read is an organization that aims to "transform the lives of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education".  One of the primary goals of this organization is to help make sure that girls continue their education.  In developing countries, the education of boys is valued higher than that of girls, but girls have every right to an equal education.  They work directly within the various communities to make sure that this happens.  They have already benefited 10 million children, which is amazing!  Just one donation of $50 teaches one child to read and write for a whole year. 

A VERY MERRY HARRY POTTER CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE INDEX

general | slytherin | hufflepuff | gryffindor

Next week we will be finishing up this Very Merry Harry Potter Christmas with the Gryffindor gift guide!  Hopefully you'll have enough time to grab some gifts for your Hogwarts friends before Christmas comes.  Let us know if you have any other Ravenclaw gift ideas in the comments below.

 

Loot Crate Wizarding World Unboxing | November 2016

Once upon a time I was subscribed to Loot Crate.  I stopped subscribing because I found myself disliking more and more of the crates because I wasn't interested in the themes and the products in their boxes.  It was too general for me.  Fast forward to me getting an e-mail that they had just announced that they would be the provider of the Official Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World box.  You roped me back in, Loot Crate.  Well played.  I tip my proverbial cap to you.

The Wizarding World crate is a bi-monthly subscription box that obviously covers the entire Wizarding World.  Given that this was the first crate I wasn't 100% sure what to expect as they were a little on the vague side as to what was going to be the "theme", if there is one.  I thought this was a very well-balanced crate.  I figured there would be some Fantastic Beasts stuff in it, and considering I absolutely loved that movie I didn't have any objections!  So, without further adieu, let's see what's inside!

Side note, I absolutely adored that the box was just like Newt's briefcase.  It had a little Muggle Worthy sticker on the outside and the box looked just like a normal, black and boring Loot Crate box.  Once you got inside, however, it was this awesome I Want To Be A Wizard box that you can turn inside out when it's safely out of Muggle's hands.

As with all Loot Crate boxes, you get a t-shirt.  This shirt is really neat but super busy.  It's the front page of New York's magical newspaper, The New York Ghost.  It's pretty cool that this ties directly into what is happening in Fantastic Beasts, all the way down to the picture of Mary Lou leading one of her Second Salemers rallies.

I couldn't tell you whether I enjoyed the people or the Fantastic Beasts more in that movie, but I absolutely loved this little guy!  And now I can wear him everywhere I go thanks to this adorable lapel pin.  He was one of my favorites and he definitely seems like one of the more manageable creatures.

Here we have this really pretty Hedwig and Hogwarts letter keychain!  Because who doesn't want to get their letter?  Now we can have it with us all the time!  This is really quite substantial and good quality.  It comes at a perfect time as my current keychain broke.  This will replace that one quite nicely!

PIG!  How absolutely adorable is this little guy?!  And oh man, to feel him.  He is so soft and squishy!  Luckily I won't have to deal with him flying around like a mad-owl all night long.  I don't know if the cats would be too fond of that.  But I will be super happy to have him displayed on my shelf in case I need to send out any letters.  He may not be the most reliable owl, but he'll certainly do in a pinch!

You can never have too many Nifflers, right?  Because I have three!  I bought myself the flocked one from Hot Topic, then John bought me one, and now I got one in my Loot Crate.  There were five different ones you could get:  Newt, Tina, Jacob, Dumbledore or the Niffler.  This guy will hang out with me at work and help me be the Queen of Sparkly and Shiny Things!

And last is this gorgeous notebook with the MCUSA logo on it.  It has the golden lining on the pages as well as a Real Time Hex Indicator in the back.  All of the pages are unlined so you can use it as a sketchbook, bullet journal, or just a regular journal. 

We also received this little scroll, which I assumed might just be a welcome poster for the first box, but ended up talking about all of the loot!  I think this is such a neat little feature.  I think Loot Crate still gives out the magazines in their crates that explains everything inside but this is so much more magical!

And that is everything!  As a side note, you do have the opportunity to chose your house when you sign up, which leads me to believe they will be doing more house-specific merchandise in the future.  I received an e-mail today saying that the next box's theme is going to be "A Matter of Time", which leads me to believe I will be getting another Time Turner.  But who knows!  

If you are interested in signing up you can do so here.  The next box isn't shipping until January so it's always something you can ask to be under your Christmas Tree or leave under someone else's!

Did you get this box or were you waiting to see what was in it before you dove in?  Let me know what you think in the comments!

 *This post contains my Loot Crate Referral link.  For every one person referred is a credit I earn on my account.  This box is purchased with my own money and all opinions are my own.