The Sets

The Drawing Board

The Concept; Otherwise known as – Where do I begin?

My daughter came home from a friends 18th party a while ago as she was talking about the party and describing the evening, this started me thinking. My son (Leon) was turning 21 in 6 months time and I wanted to do something that he would remember for a long time.

But what?

What could we do that was different from any other party? What could we do that all his friends would be talking about for ages?

I asked Leon what would he like for his 21st party.
He instantly replied “A Harry Potter Party, but I want to be good and not like a kiddy party.”

Leon has grown up along side the Harry Potter stories and loved them. The last Harry Potter movie ( Deathly Hallows Part 2) had been recently screened, this meant a lot of other people were talking about Harry Potter too.

I thought for a while and said “OK, but lets go all out and make it EPIC! A party that you and your friends will never forget“.

Leon and I brainstormed on how to go about doing this. After a lengthy discussion we decided to build a set and turn our outdoor area into Hogwarts. We thought that this was pretty cool so I told my lovely wife Frances that we were building Hogwarts for Leon’s 21st. Her reply was “That a good idea, but how are you going to do that?” I didn’t quite know at the time but I replied “I’ll figure it out”.

The first thing I always do when I’m thinking about making anything is, to get out a pad and pencil and start drawing. If I like what I’ve drawn, I will add more detail. When I’m satisfied with my sketch, I then draw it to scale.

If I can draw it, I can make it……. Well most of the time anyway.

The area we had to work with was an undercover patio next to our pool. This area measures 7 meters (23 feet) by 6 meters ( 20 feet). We decided to make the set 2.3 meters ( 7 feet 6 inches) high so that it would fit just under the eves.

I drew the two sections of the set that would go up against our house. We weren’t sure what we would do for the other two sides but I had my concept plan now I just need to work out how to get a believable stone look. I didn’t know how to do it then but I knew that we would figure it out …..