Have you ever wanted to create your very own Harry Potter wand for parties, costuming, or just plain fun? Well now is your chance! With simple materials attainable from your local craft store, you can make your own customized wand like those featured in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The best part is, this fun craft is a great summer activity for parents and children to do together.
The Wand Chooses the Wizard
Now is the time to decide what type of wand you want to make, or rather, let the wand choose you. You can research a design from the books or movies, or you can go through the individual process of designing your own wand model. Think of mythological creatures and their properties. A Dragon wand could have scales attached to it and a dragon’s talon hanging from it. Likewise, you could think of elemental properties. A Firestorm wand might be charred with flames and have volcanic rock embedded in it. Use your imagination and create a design that’s unique. When it’s finished, your wand will show off your personality and powers as a budding wizard.
What You’ll Need
In this guide, I’m going to show you how to make my own Phoenix model design pictured in Diagram 1. You’ll need the following:
First you need to prepare your dowel. If you are not using pre-sanded crafting wood, make sure all of your wood is sanded smooth. Looking at my wand blueprints, you’ll see I have placed my dowel toppers at one end of the dowel. Dowel toppers have one hole pre-drilled through them so if you only want to use one, all you have to do is spread a thin coating of glue over the end of your rod and slide the topper in place. But if you want to use two toppers for a more decorative design, you will need to continue drilling the hole all the way through your toppers except for the last one, as it will be able to sit on the end. In the case of the Phoenix, drill a hole through the other side of the largest topper, only drilling it as wide as the original hole. Place a light layer of glue over the last inch and a half to two inches of your rod and slide on the larger topper, then the smaller one. Be sure to make any adjustments quickly before the glue dries. If you run into the problem of excess glue drying on your rod, just take a piece of sandpaper and sand it away.
Now you need to make the decorative grooves in your wand. To do this, first mark lightly with a pencil where your grooves will go. Assuming my wand is 12” long, I have one groove placed 1 inch from the dowel toppers, and one placed three inches from the tip of the wand. An effective way to cut your grooves, especially if you don’t have a proper carving knife, is to place your knife at a slight angle, the edge of the blade against your mark as though you were going to cut a triangle. Then take a another small piece of wood, a rock, or something else of good, handheld weight and LIGHTLY tap on the handle of your knife, driving the blade into the wood. When you’re in about a quarter inch to a half inch depending on the circumference of your rod, move your blade to complete your triangle and use the same tapping motion. Repeat for the other side. Remember, when making your grooves, err on the side of cutting too little rather than cutting too much. Ideally your grooves should have enough wood left so that there will be no worry of the rod breaking at that point.
You can also use this technique to shape the tip of your wand, but you may find it easier to use a shaving or whittling technique instead, holding the side of the blade flat against the wood and using a shaving motion, always AWAY from you, to cut off strips of the wood at a time. You may want to wear gloves while doing this, as splinters can be a nasty possibility.
Now that you’ve got the form of your wand properly sculpted it’s time to add the decorations, starting with the paint or stain. If you want a more traditional wand you can use any typical wood stain and apply it with a sponge, taking a brush to the grooves. But for the Phoenix, I’m going to go with a more modern look and paint my wand black with orange and red flames curling around the end.
Take a sponge or large brush and apply the black paint over the entire wand. Once that dries, use a small liner brush to carefully paint the outlines of the flames the way you want them before filling them in with a larger brush. Wait for your paint to dry completely before coating it with a layer or two of your satin-finish sealer.
To complete the Phoenix, cut black hemp and tie it just before the dowel toppers as shown on the diagram. Continue wrapping it around the rod to get a thick ‘spool’. Take your red and orange craft feathers and cut away some of the bottom fluff so that you have enough of the plastic to ‘thread’ underneath your overlapping hemp. Add a dot of glue to the hemp and hold it tightly down until your feather is properly attached. Continue adding feathers to your liking. If you don’t wish to leave them hanging down from the wand, you can glue them directly on top of your mini-spool of hemp.
Cut another hemp rope to your liking and this time only tie it around your rod once, in the groove one inch from your toppers. It should snag easily, helping keep it in place. Tie a small knot at the underside of your rod, and let the rest of the hemp hang down. Take your faux crystal or other gem or rock and wrap the hemp around it, at least twice. Weave the hemp inside itself and carefully glue it to the crystal. Trim any excess. Again, if you do not want your crystal to hang down, you can cut extra hemp and, after wrapping it around the stone, bring it back up to wrap around the rod, securing it on the top or underside of the wand.
Recite a clear incantation and deftly wave your newly-created wand to test it out, then congratulate yourself on a job well done! Soon you will be a wand-making pro, and perhaps students will one day see you in Diagon Alley.
All materials used in this guide can be purchased from Michaels Arts and Crafts Store. For a Michaels near you, check out Michaels.com.
