CLOSED: Harry Potter Craftalong - Yule 2020/21

:sparkles: :love_letter: :heart: :lion: Gryffindor Common Room :lion: :heart: :love_letter: :sparkles:

Gryffindor House is hosting our annual holiday card exchange. This exchange is open to all HPC members of any House, and cards can be handmade or store bought. (No judgement!) You may participate as much or as little as you wish. This is not a swap, and no one will keep track of cards you send or receive. You can send cards to just a few people, to all the members in your country, or to everyone around the world who signs up. It’s up to you.

To participate, please send Mistress Jennie your name & mailing address (including country), exactly as it should appear on the envelope, by December 1st. I will compile the list, and send it back to you on December 2nd. At that point, you can write and mail your cards!

Participants:
MistressJennie
Abbeeroad
Whistlefish
PrincessP
Trillian
FiberAlchemist
Beholder_folklore
seeuudee
ErinAquaheart

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:honeybee: Hufflepuff Common Room :honeybee:


{art by emilyiles}

The Great Hufflepuff Assignment Spreadsheet

:cookie: The Great Hufflepuff Virtual Cookie Exchange :cookie:

Ready to start your Holiday Baking Game with some tried and true recipes tested and given the seal of approval by a house that knows a thing or two about cookies? The Hufflepuff’s have got you covered!

Recipe #1: Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Tested By: @Trillian
What makes these cookies so good? The chocolate cookie base here is easy to make and a perfect foil for just about any inclusion. Don’t like peanut butter chips? Throw in some M&Ms, crumbled up Andes Mints, or anything you can find in your pantry. The results won’t disappoint.
Tips or Tricks to Share: The cookies can be a little buttery, so if you want to cut back on that ingredient you’ll probably be okay. And as always with chocolate baked good it can be hard to tell when they are done, so the first cookie sheet is a bit of a gamble. You get to keep those for yourself.


Kitchen Sink Cookies by Trillian, on Flickr

Recipe #2: Cherry Bakewell Cookies
Tested By: @seeuudee
Tips or Tricks to Share: Make a double batch because these will disappear quickly!

Ingredients
225g/8oz Unsalted Butter at room temperature
150g/5oz Caster Sugar
275g/10oz Plain White Flour
1/4tsp Salt
1 Large Egg Yolk
1tsp Vanilla Extract
100g/4oz Flaked Almonds
100g/4oz Glacé Cherries roughly chopped
For the drizzle:
200g/7oz Icing Sugar
1tsp Almond Extract
Tap water

In a large bowl add the butter, sugar and salt. Whisk until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Whisk together until all the ingredients are combined. Add the flaked almonds to one side of the bowl, then add the flour to the other side. Put the cherries on top of the flour and gently mix them in the flour with your fingers – this will stop the cherries sticking together and ensure they are distributed evenly throughout the cookie dough. Mix all the ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined.

Wipe the worktop with a clean damp cloth. Lay some cling film over the damp surface – it should stay in place. Place half of the cookie dough onto the cling film and roll into a log shape approx. 4cm/1.5″ diameter. Repeat with the other half of the cookie dough. Place both cookie logs into the fridge to chill until firm – approx. 1 hour. When the cookie logs are firm enough to slice, preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan, gas mark 4, 350F. Remove the cookie logs from the fridge and slice into 1.5 cm discs.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the cookies onto the baking tray, allowing room between each cookie, as they do spread whilst baking. Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Do not bake for longer as the cookies will become too brittle once cooled. After 15 minutes cooling transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.

When completely cooled the cookies are ready to be iced. Mix icing sugar and almond essence and add water a little at a time to a consistency that can be drizzled. Drizzle icing over cookies.

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With the winter holidays coming up, I’m really excited to see what everyone is working on. I have my first Advanced Studies proposal to submit!

~ ADVANCED STUDIES PROPOSAL ~

Project Name: Cross Stitch Portrait
House: Hufflepuff
Brief Description:

I want to take on a pretty ambitious 8x8” cross stitch portrait as my AS project. My younger brother passed three years ago, and I turned one of his last selfies into a pattern using this tool.

My pattern uses about 8 shades of red alone, so I know this will be a beast of a project emotionally and stitch wise, but I think that it will be good emotional labor for me and a good gift for my parents once completed.

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:sparkles: :owl: :scroll: Note from the Headmistress…
Hermione’s Homework Planner has been updated for our new term. I have gone ahead and pasted it into the pages of those who did NOT have notes written into last terms page. For those who DID have notes there, I have pasted the new assignments down below on your page. Simply move any notes you wish to keep, then delete the old rows, so the new items are at the top.

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Slytherin common room

Slytherin house is hosting a Halloween party!

Follow these prompts and attend! From October 7th-October 31st you will have the opportunity to complete these prompts. Those that complete all five prompts will receive a special spooky piece of art…

Reminder: these are not for house points and can be posted along with other prompts. Just be sure to label that you are turning in a Halloween party prompt in the header so I know.

Invitations: to start we need to get the word out about our little soirée. To do so create something using paper in its creation.

Decorations: we have been given the Great Hall to decorate for our party. Halloween has a traditional color palette. Use orange, black, green and/or purple in a craft of your choice.

Snacks: you can’t have a good party without some yummy delicacies. So whip up a spooky edible to add to the spread.

Games: a good party isn’t complete without a fun game or two to bring memorable joy to the occasion. Craft something that brings joy to someone else.

Costumes: to finish off getting this party started you must arrive in appropriate garb. Create something wearable for the festivities.

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Signups for the HP Holiday Swap are now open!

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Yay! Your AS project has been added to the log. Good luck!

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I completely forgot to post the new Iron Chef Challenge yesterday! D’oh!

:shallow_pan_of_food: :woman_cook: :hocho:

October Secret Ingredient: Persimmon!
Try this seasonal fruit in a persimmon bread, jam, or maybe as part of a spiced persimmon bourbon old fashioned!

This term I’m also offering a special treat to anyone who completes all 4 Iron Chef Challenges. A custom sticker!

Good luck and happy cooking!

:shallow_pan_of_food: :woman_cook: :hocho:

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Class or Challenge Title: Muggle Studies
House: Slytherin :snake: :thread:
Project Name & Page Link: Festive Deer Mug Rug
Brief Description: This was totally improvised, so there is no pattern to share. The link takes you to my Completed Project posting on LC, which has more details & photos. the TL/DR is that this is an item for a non-LC personal swap, and it is my first time doing quilt piecing, first time making binding bias tape (badly), and first time attaching said tape.
This Muggle handi-craft is very tedious, but I’m liking it. it is approx. 11"x 7".
Project Picture:

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That’s fun and great work for a new skill-set! It’s very “Patronus in the Forbidden Forest” to my HP obsessed mind. :wink:

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Thanks! It would be perfect for a Patronus themed thing if the background was a dark blue.

Ooh, yeah, that would be even more patronusy.

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Hey guys! There are TWO new LC Challenges running right now! A Cozy Days autumn themed challenge, and a Halloween Costume Challenge.

And remember, if you share a project here after submitting it as a challenge entry, you get 10 bonus points on your project!

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Awesome mug rug, @CraftsUntold! I would never know this was your first time quilt piecing or making binding - my attempts still don’t look as nice and I’ve tried several times! :laughing:

Kicking off the new term!

Class Title: Alchemy
House: Gryffindor!
Project Name & Page Link: Embroidered Mask using Magpie’s Tutorial
Brief Description: The gold in this mask certainly conjures images of the sun shining, and the golden leaves of autumn.
Project Picture:

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Gorgeous mask Abbeeroad!

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Class Title: Divination
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20953/green-tomato-raspberry-jam/
Brief Description: I used the number 5, with 5 cups of green tomatoes to make this Green Tomato Raspberry Jam. The recipe calls for 4, so I adjusted everything. It is over the top sweet, and unsuprisingly tastes a lot like raspberry jello. I will use it in raspberry jam cookies, etc. But not like normal jam on bread. Not a recipe I will likely make again.
Project Picture:*

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I’m glad you talked about the sweetness, because when I saw your recipe used green tomatoes I was very interested.

Class or Challenge Title: Alchemy
House: Hufflepuff :badger::yellow_heart::black_heart:
Project Name & Page Link:
Gudetama Cross Stitch- “Let me Go”
Brief Description: This was my first cross stitch! I whipped this little guy up over the course a week as an anniversary gift for my husband who loves the Gudetama imagery.

The gudetama, like most eggs, features a nice golden yolk atop a white egg white bed.

Project Picture:

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Class or Challenge Title: Alchemy
House: Slytherin :snake: :thread:
Project Name & Page Link: SHINY needle felted pouch
Brief Description: This is another item for the DIY advent swap (non-LC) that I am doing. My swap buddy is a fan of Firefly. While I was googling Firefly stuff to get ideas, I kept seeing SHINY, and a striped hat. So I used the color scheme of the hat and the word SHINY and needle felted a zippered pouch for her. Fits the course, because firefly happens in space, where the sun is, and the sun is shiny…
Project Picture:

Class or Challenge Title: House Unity
House: Slytherin :snake: :thread:
Project Name & Page Link: Bad Crookshanks Drawstring bag
Brief Description: Tried sewing a drawstring bag for the first time! The outer fabric has Crookshanks, and the lining is Quidditch themed.
Project Picture:


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Hi everyone!! I’m in charge of crafts this year for my local MOPs (mothers of preschoolers). Its a Christian based group that gets together a couple times a month for some other adult connection and community. Its strange that motherhood can be such a lonely thing. Its nice to share it with others. So, here are the crafts we are doing this year in my group. I made up examples for my group.

Class or Challenge Title: Apparition
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: Wood Slice Ornaments
Brief Description: I decided it would be fun to do personalized ornaments for our christmas trees this year. I painted the slice with black paint, used my cricut to cut out a little vinyl transfer (which was a little unruly in the weeding, but I managed) and then added little details on the sides of the vinyl writing with paint pens. I drilled a hole at the top for string.
Project Picture:

Class or Challenge Title: Hermoine’s Book Club - The Worst Birthday
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: Bracelets
Brief Description: Being a Mom can be heavy, sometimes. It was strangely lonely being with kids all day. So I joined MOPs so I could help find my people and beat away some of that heavy loneliness. When we make these bracelets, we will be able to wear them and remember that we are not alone. I love these bracelets. They are so easy and can be easily changed up to what suits you. Mine are made with cording and glass beads, woven together.
Project Picture:

Class or Challenge Title: Charms
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: Jar Sign
Brief Description: I found these super cute blank mason jar signs on amazon. I love them! I did a ombre look for the background, painted an outline of the jar around the sides, applied vinyl wording, and some twine. Mason jars are so totally my jam! I’m going to hang mine on the front door. I might even add it to a wreath of some kind.
Project Picture:

Class or Challenge Title: Herbology
House: Hufflepuff
Project Name & Page Link: Sugar Scrubs
Brief Description: My sister asks for these babies for Christmas and her birthday. They are an easy gift, for sure! Just dump all the ingredients into a bowl, stir and put into a cute jar! I did one with 1c white sugar, 7 drops of lavender oil, and a tablespoon of lavender buds. The other one is 1/2c raw sugar, 1/2c brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of almond extract. They are so soothing during a shower and leaves your skin feeling so soft and smooth.
Project Picture:

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I love Gudetama!

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