Love Yourself. You deserve this.

It is absolutely HUMAN to not love who you are and some days I still struggle with it.

Going into this post, I thought I was going to write about how "feeling comfortable in my own skin" was something that one could achieve through self confidence, a lifetime of living, blah blah blah blah and more bullshit. However, what I've come to discover, is that PEOPLE bring out the best in me. They force me to realize that I am me and I will always be me. That's not to be confused with just people in general; I'm speaking of the people that I surround myself with (no matter where in the world they may be) that I can truly be unfiltered around and how much of a, for lack of a better word, blessing, that is.. To come unglued, to speak without thinking, to share silence with. I'm completely aware that these aforementioned actions are not what every person constitutes as feeling completely content with oneself, however, this is the case for me. This is what I've discovered and I'm currently basking in the feeling of it, because I've spent too much of my life trying to get in touch with how people accept themselves for who they are, without really realizing that I've been myself all along.

I have a few people in my life that bring out the best in me. I mean that. They bring out the traits that I know are my most favorable (and no, there is nothing wrong with knowing what your best traits are). They are favorable because I favor them--easy concept, right?

The people I surround myself with in my life make me shine. They bring out my laugh at its heartiest. They make me selfless, as in, I would do anything and everything to make them happy and more importantly: they have inadvertently taught me to love myself for who I am, not who others feel I should be without even really trying.

There isn't this big philosophical epiphany at the end of this post. In fact, I'm not even sure if I am getting a point across here OR if anyone actually reads this. This post may just serve as a reminder when I need it... BUT, this is what I do know:

• I'm 27 years old. Sometimes I feel like I'm 15, sometimes I feel like I'm 80 and I believe that age is just a number.
• I listen more than I talk
• I appreciate the small things, because they add up to big things in the end
• I like my laugh
• If you're truly important to me, I will do anything for you without thinking twice. Whether that be just listening or going out of my way to give you a gift for no reason at all.
• I have anxiety and there is nothing wrong with that.
• I have the wherewithall to know when it's not in control
• I respect myself
• I am a gamer.
• I over think everything.
• I'm also the biggest Lord of the Rings fan that you'll meet and it's not for reasons you would think. The message that the series encompasses is extremely important and close to my heart. I will defend it to my dying day.
• I had a shattered childhood that not many know about but chose to learn from it and grow, rather than dwell
• Pride is my biggest downfall
• I've learned to love the 3 freckles that frame my mouth
• I'm creative
• I am a feminist
• I will call you out on your bullshit
• I have trust issues
• I'm not good at Math
• My cat is one of the most important figures in my life and I'm not ashamed of that. 
• It's okay that I started my life over and now have a job that doesn't make nearly as much money. I'm happy and haven't regretted it once.
• I like that I take risks. I like that I take chances. I don't like that it takes me forever to realize that I do these things all the time and don't give myself enough credit.
• I've learned to like the fact that I'm so clumsy that I can't feel half of my toes anymore.

While these traits, facts, whatever you want to call them's are something that I am, they do not shape the entirety of me. That would be impossible to list. I suppose the point of the list was to show that it's possible to like and love certain things about yourself and to GROW to love other things about yourself. Something that is equally as important to me, is finding people in your life that encourage you to be all of these things. That they make you understand just how important you are for being you. 

While I'm sure it does take a great deal of self reflection to fully comprehend who you are and many people spend their whole lives trying to discover and uncover it for this big, beautiful answer--I just simply think that the astounding and incredible thing is that there is an innumerable amount of things that make a person, human.

It may seem weird to make a post like this. One that capitalizes on my reflection and self love, but I don't feel that there is enough of that in the world. The point I'm trying to make is that it is completely possible to like the person you are. I'm not saying "Do all of the following to live a happier, care free life--full of self discovery and loving the person you are". I'm actually just sharing my experience because, well, why not? It is my blog after all.

In the end, all that there is to say is that I love that I don't have to care and can be myself, because I love the person that I have become. I am flawed, but there is nothing wrong with that.

And for those that are wondering, no I haven't taken up drugs. Those are awful for you. I'm just feeling, feelings.

Anxiety, thou art a heartless bitch.

At first I wasn't sure if I really wanted to write this post. I felt that well, maybe not that much time had passed by and I really didn't need to look that deeply into things, nor should I have to explain why I haven't been uploading every week like I used to. As it turns out, part of that is true and part of it is not.

For those of you that have befriended me through my channel or have already known me for many years, you'll know and will have noticed that I haven't uploaded my weekly scheduled Friday video for a number of months on my Youtube Channel. Yes, there have been a video here or there, the most current being a 3 part vlog segment of Cabin Con: 2014 that I'm very proud of (the last of which I still have not completed but plan to). Many of you have sent me messages, texts and even some phone calls wondering why. My response was always the same--I've been really busy.

This is the part where I explain that things are hectic, blah blah blah and again, some of that is true and some of part of it is not.

What is exactly has been going on? Why the hiatus?

If you're wondering why this is so important to me and why I'm choosing to share this with you, it's because creating content and editing are a considerable chunk of my life. On top of being a Youtuber, I am a full time Professional Video Editor and Photographer. I started out doing both as a hobby and through a number of situations and circumstances, all of the aforementioned being heavily handed in hard work with a sprinkling of creative nuances, it became my job. My career. My means of living. I had never experienced something like this before. Separating life and work was something I wasn't accustomed to doing--especially with something I LOVE doing.

I see video editing as perfect way to express creativity, emotion and to tell a story but after so many hours a week completing videos for clients that are not in your own personal realm of creativity, as a creator--it starts to take a tole. I knew that going into this that given my past of not being able to separate work and personal life (in this current case I'm speaking of YouTube), that it would be difficult to control work time and my own time to express myself (youtube, blogging, social media, etc)...and I was right to worry about that, because it inevitably happened. I couldn't separate being a Video Editor for my business (even though the content is different AND I have clients) from being a Youtuber, which is entirely self driven. By the end of my work week, even thought I loved what I was doing, I was mentally exhausted and couldn't upload for my channel.

I say couldn't because:

At the beginning of Summer I had posted a video about "Where I had Been". I had pin-pointed that I was struggling with the amount of time I devoted to work and the amount of time I was devoted to creating original content. In my video I had explained that I started the summer off with expectations and plans for a summer line up of videos that I was excited about. I didn't account for one thing: my anxiety creeping up on me and my inability to recognize that I was about to hit a road block.

For those of you who don't know, I have anxiety. Anxiety contributes to a lot of this. I could write for days and days of the feelings of having anxiety --how it makes you feel, how it closes you in, how it makes you feel helpless over the littlest of things. Trust me, it's not fun--so why am I mentioning it now?

I'll simply say that having anxiety caused a lot of second guesses, self doubt and that over powering feeling of being able to come up with ways to express myself started to slip away from me. It made it hard to keep things organized. I would spend entirely too much time working or entirely too much time trying to come up with ideas for my channel and coming up with nothing that my anxiety got the best of me. It wasn't this hard when I started my channel. It was something I was proud of, that I cherished and connected with so many new people on. So when I found myself thinking "Why is this starting to feel like a chore if its something you love to do?" I started to panic and towards the middle of summer, I began to realize that something was changing.

Being a creator can become stale, become stagnant, become old if it is not something you are passionate about. It is the theme, not the craft--the content, not the passion of story telling. If these become stale or are not what you pictured, it can be difficult to achieve the end result of what you're wanting to share as a creator. The passion and the craft are always there for me, but I found that my content was slipping away. I was slipping back into full on career mode, losing my creativity and expression and that's not healthy. I didn't start this channel to leave it sitting on the sidelines as a memory that once was. This was both terrifying and frustrating for many reasons--#1 being because this channel is a constant reminder of who I am--someone who likes to laugh, loves fiercely, has fun and is confident. That's who I am and I thought that if I didn't upload a video every week that I would lose sight of that...which is silly, because I'll always be me but it's the principal of the thing.

At this very moment, I have a back log of footage from numerous films that I may never put out. It's not because I don't want to continue with my channel--I DO and WILL! I just didn't like the footage, could see it in my face as I was filming it and it was starting to feel forced. I know I'm not the only YouTuber to feel this way. Understandably this happens with creators on a much higher subscriber rate than I, but given that I create videos outside of my channel in a different medium creates a different situation entirely.

This is not to say that I do not love creating videos for my channel as well as video editing for my job. They are two completely different avenues. This is my way of saying that at the end of the day, I couldn't in my heart put up a video that I didn't enjoy filming, didn't fully believe in the notion of the video or simply just felt rushed to put up a video because I had a 'deadline' to have it up by Friday.

Please don't get this mixed up. I'm incredibly lucky to be able to do what I enjoy and that I was and continue to make a career out of it. Hell, I was even fortunate enough to be interviewed via Skype by Marcus Butler and his manager Lucy to edit his daily vlogs because of what I do--that was probably the greatest day of my life. I wouldn't have been able to achieve that without doing what I do.

What I'm trying to get across here is that I'm in the middle of drawing a line. A line that distinctly separates work and creating content on my channel that I can be proud of. I don't want it to be just challenges all of the time. I won't be creating a deadline for myself. I enjoy creating montages and I really enjoy editing vlogs. Being able to capture a trip or a day or a weekend of someone and the people they care about is one of my favorite things to edit. I'm going to start uploading original videos again, but it will be when it's something I am happy to share and I won't be creating a deadline for myself. Will it be every Friday? Maybe, maybe not.

I honestly felt a little silly writing this and I almost didn't, but then I remember all of you that have been there and supported me in this. I started doing this as a way to find out what I love, what makes me...me and you're all so fantastic for joining in on the journey.

I hope this sheds some light on the area and cleared the air. Thank you for the continued support and I  am excited to share some of the content I have planned soon.

Love,
Megan

Say Ya to da UP, eh!

It has recently come to my attention that I'm addicted to traveling. With that being said, my best friend Manda and I were talking one day and I had mentioned that I had never been to the UP before (for those of you who are not from Michigan, the UP stands for Upper Peninsula of Michigan)  and just like that we decided to take a road trip over the weekend. Incidently, we have a habit of doing this: i.e. Ireland, road trip across the States and coming soon--a road trip to Ralleigh, North Carolina. See, I told you. It's a problem.

It was a crazy 7 hour road trip (one way!) that started on a Friday and we didn't stop driving until 1am . Our plan was to drive to our hotel in Sault Sainte Marie, the most northern point in the UP--right before Canada and start exploring the next morning.When we arrived at our hotel, we discovered that Sault Sainte Marie was not only a city in Michigan, but Canada as well, which incidentally, was right across the street...I'll let you guess as to what hotel was accidentally booked. Also, our passports were 7 hours away from where we were. EXCITING TIMES.

Not to worry, as we found a place to stay and the next day we went to Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island. If you're ever in the UP, you'll find that nothing is pronounced how it's spelled. Have fun with that.

Mackinac Island in the middle of the summer is like a mixture between main street on Disney and Catalina Island (all of which are in California)--basically TOURISTS EVERYWHERE. 

I have decided to caption the pictures here or there to give a bit of background, rather than post a whole story about our trip. If you've never been before, it's definitely worth the trip, but not for more than 1 or 2 days--unless you like being around that many people in the blazing sun.

Waiting for the Ferry to Mackinac in St. Ignace--this is Lake Huron, of the of 5 Great Lakes of Michigan.

There were all kinds of plants, weeds and spider webs everywhere and we had a 1 1/2 hour wait for the Ferry, so I started to snap some photos.

I liked the contrast! 

This the Ferry that took us to Mackinac Island.

On the Ferry.

On the way there, I saw parasailors. 

Mackinac Island Bridge from Lake Huron--This bridge has two of the 5 Great Lakes of Michigan that connect from East to West. Huron is on the East, Lake Michigan is on the West.

Found some people fishing.

Almost to Mackinac Island!

Entering the Island reminded me so much of Catalina Island in California.

Main Street, Mackinac Island. This part reminded me of Main Street in Disneyland.

More of Main Street (obviously less busy on this side!)

Taking a tour through the town.

There were SO many fudge shops. They all claimed to have the best fudge and they all made their fudge like this in front of the visitors. I definitely bought some from this shop though--Sea Salt Caramel Double Fudge. YIKES.

Taking a tour through town.

Some of the houses that people stay in year round, regardless of the crazy snow during the winter.

Jacques Marquette--funny story: they didn't know what his face looked like so they just made one up. HA!

Going down a trail that overlooks the lake.

We took a tour on this carriage that was led by 2 horses and then transferred to another later in the tour, where it was carried by 3 horses. It was a lot of fun, but definitely smelled like horse poop 95% of the time.

A different carriage.

This was the one spot I absolutely KNEW I wanted to see. Arch Rock. Pictures don't do it justice--it was gorgeous!

I'd never seen Lake Huron before and it didn't disappoint.

On the Ferry ride back home--Mackinac Island Bridge in the distance.

One of my favorite movies is The Grand Budapest Hotel--this is The GRAND hotel and it looks just like a miniature version of the Budapest, so naturally, I loved it.

Houses along the channel.

Another Ferry on their way back to St. Ignace.

Manda and I found this private road after we got off the Ferry and I hopped out of the car to snap a few photos--I was so excited because I didn't think I was going to be able to get good pictures from the Ferry and was really bummed about it--not after this, though! :)

We first initially drove over the bridge at night coming in so I couldn't see anything, this was on the way home and it was fantastic!

The best part of this was when we were going over the bridge, The Circle of Life from The Lion King came on Pandora and made this trip over the bridge something of Epic proportions.

THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIFFFFEEEEE! 

I wasn't kidding, that's the bridge to Canada. Sup, Canada.


The end.
Megan.

What's right is what's left if you do everything else wrong.

I've tried to wrap my head around this several times today--Robin Williams passed away.

I don't know what I even want this post to be, or even what I intend for it to be. Everything is so fresh. Everything is so confusing.

There is a sort of social stigma that comes with a celebrity dying. People dig, people pry, people feel the need to point out situations or events that, in all honestly, are just not appropriate for the time. It's bound to happen, it has happened and will continue to happen and after a few weeks, the news of it all fades away from the media but for those, however they may have been effected by it, it will leave a lasting memory, whether it is good or it is bad. Everyone will have an opinion--but this is not my point.

I've never been so upset about a persons death that I didn't know before. How many times did you see that sentence today? How many times did you think that today? It was more than once, I'm sure. It was one of the first things I felt, one of the first things I thought and one of the first things that I said, once I was able to comprehend it all. His death stunned me. I cried. I cried several times. It crept up on me, and continues to do so.

I didn't personally know him. This seems silly to say out loud, or to even think. But is it? I'm writing this post to try to figure it out, because quite honestly, I have never felt this kind of grief before. To be sad when someone we do not know dies, is in itself a form of grief, but this just feels different. The question is--why?

When I was little, when I was a teenager and even up to today, whenever I thought of Robin Williams, I didn't have just one particular feeling flood over me. I had memories. Memories that were rich and full of laughter--I remember bonding with my brother for the first time as kids as we watched Mrs. Doubtfire over and over on VHS ("A run-by fruiting" is still one of the funniest lines in cinematic history). I remember staying up late watching his stand up on HBO and laughing until I was crying, out of breath, thinking that this man was a comedic genius and there was nothing he couldn't do. The lesson of love and hope from Hook. How to live life to your fullest no matter how much time you have left from Jack. What my verse will be from Dead Poets Society. You can't learn everything from books, you have to live life to experience it from Good Will Hunting. To this day I still watch every single one of those movies and marvel at the lessons that are taught (which older, I can now appreciate even more) and still genuinely laugh at a joke I've heard a hundred times. The amazing thing about all of this? Everyone is feeling this today. Maybe not the exact examples, but the lessons are there. We may not have realized it until today, but what an impression that man made. I truly hope, deep down, that he knew that.

The words he spoke may have not been his own, he was acting after all, but he had a way with the words he said.

His life was a staple in mine--many of my childhood memories were of watching his movies or quoting them and I'll never forget that.

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world" - Robin Williams

Paul F. Thompkins sums up exactly what I'm trying to convey in a much smaller amount of words:

"There will be much celebration, in the coming weeks and months, of Robin Williams’ life and career. But perhaps the best tribute to him would be if we all reached out to the troubled people in our lives and let them know that we are here for them. Because Robin Williams was there for us."

O Captain! My Captain!

-Megan

Cabin Con 2014 - A Harry Potter Story.

To be completely honest with you, I've tried to write this post 3-4 times. I haven't been able to find the right words to really show you, the reader, how much this particular weekend meant to me (and I'm sure my friends as well). There is a sense of relief in knowing that there are a thousand unspoken words in a picture and because of that, I took as many pictures as I could in hopes that they will tell a better story than I ever could with words. 

A bit of backstory:

I am fortunate enough to say that I have a group of 9 people that I call my friends. We all share many things in common. We may love the same songs and we may like the same shows, but the one core thing that started and cemented our friendship was our love for Harry Potter. As corny as it sounds, these books (even if we didn't know it at the time) taught us all a magnitude of life lessons. For me, they were a huge influence in my life for a innumerable amount of reasons and that rings true for the rest of the group as well. These books taught the reader the meaning of true friendship and the importance of surrounding yourself with the people you love--even if its just for a short while. 

My friend Megan K. (SO MANY MEGANS!) came up with the brilliant idea to have a get together with all of us so that we made sure, even if we lived all over the State or Country (which we do!), that we remained in contact. Many ideas were thrown around and my best friend, Manda, even offered to host it at her cabin--perfect! That idea snowballed into what we now call: Cabin Con (think mini Comic Con)--a Harry Potter inspired Con to call our own. No long lines, no over priced food and free to do what we wanted, when we wanted and we had a damn good time.

This is the story of Cabin Con 2014.

"There is always room for a story that can transport people to another place"-J.K. Rowling

First things first: I love crafting and I love Harry Potter and I wanted to try to make this as rememberable as possible. If you put the those things together, what you will get is Megan O'Neil crafting, scouring the internet and thrift store shopping for 2 1/2 months straight. It was worth it. Without the help of my amazing friends, this wouldn't have all come together--thank you again! 

This is the result:

We transformed the main dining area into "The Great Hall". This is the Con's official banner. Look closely and you can see Deathly Hallows Symbols in honor of the 7th anniversary happening the day following the weekend of the Con.

Every House was represented in the Great Hall, aside from Slytherin--NOT because we don't like Slytherin (we do!) but sadly, because there wasn't a single Slytherin in the group!

The banners were blank card stock by Paper Studio. You can purchase them at any big craft store. Designs were made by using Prismacolor pencils. Each house has their signature colors and the letter design is based off of the Harry Potter movie font, as well as hand drawn--Gryffindor drawn by Brock :)

Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart.

Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal-- those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.

Ravenclaw- Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.

Hogwarts wouldn't be complete without the Great Hall. This is where most of the crafting comes in. I spent many a night researching online for patterns and ideas. It was probably the best part of putting this whole thing together. 

The Great Hall during the day:

We covered the dining table with a black table cloth (purchased at a party store) and put cardboard boxes or random risers underneath to give the table depth.

I purchased silver platers, serving dishes, goblets and candlesticks at assorted thrift stores and estate sales. I already had a stash of candles around the house and lucky for me, my owl obsession from a few years back came in handy for the table settings!

The Chocolate Frog, Ollivander's Wand, Sorcerer's Stone and Weasley Wizard Wheezes box were Cabin Con party favors. Each Con attendee got all 4 to take home with them!

What's Inside?

The Chocolate Frog box actually has a chocolate frog inside! I was able to find the frog mold on Amazon, along with the jewelry box for the wands, which I painted with gold acrylic paint and used mod podge to glue the Ollivander's label on. The "wand" is a chocolate covered pretzel baton with sprinkles. You can find the labels here: Chocolate Frog Printable, Ollivander's Label

The Sorcerer's Stone (Or Philosopher's) is a stone from the backyard, painted red, wrapped in leftover parchment from another craft, wrapped in twine and finished with a card stock tag written in calligraphy pen. You're able to find all of these at any big craft store.

The Weasley Wizard Wheezes box is a paper box, hand painted with acrylic paint (all bright colors) and have Fever Fudge and Puking Pastilles inside.The Weasley emblem was hand drawn on each with a metallic marker. There are tons of great recipes online to make the Fever Fudge and Puking Pastilles, but if you're like me and want to save time--improvise! I used Jameson Irish Whiskey Fudge and Taffy that I got during my trip to Ireland. It's not a taste that everyone likes, so I thought it was perfect since they aren't supposed to taste great anyway!

I wanted to give the table the feel of what it would be like on a typical day in The Great Hall. The Daily Prophet and Quibbler I'm sure would make an appearance, along with wands (maybe not the Elder wand, but I digress) and treats from the Hogwarts kitchen and Honeydukes. (Daily Prophet and Quibbler images are from HP graphic art book)

On the left you'll see my own variation of a recipe I found called "Weasley is Our King" cupcakes. French vanilla cake, buttercream frosting with Red and Gold edible glitter for the Gryffindor colors. Quibblers are from HP Graphic Art book.

This was probably the hardest craft to make--The Golden Egg from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was part of the 2nd task in the Triwizard Tournament. I purchased the paper egg from a craft store, hand painted it with gold acrylic and drew on the egg's designs. The hardest part was getting the top completed--it's made with hot glue and we all know how hot glue just does whatever the heck it wants ;)

One of the best parts about this Con was the FOOD! We had some leftover White Chocolate from making the Pretzel wands, so we made White Chocolate Covered Strawberries--don't they look delicious?

Some were dipped in silver sprinkles, gold sprinkles, tri-colored sprinkles and pecans.

All con (party) favors were placed in piles on the table for everyone to take home. Daily Prophet is from HP Graphic Art Book.

While I loved how the Great Hall looked during the day, if you can forgive the cheese--it looked magical at night.

The Great Hall at night:

The Great Hall with candles lit. Can you spot the Hogwarts acceptance letters? What about the Quibblers?

Megan K. made Pumpkin Pasties for the Con!

More of the serving dishes, purchased at numerous thrift shops.

On the left: My own variation of Golden Snitch Truffles (which were SO GOOD) and on the right are Pumpkin Pasties. I wish I wasn't allergic to cinnamon because I heard the Pumpkin Pasties were absolutely incredible! You can get the recipe for the Golden Snitch Truffles: Here.

Another view of the party favors

One of the biggest hits of the weekend--the Marauder's Map. I've posted pictures of the inside below!

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Another view...

Uh oh...

We kept snacks on the table throughout the whole weekend so everyone could "graze" throughout the day and into the night.

Another view of the Golden Egg.

Quibblers!

The Great Hall was such a fun thing to put together that I decided to do a few more crafts for the party.

Professor Slughorn's Potion Kit:

All bottles were purchased at a craft store and labels were printed from here: Potion Labels. I made each potion with different products I had in my house and used those to determine what they would look like.

Kit includes: Gillyweed, Felix Felicis, Amortentia, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Dandelion Root, Essence of Dittany, Mandrake Root, Bubotuber Pus, Wolfsbane Potion, Phoenix Tears, Flesh-eating Slug Repellent, Draught of Living Death, Veritaserum, Pepper-up Potion, Floo Powder and Skele-Gro.

Skele-gro, which is one of my favorites, was made in what looks like an old brandy/whiskey container that I picked up at Goodwill. I used Water for the base, dyed it with food coloring and added gold glitter for a shimmer effect. I then used hot glue to wrap twine around the neck to give it a vintage-y look.

A close-up of the whole set. In front you'll see Gillyweed, Felix Felicis (made with hand soap and fine gold glitter), and Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. The P.I.D.P is a bottle that was originally streaked with gold, but I painted it black, and glued twine around the neck. I actually made the powder for this even though you can't see it--I really wish you could as it was my favorite one to look at. I used baking soda, mixed with black paint, and green, gold and black glitter. It was so pretty!

Gillyweed: I used canola oil, mixed with a drop of green food coloring and some crab-grass outside to give it texture.

From left to right: Mandrake Root (made with wood chips from the backyard), Bubotuber Pus (made with hand soap and yellow and green food coloring), Pepperup Potion (made with cream colored hand soap, actual ground up peppercorns, chunky gold glitter and fine black glitter),  Floo Powder (description mentioned later), Amortentia-the Love Potion (made with cream colored hand soap, dyed pink with food coloring and I used chunky silver, pink, red and black glitter that settled to the bottom for a gradient effect).

Floo Powder- I used old parchment paper for the label, a sharpie pen for the writing and mod podge to glue it all on. Baking soda, green food coloring and black and green glitter make up the potion inside.

Polyjuice Potion brewing recipe from Advanced Potion Making. Polyjuice Potion Recipe

Another view.

Draught of Living Death. This was the potion that Harry brewed to receive Felix Felicis, which we all know, is what made movie Harry turn into the sassy Harry we all know and love in the book. Thank you, Draught of Living Death, for snowballing that one. This was made using corn syrup, a dash of water, and black acrylic paint. I love the effect it ended up having--it looks like a lava lamp when you turn it upside down! I finished the bottle by gluing twine around the neck.

On the left: Dandelion Root--made with baking soda and LOTS of yellow food coloring.

Back row starting left to right: Flesh-eating slug repellent: made with cream colored hand soap and green and blue food coloring. Draught of Living Death, Veritaserum (water mixed with canola oil), Pepperup Potion. Middle Row: Dandelion Root, Wolfsbane Potion (made with corn syrup, teal and black glitter), Mandrake Root, Bubotuber Pus, Front Row: Essence of Dittany (made with water, blue food coloring and bronze glitter).

Up-close of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder

James and Lily making an appearance (oh, the feels!)

The set.

Bottle Top Appreciation.

Honeydukes:

I decided to make a Honeydukes station! A few friends chipped in to make this look awesome. Thanks to Michelle! and to Megan K, she made us Butterbeer (even an un-spiced kind for me!) and Pumpkin Juice to go with it. Everyone got to take home a bag overflowing with candy--woo!

Our little Honey Dukes Station, complete with a Hogshead Inn cup from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We all were convinced that we would all get diabetes by the end of this con due to all of the candy and cake we had, so we named a candy after our theory. Introducing: Beetus Balls. Look at your Honeydukes shop for the new candy!

The Marauder's Map

This was a great find. It's a bit tricky to fold but absolutely worth it once you've figured it out. You can find the print-out here: Marauder's Map

Up-close.

The view of the first layer.

Side View

Opening the second fold.

Inside Howarts!

Quidditch Pitch and the Womping Willow

Passage to Hogsmeade!

I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!

Weasley & Weasley or Weasley Wizard Wheezes

My friends Sarah and Brock had planned to cosplay as the Weasley twins (RIP Fred) a while back and had several props for their outfits! We decided to make a Weasley Wizard Wheezes station, as well as a Room of Requirement/ Common Room Board. You can find the artwork here: Hogwarts Map, Hogwarts Library Card, Gringotts Deposit Slip, Platform 9 3/4 Ticket, Quidditch World Cup poster is from HP Graphic Art Book.

On the right: Weasley & Weasley briefcase, magical mustache and a Weasley Shiving Snackbox.

Weasley & Weasley Advertisements 

Up-close of the Skiving Snackbox: Canary Cremes, Fever Fudge, Puking Pastilles and Fainting Fancies.

Another view of the props!

Price List for Weasley Wizard Wheezes

A little add on to the station--mini Gringotts! Complete with galleons (lets pretend we don't see the american currency, guys) and Gringotts deposit slips. The deposit slips went home with the Con attendees as well.

This was the Room of Requirement Board--a complete map of Hogwarts and its grounds. A flyer for the 2014 Quidditch World Cup and Gilderoy Lockhart's autograph!

Middle Left: "Get a move on or all the good ones will've gone" a note from Fred to Ron about asking someone to the Yule Ball. Middle: New generation of D.A. Bottom Left: Sign up sheet for Dumbledore's Army, Right: Gringotts Deposit slip, lost library card belonging to Hermione Granger and a Platform 9 3/4 ticket.

Dumbledore's Army

I can proudly say that I hand made this list. I looked up their signatures online and wrote them as best as I could--my favorite, by far, is Luna's :)

I thought as a sweet little sentiment to our group, that we should all sign it at the end of the Con and I love how it turned out. I'll probably end up framing it.

Dumbledore's Army sign up sheet

Up-close look.

All of the D.A.

Throughout the weekend we spent time playing Harry Potter trivia games (winner's got a golden snitch and a Hogwarts Castle inside a snow globe), swimming out in the lake and spent time on the boat. The weather for the weekend was sunny everyday, so towards the end we were all pretty sun-drunk. Here is a picture of us relaxing while we wait for the upcoming presentation that Megan K. and Bailey set up for us.

So much tired.

Towards the end of the night, Megan K. and Bailey gave a presentation on the occurrence of the number 7 throughout the entire Harry Potter series. It was brilliantly thought out and well put together--they even dressed in their house robes :D

Megan K. going through slides on a projector and speaking about the significance of the number 7 throughout all of the Harry Potter series.

On the left: Bailey and on the right: Megan K. Thanks for such an awesome presentation and discussion!

The "Final Presentation".

At the end of the presentation, Megan K. announced that there was one more presentation left. I looked up and saw that she was holding armfuls of presents and cards--it was my birthday that following Monday (which happened to be the 7th anniversary of the Deathly Hallows release) and they all surprised me with gifts! 

One of which was THIS: 

ACCIO MY FEELS.

I may have cried. Judge away.

Break out the kleenex.

This was easily one of the best weekends of my life. Towards the end of it, I couldn't think of anything else but of how a book brought so many of favorite people together. How incredible is that? "It's real for us" makes more sense than it ever has.

Mischief Managed.

-Megan.