The Chamber Has Been Opened!
October is National Book Month and I got super inspired this year to create an elaborate book themed window display. I am a die hard Harry Potter fan (Hufflepuff for life!) and have been obsessivly listening to a podcast called Potterless, so of course they were the first books that came to mind! I chose to recreate Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because the story really lends itself to the tableau constraints of window displays. Plus the scary giant snake seemed like a home run for Halloween!
The original concept art. Things changed a bit once I started building things, as they usually do.
Mandrakes! Made with brown felt and hand sewn into silly faces.
I crocheted these mini scarves to represent Hermonie Granger (Gryffindor red/gold), Penelope Clearwater (Ravenclaw blue/bronze), and Justin Finch-Fletchley (Hufflepuff yellow/black), three of the basilisk's victims.
The beginning of the basilisk! He was made entirely out of cardboard and tape. His teeth are old soda cans that I cut and spray painted. I found these crazy eyes at the craft store - couldn't resist!
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened! This installation took the entire day. There were SO many pieces to puzzle together, but I was well organized and had made a lot of things ahead of time which made the actual installation go pretty smoothly.
I made Tom Riddle's diary a bit gigantic in part for dramatic effect and because it is arguably the important part of the story. It was made out of 4'x6' canvases and black paper covered cardboard. There was a lot of tape, screws and hidden things to keep it together and upright.
The fang is made out of a foam covered tomato cage, with a shiny white vinyl fabric spray painted to look like he hasn't brushed his teeth in a while...
I used hot glue to make it look like the ink had leaked out of the stab wound.
The spines on top of the basilisk's head and along the length of the body were also made out of soda cans that I cut and spray painted. The basilisk body was wrapped around a dress form, draped in black fabric.
I put a dress form in a black cloak and a red wig to represent Ginny and laid her down in the front of the display, as pictured here. I'm sorry to say it scared the bajesus out of people! We had a number of people rush into the shop to make sure the woman in the window was ok. Oops!
The alter of victims sits at the feet of the basilisk. From left to right: Penelope Clearwater's Ravenclaw scarf and Hermonie Granger's Gryffindor scarf with the mirror they were discovered next to, Nearly Headless Nick's ruff, Justin Finch-Fletchley's Hufflepuff scarf, Colin Creevy's film, Mrs. Norris, and (just barely visible in this photo) Moaning Myrtle's cat eye glasses. You can also see Ginny's head just behind Mrs. Norris.
This may not be an authentic replica of the Sword of Gryffindor, but I think it is pretty epic all the same! Laid at the base of the basilisk and just above the victims to symbolize the demise of the beast.
Fawkes was a challenge. I found a plastic Halloween bird skeleton at the dollar store and glued all the feathers on and painted him to look like a phoenix. I'm not 100% happy with how he came out, but with such a limited budget I did my best! The Sorting Hat was made from some scrap fabric I sewed into a hat shape, and hand stitched together to have a bit of a face. To make it look old, I frayed the edges and soaked it in a bleach solution.
Moaning Myrtle was made from plastic dress bags and packing tape. I even gave her clear plastic glasses, pigtails and a tie!
I had to paint the words on the inside of the window because of weather. To do this, I wrote out the phrase on white craft paper, hung it up on the outside of the window, came back inside and just followed the lines. I watered down some red craft paint so it would get drippy, like blood!
As an added bonus, I collaborated with a local book store and sold Hogwarts house themed felt bookmarks!
If we'd had enough participation with the bookstore, I was going to make this design into a tote bag as a giveaway. Sadly, it will just remain a neat piece of art that contains all the important characters in The Chamber of Secrets.