Make a Wizard Wand | Inspired by Harry Potter

My niece is dressing up as Hermione (from Harry Potter) for Halloween, and because I made an Elder wand before, she asked me to make her Hermione's wand. Of course I said yes!

The design is simple enough: just a simple taper.

What's difficult is that there are leaf carvings along the handle. At first, I was going to try my hand at carving them, but that didn't work out because I really don't have tools to do it right, and I don't want to buy them right now. Seriously, my attempts at carving with a knife and chisel were horrendous.

So, then, I spray painted a live vine with small leaves, and glued it to the wand. That didn't work because the glue only adhered to the paint, and the vine just peeled off.

Lastly, I just painted on some designs. They turned out fine enough--a little snake-like, but it's all good :)

She loved the wand! And wouldn't you know, it really works! haha

Tools used were literally just a spokeshave, a block plane, a chisel, and a hand saw (to cut to length).

Finished with water based clear coat, with a wipe on poly over that, and finally some paste wax. I didn't want her to have to worry about being gentle with it and paint scraping off. It should be very durable.

In the end, a simple wand is one of the easiest, yet coolest, simple projects you can do--even with children. You can just get a twig from wherever, peel the bark, and sand it, and stain it. No carving or shaping at all. That's what I've done in the past (this is maybe the 3rd or 4th wand I've made for people).

Why not give it a try!?

Have a wonderful week!