DIY Harry Potter Bubbling Christmas Cauldron Ornaments

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“As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmer cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses . . . I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death.”

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Harry Potter’s least favorite class may be Potions with his least favorite teacher, Professor Snape, but these Bubbling Christmas Cauldron Ornaments may just be your favorite ornament to make! They’re so cute with the potion bubbling up and over the top of the cauldrons.

I chose to make my bubbling potion in Christmas colors—red, green, and gold. They look fantastic on my Harry Potter Mini Christmas Tree. If you prefer to make these ornaments for a Halloween tree, try making the bubbling potion from purple, bright green, orange, and black balls.

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Check out all the ornaments in the Harry Potter Mini Christmas Tree Ornaments Marathon!

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Harry Potter Bubbling Christmas Cauldron Ornament Supplies

For each ornament:

• 1 Miniature plastic cauldron
• 1-2 Large corks OR Styrofoam pieces
• *1 Red and Green Matte Berry Pick
• *1 Gold Shiny Berry Pick
• Hot glue and glue gun
• Wire cutters

* Note: I chose to cut the berries from Christmas picks to create the bubbling potion in my cauldrons. You can certainly explore other options which may be more economical. You could try vase filler, tiny ornaments, or beads. I chose the berry balls because I liked their luster.

Directions

1. Cut the Berries from the Stems

This step doesn’t really need much explanation. Use strong wire cutters to cut the berries off as close to the berry as you can.

2. Glue Cork or Syrofoam Pieces into the Cauldron.

The goal here is to fill your cauldron with a base for gluing the berry balls later. In case you’re wondering why I chose to use cork pieces, I had two reasons. First, I had them. 🙂 We purchased these years ago for someone’s science fair project. And second, they are cylindrical (sort of) and fit the cauldron well. One cork wasn’t tall enough to fill the cauldron, so I sawed another one in half and glued it under the whole cork in the cauldron.

3. Glue the Berry Beads onto the Cauldron

Once the glue on the cork pieces has set, it’s time to begin gluing in the potion. You can hide the place you cut the berry from the stem by covering it with glue and turning it down.

Start by gluing berries around the rim of the cauldron. I used all three colors, gluing them in random order.

Next, fill in your ring of berries. I used mostly gold and a couple of red berries, since I had more of them than the green ones.

Once the first layer is complete, build up your bubbling potion, by gluing a second layer.

If desired, glue a few berries on top of the second layer. Don’t create a full third layer. You still need a little space between the berry beads and the cauldron handle so you can slide the ornament over a tree branch. To be honest, I probably glued too many berries in the third layer of this ornament. I can still slide it on a miniature tree branch but it’s pretty snug.

If desired, glue a few berries extending over the side of the cauldron to create drips of potion. You can either glue the berries to other berries, or to the cauldron, wherever it makes sense and seems the sturdiest.

That’s all there is to it! So quick and easy! Here are a couple of extra photos of the finished Harry Potter Bubbling Christmas Cauldron Ornaments.

And they look even better on the tree!

I hope you enjoy making these! I sure did! I’d love to see pictures of your finished ornaments. Send them to lucinda@swishandstitch.com.

~ Lucinda

For more Harry Potter fun, try these other great crafts!