FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Get your Potter party started with these Harry Potter-themed paper products and treats.

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Potter party a
fun way to kick off
a book-buying spree

It's just four days until the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and to usher in the book, why not throw a Harry Potter party? Gather your fellow wizards for a supper Friday before flying off to pick up the novel at the bewitching hour at various bookstores.

Party City in Waikele has a lot of Potter paper goods and other Potter paraphernalia, including eyeglasses, wands, costumes and a plastic Golden Snitch. Prices range from $1 for paper plates to $35 for costumes.

Or, to get the children more involved with the preparations, have them make some of the decorations. To make Golden Snitches, paint pingpong balls gold, then stick a golden feather on two sides of each ball. Attach them to fishing wire to hang them from the ceiling.

For wands, dip big pretzel sticks in dark chocolate, then dip one end in white chocolate. Licorice or glow sticks could also be used for wands with a little imagination.

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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM

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Don't forget the grub. Turn chocolate cupcakes into cauldron cakes by scooping out the middle of the cupcake and filling it with pudding or candy pieces. Then, stick one end of a toothpick in one end of a licorice string and the other end of the toothpick into the cupcake. Repeat with the other end of the licorice, and presto.

For more adventurous eaters, pick up boxes of Harry Potter Bertie Bott's Beans ($1.99) from Borders Books and Music or Borders Express, which are jelly beans that have such flavors as vomit (which tasted disgusting to me but "not bad" to a co-worker), rotten egg, booger and earwax. The sardine-, black pepper- and bacon-flavored beans actually tasted like their namesakes but were still a little disturbing to eat in the form of a jelly bean.

Borders also has Drooble's Gum ($1.50), which turns the chewer's tongue blue, chocolate frogs ($3.49) that come with a wizard card, and Rice Krispies treats ($1.99) in the form of a lightening bolt, to look like the scar on Harry Potter's forehead.

So, all you muggles, let your imaginations soar, and if you need some magical assistance, the Net has lots of party advice. Connect to www.kidspartyfun.com/pages/themes/harrypotter.html, www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/harry_potter.html or just Google "Harry Potter party."

Happy hunting, and reading.