REALISTIC Harry Potter Wand - in 10 Minutes

I'm putting on a show in September with a Harry Potter booth and am getting ready for the full on costume with a Harry Potter wand in my hand. Here's the how-to for this easy and realistic wand made from a thrift-store dowel and a bit of paint.

If you'd like to see more of my DIY props as I get ready for the show, you can visit my website or shop here:
PropPrintables WebsitePropPrintables Store

Step 1: Materials

A dowel (or stick)
A saw (or other cutting tool)
Paint & brush (acrylic basics)
Glue Gun (+ Glue sticks)
Craft Varnish (or clear nail polish)
A gem (optional)

Step 2: Cutting the Dowel

Measure dowel to the length you want, mark with pencil and cut (I cut to 12 inches). If you find you need to, like I did, use a bit of sandpaper on the end that was cut.

Step 3: Adding the PIZAZZ

This is the fun part!

The first thing you want to do is start at the very end and work your way down by squeezing BIG globs of glue that ooze down the sides of the dowel. The more, the better, but don't get burned! Just remember - all things in moderation.

I found an old bead from some necklace at a thrift store which I stuck on the end. I let the glue harden and then pulled it off to paint black beneath it so it stood out better. I glued it back on after I painted it.

Step 4: Painting the Wand

Step 5: Varnish

Comments

[Witheredboi]

Did something similar for my D&D Artificer lol (not a LARPer, just got inspired by game XD)

[LordS13]

I highly suggest for anyone who made wand this way wear an enchanted leather glove because the hot glue might melt when dueling against fire based wand.

[FUSUY]

Dragon skin would probably be better tho. You never know with the formidable Hot Glue

[OpheliaUpdyke]

Good point! Enchanted gloves are a good idea when doing crafts with hot glue too especially if you are living under a permanent accident prone curse like I am.

[OpheliaUpdyke]

Nice tutorial! For more variety you could also use finished or unfinished chopsticks which come in all sorts of lengths from about 6 to 16 inches or found sticks for less regular shapes.

[Alanna1]

how do you put the core in ?

[OpheliaUpdyke]

"Inserta media!" with a flick and tap movement is the incantation I like to use because it isn't specific to one type of core and seems to thread the it straight toward the handle starting from the very tip which, as you probably already know, is great for promoting an efficient power flow. However if you are using a tooth of some sort for a core that needs to be placed either in the exact middle or in the handle with the fang pointed toward the tip, I'd suggest going wandless and non-verbal by visualizing the inside of the wand as empty space with the handle pointing downward and the tooth properly positioned fang side up as it falls slowly into place then is held with "Arresto momentum" - a lot of work to be sure! That's why hardly any wandmakers bother using teeth for cores any more.

[JenniferH385]

This is cool! And looks really easy. Going to go pick up a glue gun and a dowel! (and I guess a little saw? lol) Question though as far as the varnish goes - can something like mod podge be used? I have some at home, but no varnish. I'm not the most crafty, if you could tell >.<

[Printy]

Hmmmmm good question! I went to the dollar store and picked up some clear nail polish and used that for a few of these wands and other projects. I imagine you could use mod podge, but I haven't given it a go, myself. Let me know if it works though, I'd be interested to find out :)

[ShameezP]

Hi, how long did the glue, paint and varnish take to dry?

Thanks!

[Printy]

The glue dries pretty quickly. Glue gun glue hardens at room temperature so depending on how much glue you've heaped on, it shouldn't be more than a couple minutes. You can blow on it to help it harden faster.

The paint is similar. It dries quickly if you use acrylic, and depends on how thickly you paint it. Shouldn't be more than 15 min, and once again you could get a blow drier to help it dry faster.

The type of varnish I used dries very quickly. It's a craft varnish similar to nail polish. Similar drying time.

Hope that helps!

[ShameezP]

Thank you so much!

[SamanthaE25]

Oh my goodness I am planning my wedding in the future and want to give wands as favors and kind of make them a little personalized. This is a wonderful instructable, I will definitely be using this tutorial when i make them. I have to make over 100 so hopefully it will go as smoothly as this looks.

[Printy]

Awesome! If you want to make a bunch at once like this, I recommend using something to place your wands in while the glue and paint dries. I used a cereal box and punched holes all the way through so I could prop wands up. It also helped for dribbling the glue on. You could use a block of wood with holes in it, or virtually anything you like as long as you don't mind getting a drop of glue or dab of paint on it. And as a side note, you're gonna need a LOT of hot glue gun sticks. :)

[SamanthaE25]

Hahaha i am already preparing for that and i'll need a lot of jewels for them. Thank you for sharing that, a block of wood or cereal box would work perfectly. I'm pretty resourceful when it comes to getting creative lol.

[CierS]

I made it this way with the hot glue but it looked pretty iffy. I retried it with polymer clay and spackle and like the results a lot more. Here's some pics of the wand I made.
https://djinnjuice.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/wands/

[CoolGirlToTalkTo]

Nice! My friend we one for me with toothpicks!

[Printy]

That's cool! Would love to see a pic of it! I have always liked miniatures, they are so fun. :)

[CoolGirlToTalkTo]

Of course it was tiny, but it is cool!

[CoolGirlToTalkTo]

Of course it was tiny, but it is cool!