Harry Potter Brick Wall

My daughter and I have been reading the Harry Potter book series over the past several months. We are both enjoying the books and are really starting to get a bit nerdy about all things Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

I recently decided to paint a Harry Potter brick wall mural inspired by the series on the back of her bedroom door. If you are familiar with the books or movies you’ll know that the Hogwarts students have to run at full speed into a brick wall between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station in London.

Instead of hurting themselves by running into the wall, they are magically transported through the wall to platform 9 3/4 where they can hop on the enchanted Hogwarts Express and travel to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Long time Crafty Little Gnome readers may notice that I seem to do a lot of brick tutorials, although most of them are using real thin brick. I’m starting to worry that I have an unhealthy obsession with exposed brick! I guess there are worse things to be obsessed with…

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Supplies for Harry Potter Brick Wall Mural

• Light brown wall paint for the grout color
• Red, light brown and dark brown craft paint for the brick colors
• Brick shaped sponge or block
• Paint roller and brushes
• Wood signs for Hogwarts Express and Platform 9 3/4 signs

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Directions for Harry Potter Brick Wall Mural

Start by painting a very quick coat of brown paint on the door. This will be the color of the grout and you will be painting the bricks right over it so don’t worry about making it perfect. Just paint it fast and let it dry.

How to Stamp on the Brick Pattern

I used a piece of green floral oasis from the dollar store covered in a plastic bag to make the brick stamp. You could also use a sponge.

• Squeeze the three colors into a paint tray and swirl them around a little bit and then dip your sponge into it.
• Stamp it onto door in a brick pattern staggering it as you go and leaving about a half inch between the bricks for the grout to show through.
• While the paint is still wet use a crumpled up bag and press it onto some of the bricks to lift some of the paint off and add texture.
• Dab more of the individual colors onto the bricks to even them out and fill in any gaps the brick stamp may have missed.

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How to make the bricks look more lifelike

The bricks might still be looking a bit flat at this point. To help make them look more lifelike you need to add some highlights and shading.

Decide where the imaginary light is coming from and shining on your bricks. Add some highlights to those areas and shadows on the opposite spots.

The bottom left of each of my bricks is a little darker and I added a little shadow to the underside of each brick.

Don’t worry about making it look perfect. It’s supposed to be an old brick wall so the more rustic, the better.

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After the paint dries you can add a Hogwarts Express and Platform 9 3/4 signs.

I used vinyl letters from the dollar store and stuck them to a scrap piece of wood.

The Platform 9 3/4 sign was made by painting a wood plaque and free hand drawing the numbers on it. You can buy signs like these on Amazon if you don’t want to make them.