Hermione Granger's Wand DIY

I've always loved Hermione's wand (the movie interpretation from the Prisoner of Azkaban onwards). The vines that go around it are just really beautiful to me. I could have bought a replica, but whenever I saw them in shops, I found that they looked too much like plastic. And I liked the idea of making it myself. So after many years, here's how I finally did it!

1. wooden stick
2. air dry clay (I used the brand DAS)
3. sand paper
4. map tack
5. pencil
6. sculpting tools (or toothpick, etc.)
7. acrylic paint in different shades of brown
8. paint brushes

So according to some notes by J.K. Rowling, Hermione's wand is 10 3/4 inches long.

I realised later on that the wand which I'm trying to copy is actually 15 inches long. So I basically combined the looks of the movie wand with a more lore-accurate length.

Here are also some words by Ollivander himself:

"Most wands will be in the range of between nine and fourteen inches. While I have sold extremely short wands (eight inches and under) and very long wands (over fifteen inches), these are exceptionally rare. In the latter case, a physical peculiarity demanded the excessive wand length. However, abnormally short wands usually select those in whose character something is lacking, rather than because they are physically undersized (many small witches and wizards are chosen by longer wands)."

(https://www.harrypotter.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/wand-lengths-and-flexibility)

So while I can see why they went for a longer wand in the movies (it might look more elegant and more visible), I like that mine fits into the lore.

I covered the stick with air dry clay, creating the basic shape of the wand. I tried not to trap any air when covering the stick.

I chose air dry clay because I know it's easy to sand, which was the next step.

I also used the sand paper to give it a bit of a wood grain texture.

Next, I looked at a lot of references to sketch out the vines with a pencil and traced those lines with clay. I tried to blend the vines in with the rest of the wand so it would look more carved out rather than sculpted.

Before adding the leaves, I sanded the vines to make them more flat.

You can also use a map tack to correct small imperfections.

The leaves took me quite a while, but I enjoyed the process.

Again, I used a map tack for some fine corrections.

Initially, I was going for a lighter colour and added a darker wood grain effect with a rough bristle brush. I think it looked quite wooden, but I wasn't completely happy and kept adding more colour, until it basically looked as dark as the movie version.

I was a bit unsure whether air dry clay would work at all to make wands. It worked and I had no issues - until I transported the wand in a very uncareful way. So some small cracks formed and bent the wand ever so slightly.

I touched up the paint, so for display purposes, I'm still happy with it.

But if you want a more durable wand, I would consider something like polymer clay instead. I actually made a polymer clay wand here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/0iQggSy8LZM?feature=share

Now you can use your wand - just make sure not to use it in front of muggles or outside of school if you're an underage wizard!