1 Find your wand wood. It's more "mother nature friendly" if you find a stick that's already on the ground. It should be at least ten inches long to leave room for cutting, and it must be straight. It should also be relatively thick so that it doesn't look ridiculous sanded down.

Step 2 Begin to whittle the wood. Using the knife, carefully strip the bark off the wood until it is bare.

Step 3 Carve your wood down. Your going to need to make a distinguishable handle, so take a good look at your wand-in-the-making, judge for yourself and start from there, carving the wand wood thinner as you make your way "down" to the top of the wand. It's obviously going to look choppy, but by the time your done with this step it should already look "wandish."

Step 4 Sand and Polish. Start with the extra coarse sandpaper, to rip the wood and sand it down to a more discernible wand shape. Round off the tip of your wand; flatten and round the edge of the handle. Then use the finer sandpaper to smooth and polish the wand.

Step 5 Finish. Using a cherry varnish (the darker varnishes make the wand look more 'official'), carefully put a couple of coats on and let dry.