Swashbucklin Fun Pirate Birthday Party

The day finally came for our boys highly anticipated pirate birthday party. I thought my 4 year old was going to explode the day of the party waiting for 3 pm to come. He was bouncing up and down through the house singing a little jig he made up about pirates and his birthday. It cracked me up! My mom came over to help with the boys so I could get everything set up for the big event. I am so happy I combined the boys parties and only had to pull off one. We had over 50 friends and family show up.

These are the invitations we sent out. Look here for directions on how to make them.

I always hit the dollar store during Halloween in order to plan for upcoming birthday parties. This year I bought pirate hats, swords, eye patches and hooks. We had a bowl filled with pirate gear for the little ones. The sign read, Arrrgh Matey! Grab an eye patch, sword, or hook.

Finding red and white ribbon and fabric was the largest challenge. I checked three stores with little success. I  finally found enough ribbon to wrap around some water bottles. I adhered it with hot glue and a jolly roger flag circle. I am a huge fan of using cheap solid colored plates and spending a little money on some themed napkins. Otherwise, the cost of paper goods can become atrocious quickly with 50 guests. The sign on the water read...Sea Water (Drink if ye dare).

We also had Cannonballs which consisted of grapes on small swords and whoppers.

Popcorn always serves as a fun snack, and the bags are always a breath of fresh color. I found a cute metal lunchbox at Kirklands of all places, and filled it with large pretzel sticks. The sign on the pretzels read...Pirate Planks (Walk the plank skallywagon)

Next, I cut up some fruit and placed them on skewers topped with more Jolly Roger circle flags. I stuffed some Styrofoam in the bottom of a treasure chest box (Oriental Trading) and used some gold/yellow shredded paper around them. The sign read...Pirate Jewels (Sweet Treasure).

Another simple addition was the catch of the day, which included cheese fish.

And of course, what is a pirate party without some Pirate Gold (Claim Ye Riches).

I also made these gold Hershey kisses with treasure maps on the bottom. Free printable here. They were scattered all over the tables and counters.

 

Here are the pirate cupcakes I showed earlier this week. Click here for directions on how to make the pirate cupcakes. They really were pretty easy.

I was ambitious last minute, and decided to make this fun cake I saw on Family Fun's website. They have great easy to follow directions on their site. I just made some personalized sails to include the boys names and age. Our playmobil pirate served as the perfect captain.

This is my youngest devouring his cupcake.

The day was so beautiful, that we decided to put two antique trunks outside for presents. I really wanted to put on the invitation not to bring presents because my boys have plenty...and mom can't seem to find any more places for toys! Luckily, my boys play with them all.

I labeled the trunks with simple pirate name tags.

I saw a fun idea on Tom Kat Studio and used it to make my version of a Walk the Plank board. I used black electrical tape to write the words on and it lasted through the whole party. (So much faster then painting)  Here is my youngest braving the plank with a lot of concentration. Lol!

We did one large treasure hunt with all of the kids. It was very similar to the one we planned earlier this month to celebrate my oldest son's actual birthday. Look here to see all the details of our treasure hunt and borrow any clues that might help. The kids had to slide down into shark infested water to retrieve one of the clues.

The last clue led them to a stump with X marks the spot and they all began frantically digging with their swords. Not what I expected...but worth the whole party. I am sure their parents were happy to see them digging in all of that dirt!

They unearthed a large box with pirate treasures for everyone. The pirate treasures were little pirate bags I found at Hobby Lobby. They were each filled with a pirate ring, gold beads, and chocolate gold coins.

 This is the cardboard pirate ship that served as part of our decor and treasure hunt. I hung a pirate banner and some wooden signs I painted with Beware and Ahoy. Find more detailed instructions on how to make this cardboard pirate ship here.

Last, but not least, we had a pirate ship pinata. This is my oldest swinging at the pinata with all of his might.

By the end of the party we were all shipwrecked...even the cake. I am convinced all of those kids slept well that night. They were worn out from their adventures on the high seas.

I love to share! Let me know if you need any additional templates.

DIY Cardboard Pirate Ship

I finally tackled the monumental task of a huge pirate ship the day before my boy's birthday party. We bought this amazing playground off of craigslist about six months ago. My amazing husband disassembled and reassembled it at our house with of course...a few grunts and moans. However, it was worth everything because my kids, and every single one of their friends, adore it! It was the perfect base for a huge cardboard pirate ship.

As luck would have it, I inherited some huge pieces of thick cardboard from work. We received a large piece of medical equipment (C-arm) the week of the birthday party. It was sooo thick it was hard to cut with an exacto knife. My husband arrived home and said I should have used an actual saw. Too bad his advice was a little late!

I started out with the design cut above.

I painted the top yellow with two coats of paint.

The waves were easiest to outline first, and then paint in blue. I then topped each wave in white. Next, I cut a few portholes out, and painted around them in yellow and green.

A few waves served as the water off of the pirate ship. We filled it full of blue balloons for the kids to slide into.

But watch out for the shark!!

The kids truly had an adventure on the pirate ship.

What a crazy bunch of pirates!

My two year old birthday boy peeking through a porthole. The rest of the party is still to come. I have so many fun pictures to share. See you soon.

Pirate Party Invitations

We are in the process of preparing a swashbuckling pirate adventure party for my two sons. The first step was obviously making the invitations. I got motivated to work on them just in time to send them out for the party. The crazy part is the invites I designed have a lot of steps...and I made 40. Our family is enormous and I can't dare leave anyone out or it could quickly result in World War III. (Not kidding. Lol!)

Arrgh..Come if ye dare

Directions:

1. I started with a 5x7 piece of black and white polka dot paper and my map found here

2. I added on my invitation wording backed on brown paper

3. I found a cute little pirate boy graphic and cut him out. I attached him with foam for more dimension.

4. I bought some beautiful brown and black yarn and tied on a little ship sailing in the wind.

Now to mail all the pirate invitations out. These DIY pirate invites were not hard to make, but I would be lying if I didn't say they were time consuming. However, when my oldest son saw them and his face lit up, it was worth it all. He said, "Mom, you mean we are sending each kid their own treasure map. This is awesome!"