Pirate Paaaarty!

Normally, we keep things really laid back for all of our birthdays - just lunch or dinner with family and friends, a few gifts, and of course some cake. :) This year, though, for the first time in his life, James decided he wanted a party. And not just any party, but a PIRATE party! The planning freak in me was so excited and, thanks to A LOT of wonderful input from all of you, the party went off without a hitch!

For the invites, I decided to go the e-vite route. Quick and easy and they had a pirate themed template, too! This was my message:

Yo ho ho and all that fun!

We'll be havin' a pirate pizza paaarty and we hope ye can come! Arrive if ye dare for a few hours of pleasure - we'll be playin' games, eatin' treats, and huntin' for treasure! Send ye replies by April the 3rd. Regrets risk walkin' the plank!

For the music, I uploaded some pirate music (from iTunes) onto my iPod - I chose songs from this album and this album. (Thanks, J, for the suggestion!!)

For the decorations, I kept it simple - balloons from the dollar store and homemade bunting from here.

Here are some photos from the big day...
As the guests arrived, the little pirates visited this table to "suit up" pirate style with a hat, a sash (just strips of extra material I had on hand), some tattoos, and necklaces. I was going to make eyepatches, but decided against it (didn't think it was a great idea to have sugar filled kids running around with one eye!).

Here's my little pirate all dressed up and displaying his "angry pirate face"!

This little cutie made a fashion statement with the sash!

I opted not to do games (some of our crew was just a bit too young for them), so we did some crafts instead.

I ordered these little treasure chests from here and the kids had a ball decorating them with paint and sequins. They also made necklaces out of beads and colored pasta.

For lunch we had pizza, green salad, fruit salad, and some Pirate's Booty (yes, it's actually called this!). :)

The absolute highlight of the party was this amazing, delicious strawberry chocolate cake! My sweet friend, Ann, put a lot of time and love into making this. (Thank you again, Ann!!) I just love the blue paper (think water) and the gummy sharks swimming around on it. We made the sails out of paper and skewers.

Blowing out the candles!

It was Ann's clever idea to have the candles sticking out of the side of the ship like cannons!

After cake, the kids went on a treasure hunt to find their goody bags...

I made the goody bags out of bandannas. I was able to cut two bags per bandanna and then I just hand stitched them up the sides and used a bit of yarn to tie them. I made the name tags in Word. What was the loot? Some stickers, pencils, these crayons, a small package of Goldfish Crackers, some gold chocolate coins, some pirate band-aids, and some more tattoos.

In between all of this, the kids had a blast swinging and jumping around in the bouncy castle.

All in all, it was a fun filled day and one I hope James will remember!

Here are some of piratey links that inspired me:
Growing Up Our Style - this was my go to post! I copied so many of these ideas!
Katherine Marie Photography
Family Fun
Sheek Shindigs
These crayons would have been fun for the goody bag, too!
The Attached Mama
The many comments from you lovely people!

And to get us in the spirit of the party, I made this pirate sensory tub. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~