Arrghh...A Pirate Party

In April, My family and I went to Disney world and one of my son's favorite rides is the Pirates of the Caribbean so of course when we came home to plan his May birthday party, a Pirate theme was just what he had in mind.

I am one for a "theme". I think it's not only fun shopping for things that go together but it also ties everything together and makes for a nice display. I think all the pirate items that I found or made, brought the party together.

So many people have asked me how I did things for the party, so here I am to share them with all of you.

From the invitation to the cake and everything in between, I like to keep the theme.
Here are some pictures from the party and I will try to explain them and what I used, etc. If you see anything and are interested in the items, just let me know. I will be happy to direct you to the right place! :)

First we did a Treasure hunt complete with clues and had all the items hidden around in different places. At the end of the hunt (which included everything to become a "real pirate", they then had to Walk the Plank!

This plank was made by my step father and he did a great job! It had an arrow to show the pirates which way to walk, it was up on blocks but not too high for the little ones and he even painted a pirate on it! It remains in my backyard and the kids still love it!

This is just one of our cakes. This pirate was made by my mom from scratch. She is so talented and really enjoys doing the kids' cakes. It was a hit!

We had everything on the tables and outdoors to reflect the theme throughout. We had a skull holding pirate napkins, the cupcake picks were made by me, personalized with my son's name, age and pirate messages. We had "booty" throughout in small sacks that I purchased at a local craft store and filled with "jewels" and "gold coins". All the serving bowls, platters and popcorn holders were found at Home Goods. I stumbled upon them. If you are a fan of HomeGoods, then you know, you never know what you will find!!

We ALL dressed the part! Even Dad wore a pirate shirt that I made and had a fake mustache, patch and hook (which were all given out in the hunt). I made myself and my mother a BLING Pirate themed shirt! They all turned out so cute. Both my boys wore a skull pirate themed shirt that I made as well.

This was my shirt which sparkled in the sun and I just loved it! Great for the theme!

Here is another cake which was the pirate ship (again, made by my mother). Another delicious addition to the many desserts including a chocolate fountain and pirate cupcakes

This is my mom in her bling pirate shirt! She was on chemo during all of this as well so she is looking great!

This is a treasure chest that I purchased unfinished at a local craft store and painted in in gold and metallic brown, it looked great in person. I filled it with loot. The fabric for the table I purchased at Joann Fabric stores and just had it cut to size. The wooden signs that I had throughout all the tables (shown here) were handpainted by an artist on etsy for just $4 each, all with different sayings to set the mood.

 The small buckets for the silverware were purchased at the craft store for $1 each and I purchased vinyl clings from a woman on etsy that I use all the time. She sold me about a dozen of them for a few dollars. I told her to make them small and all in black and white. They varied from "Ahoy matey" to a skull and crossbones and a pirate ship, etc. They went perfect on these small buckets for utensils and napkins, etc. Most of the napkins and paper products I purchased in straight red or red and white stripes. The dessert plates specifically for the cake, I purchased with pirates on them. I find that the party products that you purchase with a "theme" sell in such small quantities for so much so I rather by coordinating colors and get a higher quality product that won't bend, etc.

All the kids loved walking the plank over and over again with their hooks, pirate hats, mustaches, gold chain necklaces, eye patches, pirate themed clothes and more. We also love the jumping thing that we rented for the day from a local place in our area. My son wanted a slide so bad!! It was a hit with even the adults!

We also did Sand Art so we had one designated table with every color sand that you can think of and bottles, necklaces, key chains and more that the children loved to fill with sand and bring home with them.
All in all the party was a great success! A fun day filled with lots of laughs, smiles and I think the theme really showed through everything that was done. I can't wait to hear what my son has in store for next year (so I can start planning now!!).

Here are some of the other pictures from the party. Enjoy!!!

The buckets that I made with the vinyl:

I used a stencil to paint all of the gift bags and then made the hang tags:

Drink tags to go with the theme:

Cupcake toppers with Age, Name, etc. Displayed not only on this cupcake tower but also on black iron candle holders down center of dessert table. Made a great display!