Pirate Party #tutorial

Hey Guys, Wyatt’s birthday is officially over. ::insert a sad face here:: We did a billion fun things that I will shortly be posting but for now lets talk about his Pirate Party. I starting thinking about his birthday theme at the end of his last party but started to work on it a few weeks before.

I love to throw theme parties because come on they are more fun then the everyday ones plus I love to live through my child's eyes!

To throw a theme party it just comes down to the little details that throw it all together and try not to go over board you don't want it to drive you nuts or cost you a lot of money.

First, we made cardboard pirate ships:

We just moved into our new house so I had old boxes and there packet stuffing that I saved to make these so it cost me only 10 dollars to make. (Which was the wooden dowels and the duck tape I bought for both ships.) But you can use what ever you have lying around or go purchase boxes from your local stores.

First you need a picture or pattern of the ship you want to make just so you have something to reference. I used this… (click the picture for the link)

Now obviously my ships are not this technical but I wanted a common shape to go off by so that when you looked on the ship you could tell that it was a ship.

Here’s the basic pattern I used to make the ship and then duck taped it all together cutting and making adjustments when I needed too.

Then I used the packing stuffing to make the sails and the wooden dowels to hold them up. It took a few hours and some creative thinking to put it all together but I think it turned out well. The water is just blue table clothes that I used for Wyatt’s last birthday.

Second,

We made pirate hats:

I made the initial hats and that we sized them to the boys heads and finished them for a perfect fit.

Trace and cut your black foam in the shape above adding tiny holes on each end and then make a pattern for the skull designed, trace and cut it out on glittering foam that has a sticky back and put it in the center. then size the elastic around the child's head and tie it through the holes on the end. You can dress it up by adding feathers if you want. Total cost: $2 per hat

Third,

We made pirate hooks.

Cut a hole in the bottom of a party cup and stick rolled up tinfoil in the shape a hook throw the hole and your done. Total cost: $3

Fourth,

Make a Pirate Cake:

I found this YouTube video to help me make this cake.

Seriously, it was the easiest thing I did for this party. I used completely different candies and made homemade icing but it still came out better then I thought it would and it was yummy!

Fifth,

I made Jell-O boats:

Blue Jell-O in cups with an orange slices as the boat and pirate flags for the sails. simple, cute and adds to the theme.

But for the main attraction was the treasure hunt:

We used this treasure map:

Got Pirate Tattoos and had a epic pirate ship battle…

I divided the kids up one group in the “Bloodblade” ship one group in the “Blackbeard” ship and they threw soft balls at each other that were “cannon balls” which then led to the buried treasure.