Pirate Birthday Bash

Okay, so Client One's birthday party was yesterday, and, if I may say so myself, it was awesome! We had lots of budget-friendly fun.

Now, I'm a planner and a bit of a perfectionist, so I start planning shindigs like this a month or five in advance. So, when Client One announced a few months back that she wanted a pirate birthday party, the wheels in my head started turning. I stalked Pinterest for all the best pirate ideas and came up with some awesome ones of my own. 

(This guy hung outside the door, but I forgot to get a picture of him up! I used the template from this website to make him: http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2011/06/a-book-a-craft-funnybones-paper-skeleton.html)

First, the invitation. Of course, it was a message in a bottle. Simply a piece of paper stained with tea, edges singed with a lighter, tied with a piece of twine, dropped down into a bottle with sand and topped with a cork. 

Then, of course, I had to make opening activities. There is nothing worse than having a bunch of 2-5 year-olds running around wild with nothing to do. So, I made sure there were activities set up for  them to do while we waited for everyone to arrive. They could choose to play with photo props cut from cardboard boxes, get their faces painted (thank goodness for willing, artistic friends!), or decorate a cardboard sword. 

I even made sure to include a guessing game for parents with a prize of a $5 giftcard to Barnes and Noble! (Hey, just because the party is for kids doesn't mean the parents can't get stuff too!)

Once everyone arrived, we were ready to set out on our pirate quest! But first, we had to dress like pirates. Each guest got a pirate hat, eye patch and a piratey tattoo. 

Then, we played the games. There were three tasks that they had to pass to become real pirates. For the first, they had to outsmart Captain Hook by playing Hook's Ring Toss. Next, they had to feed Tick Tock Croc by tossing balls into his mouth. And lastly, they had to "walk the plank" without falling into the water. Then, they were all real pirates and got to go play in the pirate ship playground that just happened to be on location. :)

Then, of course, came the food! (The best part of parties, right?) We had hotdogs with pirate ship sails, a pirate ship watermelon (thanks much to my aunt!), seawater (blue Koolaid), Pirate's Plunder Popcorn, and "Fish-n-Chips" (Goldfish crackers and chips mixed together).

 Oh, yeah. And my incredible cake! Client One wanted a treasure chest cake with doubloon cupcakes, so that's what she got. I made the cake with four 9X9 square cake layers covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. The doubloons are vanilla wafers dipped in melted down yellow buttercream with a simple skull and crossbones piped on top. The sand is a mix of brown sugar and ground vanilla wafers and the map is a sheet of sugar paper drawn on with edible markers!

 

Last, but not least, Client One opened a slew of awesome presents. Then, of course, we handed simple goodie bags filled with activities, a little spyglass, gold chocolate coins, pirate silly bands, tattoos and a couple pieces of candy. All in all, I think it was a success! Thanks to everyone who came out! We had a blast! Hope you did too!