Category Archives: Birthday Parties

Pirate Birthday Party

When planning a birthday party, I work according to the following outline:

  • invitations
  • decorations
  • activities/games
  • food/snacks
  • cake(s) ~ plan, design and bake a cake/cupcakes (or save the hassle and order one)
  • loot bags

For a complete breakdown of party planning steps and organization, see my Birthday Party Planning post.  We did a Pirate theme for my son’s 5th birthday.  This was one of those over the top parties that took lots of time and energy to pull together, but it was great fun!

Invitations:

These invitations were so much fun to make.  I wrote the invitation and then tried to “translate” it into pirate language.  I Googled pirate words and even found examples of invitations others had made that I could use as a guide.  After figuring out what I was going to write, I had to search the web for an appropriate font.  I often pick a font that is specific to my party theme and this was no exception.  Unfortunately, I can’t share the name of the font, as I now have a Mac and my computer doesn’t recognize the font in the original document.  I have several places that I download fonts from, but dafont and fontspace are two that I often use.  I can’t be sure by I think that Rapscallion and Treasure Map Dead hand look familiar from fontspace.  I changed the fonts and then printed the invitations off on my computer.  I then dipped them in tea to dye/age them and then set them out flat to dry completely.  The mock treasure map was actually a map to our house, with the X marking our house.We rolled the map and invitation together, scroll style and added them to an old bottle with some sand and a seashell in the bottom.  We corked the bottle and added a personalized tag to each bottle.  My son and I delivered our “message in a bottle” to each guest.

Treasure Map and Pirate Party Invitation
Message in a Bottle


Decorations:

For this party, we had lots of decorations to pull the theme together.  The guests were required to “walk the plank” on our front sidewalk before entering.

Walk the Plank Sign
Walking the Plank

As they stepped up on our front porch, they were welcomed by a skeleton and sign on the front door.  The skeleton is one of those milk jug skeletons.  I made it for the party and then kept it for a Halloween decoration, so it served a dual purpose.  Click the picture for a tutorial on how to make them.

pirate party milk jug skeleton

The big ship poster was on our front door.

pirate party door sign

I made my standard Happy Birthday Banner.  The parrot was made with my son’s handprints for the wings.

pirate theme party banner

I made a palm tree from an old cardboard carpet roll and set out an old trunk for the gifts. I wrapped the gifts from us in brown paper with raffia ties to go with the theme.  I made several signs that were posted around the house.  You can see this one says, “Loot Goes ‘ere!”  You will also see some pineapples and a coconut next to the trunk.  The coconut is real, but the pineapples were made for my daughter’s “Aloha” birthday party by applying paper maché over 2 litre pop bottles.

palm tree and chest

The buffet had a few decorations as well.  I covered a small box with paper maché and made a custom lid that had the rounded top like a trunk. I used a heavy cardboard that had the flexibility to bend (not corrugated).  I then filled it with treasure from the dollar store and around the house (brass wine glasses that we received as a wedding gift, fake gold coins, beads, shiny pennies (soaked in vinegar and salt), etc).  I also spilled out one of the invitation bottles and covered the edges with two grass skirts from the dollar store (much cheaper than purchasing an actual table skirt).

pirate theme buffet

There were several little “vignettes” set-up around our dining room and signs dispersed throughout the house and yard.  We also purchased a pirated themed cd for background music.  Here is a gallery showing more of the decorations.

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Games and Activities

  1. Pin the Patch on the Pirate (I bought a commercial poster for this)
  2. Pineapple Bowling with paper maché pineapples and a real coconut
  3. Pass the Cannon (like Hot Potato) used a coconut as the cannon ball
  4. Walk the Plank
  5. Hook the Pretzel (How many pretzels can you hook?  No hands!)
  6. Swab the Deck (One on one contest to “swab” the balls across the deck with mops)
  7. Treasure Hunt/Scramble (had to find the chocolate coins hidden around the yard/house)
  8. Face Painting & Tattoos
  9. Paper Bag Pirate Puppets (to fill time while some kids were getting their faces painted)
  10. Dig for Treasure  (We hid shells in a large sand box and had a contest to see who could find the most)
  11. Shell Race (place a shell on your nose and race)
Pineapple Bowling
Swabbing the Deck
Pin the Patch on the Pirate
How Many Pretzels Can You Hook?

Food and Snack

This party was jam-packed with activities, so I did not put out much food.  The only theme related food was Goldfish crackers.  We also put out some watermelon, pretzels, chips and salsa.  We also served a homemade punch.

Cake and Ice Cream

I don’t have specific tutorials to direct you to for the cakes.  I tend to use Google images to get ideas and visit the sites connected to those images that interest me the most.  I gather ideas from several sources to come up with my own versions.  For the pirate ship cake, I was able to find little pirate action figures at the dollar store and the treasure chest originally held small candy.  The pirate ship cake was sitting on a “treasure map” in the center of the table. The pirate cake and hat cake were basically fancy cutting.  The stripes on the shirt are “fruit by the foot”.  I often pre-cut ice cream to fit the theme.  I  bought vanilla cartons of ice cream and peeled the box off.  This allowed me to cut the rectangular shape into 1″ slabs.  I then used the skull and crossbones cookie cutter to cut the ice cream.  I then lay the cut-out pieces on wax paper on a cookie sheet for quick and easy serving.

Loot Bags

When the guests arrived, they each received a bandana, eye patch, “pirate” face paint and a pirate style tattoo.  Some of the loot was in their actual loot bags, some they received and wore for the duration of the party and other loot was received throughout the party.  The birthday boy and his sister were in full costume and my husband and I sported bandanas and eye-patches.

pirate birthday costumes

pirate party loot

  • Bandana
  • Eye Patch
  • Tattoos
  • Chocolate Coins (hidden in the yard)
  • Money (in the cake)
  • Skull and Cross Bones Cookies
  • “Ocean in a Bottle” with thank-you note attached (bottle with blue water/vinegar and a variety of ocean things like tiny plastic fish, shells, sand, etc.  Place them in the bottle and kids and shake the bottle and watch the fish swim)
  • Package of Goldfish crackers
  • Glow Stick
  • Playdough
  • Dollar Store Pirate Action Figure and Boat Set
pirate theme cookies

Skull & Cross Bone Cookies

This was one of the very best parties we did.  The ideas were endless and it was so much fun!  I would highly recommend a pirate theme party ~ it is guaranteed to be a big hit with both boys and girls!

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Simple Party Pennant Banner

I love the look of those triangle pennant banners.  I have made paper ones before and they are so cute, but thought I would make a fabric one that I could use over and over again.  This was super easy and I probably had the cutting and sewing done within an hour or so.

Pennant Banner Instructions:

Materials:

  • Coordinating fabric (or paper)
  • Ribbon to mount the triangles on
  • Sewing Machine/thread
  • Measuring tool and scissors or rotary cutter

fabric
I ended up with 5 different fabric patterns and purchased .2 of a meter of each, for this project.  This enabled me to fit 2 double-sided triangles per piece of fabric (ie I would have 2 completed triangles from each fabric for a total of 10).  To be honest I didn’t even measure these.  I had a paper pennant banner from another occasion and just used one of the triangles as a guide.  The originals were cut from 8 1/2 X 11″ paper with the top of the triangle extending the whole width of the paper and the point coming down to the middle of the bottom of the page at 4 1/4″.  When making the fabric triangles, I set down the paper triangle guide and used my rotary fabric cutter to cut through the double thickness of fabric (with wrong sides together).

wrong sides together

The photo makes this look a little lop-sided, but it actually isn’t.

I simply sewed a zigzag stitch down the sides of the triangles to the point, and left the top open. I was not concerned about the stitches showing, so I kept the wrong sides together and sewed on the “good” side.  I wanted my triangles to have two “good” sides so that when they blew in the wind, there was no back or “bad” side.

sewing triangles

After all 10 triangles had been sewn, I laid out my ribbon and pinned the triangles on about 6 inches apart.  I then sewed the tops of the triangle to ribbon.  (I did not sew the tops together before as I really didn’t see a need to double-stitch them.)  My finished banner stretched about 12 feet or so, with some swag.

Finished Pennant Banner

pennant banner

Finished Banner

The fabric banner was super easy to make and much more durable than paper.  To be honest, the $8 cost (got the fabric and ribbon on sale) was not much more than fancy paper and it will obviously last for many years.  I actually tried to pick colours that I thought were a bit more neutral, so they could serve different purposes and would look good with the strange colour of our house (not my pick).  Happy sewing!

Pennant Banners Continued…

You can do some really cool things with these banners.  When making paper banners, it is fun to add lettering and coordinate for a birthday party theme or other celebration.  We used one at our teacher appreciation lunch this year.    There is a great tutorial at Plucking Daisies.

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Birthday Party Planning

I must say, the birthday parties are getting much easier to plan as the kids get older, but I do miss those over-the-top theme parties from days gone by.  This entry is going to give some rough guidelines for birthday party planning, but I won’t get into specific themes today.  We have done several different theme parties over the years, that I will probably post about in the future. The girls themes we have done for my daughter include:  butterfly, snowman, princess, spring, Hawaiian, sleepover and disco.  The boys themes we’ve done have included: bowling, Star Wars, pirate, Winnipeg Jets, train and jungle.  We have done a few less home theme parties for my son as I generally find it easier to take boys out and do a physical activity of some kind. I won’t post the themes in any particular order, but if you are planning a party and would like me to post on a particular theme, please leave a comment.

I have to give a bit of a disclaimer here….when my kids were small, I often felt creatively stifled being a full-time teacher, wife and mother of two little ones.  I found that there was rarely time or energy left to get my creative juices flowing.  For me, scrapbooking, card making, crafting or doing home projects seems to be very therapeutic and I really missed having them as an avenue to release my creativity.  So, when life was too demanding to culture this area of my life, I found that birthday party planning provided that outlet.  I didn’t have much time as I was working out of the home full-time, so plans for a theme party would often begin at least two months in advance.  Some of the more elaborate parties took many hours to plan and prepare for, but for me it was all about the process and the details.  I rarely spent much money on the party itself, as I pretty much made everything that was needed.

Party Planning 101

I have always limited the # of kids my children invite to their parties to the number equal to their age.  So, for example, for my daughter’s 7th birthday party, she invited 7 guests.  Generally, this has not been too difficult to stick to, but there have been a few exceptions depending on what we are doing.  When planning, I work according to the following outline:

  • invitations
  • decorations
  • activities/games
  • food/snacks
  • cake(s) ~ plan, design and bake a cake/cupcakes (or save the hassle and order one)
  • loot bags

Details! Details! Details!

First off ~ Google is your best friend.  There are lots of great party planning sites and blogs about birthday parties and themes.  Once I decided a theme, I would begin to scour the net for images and sites that offered ideas that fit into the categories mentioned above.  I also found, that many of the ideas I used for one theme could be modified for another (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey ~ has anyone actually pinned a tail on a donkey???)

Invitations – the invitations are a great way to set the stage for your party theme.  I am a scrapbooker and pretty handy on the computer, so making invitations is quite easy for me, but that’s not to say I sometimes don’t spend hours labouring over the details of the “perfect” party invitation.  I would also look for cool and unique invitation ideas ~ we’ve done everything from DVD’s to e-cards to a message in a bottle.  Your invitations should include date, location, drop-off and pick-up times, and RSVP information.  Also, be sure to include information such as:  what to bring or wear to the party and mention if lunch or dinner will be served.  The invitations should be sent out 2 to 3 weeks prior to the party.

bowling invitation

Here is a Bowling Party invitation ~ closed.

bowling invitation ~ open

Bowling ball slides open on a brad to reveal the details.

Decorations ~ again, I have some staples that I think about for every party ~ homemade birthday banner, center piece, table-cloth, plates and napkins and other accessories to build your theme.  I also consider music when thinking about setting the stage for the party.  Is there a particular type of music that fits well with the theme for background music and games?  Here is an example of a birthday banner from my daughter’s disco party. I have access to an overhead projector, so I just found the images online and then made a transparency. I then enlarged the images on black paper and cut them out to create a silhouette effect.  The banners are usually quite big ~ about 6 feet by 3 feet.  I always try to copy a font that suits the theme (if applicable).

banner

Activities and Games ~ I tend to have a few “go to” games that we used variations of at most parties, these include:

  • Pin the Tail on the Donkey ~ Pin the Patch on the Pirate, Pin the Spot on the Ladybug, etc.
  • Hot Potato ~ Pass the Canon, Pass the Asteroid, etc.
  • Pass the Present ~ I got this idea from my friend Michelle.  Basically, you wrap a little gift/surprise item in a box.  You then proceed to add layers of wrapping paper on the outside equal to the number of kids, so that each child will get a turn to unwrap the present.  You pass the present around the circle to music and when the music stops, the person holding the present gets to unwrap a layer.  The person to unwrap the final layer gets to keep the prize inside.  The kids love this!
  • Musical Chairs ~ We’ve done musical pillows, beach towels, etc.

In addition to the above, I am usually able to either find or invent a game, activity or craft that is specific to the party theme.  One of the keys to a successful party is to keep the kids busy and do not spend too much time on one activity.  It is all about pacing.

Food and Snacks ~ As a rule of thumb, I generally do not serve a meal for a basic home based theme party.  I try to serve a variety of healthy snacks as well as a few of my kids favourite munchies.  I find that when you have lots planned, there really is very little time to eat or even munch.  When possible, I do try to include some theme based food or snack items such as the “Yoda Soda” we served at my son’s Star Wars party.

Birthday Cake ~ I love baking a cake or cupcakes from scratch and then decorating them to match our theme.  I have never taken a cake decorating course, so my cakes are far from perfect, but I have lots of fun looking at different theme cakes online and then coming up with my own variations.  Obviously, some turn out better than others. We almost always serve ice cream with our cake.

cupcakes

Spring Party Cupcakes

spring cupcakes

More Spring Party Cupcakes

Loot Bags ~ I must admit, I am not a big fan of loot bags.  I find that most loot bags are either full of junk food or little dollar store odds and ends that we don’t need.  I am not saying that I never buy anything at the dollar store, because as a teacher, I can go in and spend $50 in a heart beat.  However, when planning the loot bags, I often opt to put fewer items in the bag and give one or two more substantial items that fit with the theme or are at least usable items.  That is not to say that I never add treats or dollar store items. In fact, for my son’s last birthday, he said to me, “Mom, you just don’t get it…all a 9 year old boy really wants in their loot bag is candy!”  I threw my arms in the air, took him to the dollar store and said “Go to town.”  For the first time ever, he picked-out all his favourite candies and we handed-out a bag of junk food.  Yuck!  So not my style, but man was it easy.

Timing for the Event

I generally keep home parties to 2 hours.  We usually begin with an independent activity such as colouring or something that does not require much instruction.  The purpose of this is just to keep the kids busy until everyone arrives.  As soon as all of the guests arrive, we generally do a craft or sitting activity of some kind, followed by our more active games.  I usually plan on getting started a bit late due to late arrivals.  We then spend about 15 minutes for the craft (depending on age and interest), 30 to 45 minutes for the games and activities and then the last 45 minutes for cake, ice cream and gifts.  It is jam-packed, but much easier to keep the kids on task if it is fast paced.  As the kids get older, there is much less planning and they are often able to manage their own activities/entertainment. My daughter is now 11 and for the past two birthdays, she has really planned her own party and decided what she and her friends would do.

Little Extras

As I begin to post actual themes, you will see that for some parties there is way more than the “skeleton” of a plan mentioned above, but this does give a general guideline for how to pull a theme together.  One thing that we often did when the kids were small (and would let me), was dress them up for the theme.  You can see Eden dressed-up as a butterfly for her Spring Party in the photo above.  Here are some links to other sites that may be helpful:

Martha Stewart

Birthday Party Ideas

Again, if you are planning a party for one of the themes mentioned above, leave me a comment and request a theme as I will be posting in no particular order.

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