Celebration Inspiration Linky Party Starts tomorrow so I thought I would share another Birthday celebration we hosted for our little guy. We went full force with the pirate theme for this one. I was a little apprehensive at first as I thought 'pirates' may be a little too old for our three year old, however with a little creativity we turned it into a fun atmosphere for all ages to enjoy.Ahoy Mates! The
The invitation itself I designed in a publishing program and printed on kraft paper. The edges were burned for an authentic feel then the invitation was rolled up, tied with jute and placed in the bottle. The jute tie was long enough that it stuck out of the top of the bottle so our guests could easily remove the invitation. We were able to hand deliver most of these but still had to mail out a few. {The post office will mail these as is...I just had to seal the lids on with a piece of clear packing tape} The label on the front was simply printed with the address information.
Outside was decorated with handmade fabric pendent banners and pirate flags.
The centerpieces for our tables were small ships that I put together using stamped muslin fabric sails and a terra cotta flowerpots. The ship is made from a piece of grapevine that was cut and secured with floral wire.
We had a few activities set up outside to keep our little guests busy. I purchased this bounce slide from Disney {Pirates of the Caribbean} which fit perfectly with our theme.
All of our sandboxes were filled with gold coins that the kids spent hours digging for gold in.
We had a total of 48 kiddies attend ranging in all different age groups. It's a challenge to come up with things for all of them to enjoy, however I am always surprised how much the older kids really take part in the fun.
We even filled our play set sand tire with gold...the kids just loved digging in the sand.
A bubble machine was set up and ran continuously throughout the party.
It was a huge hit with my little guy and the rest of the toddlers.
I made a sail to bring some fun to our play set.
It was made out of muslin painted with black acrylic paint and attached to a piece of piping sprayed black.
The play set provided more free imaginative play for our little friends ~ True pirate style.The invitations were messages in a bottle. I searched forever for the perfect shaped plastic bottle. {Poland Springs Sparkling water was the winner} Even though no one here like the taste of sparkling water it was still less expensive to buy 60 bottles and pour it out then to purchase the empty bottles direct from a manufacture. {which were at least $1 a bottle plus shipping} The bottles were filled with sand, chipped shells and 'ocean clean' scented oil so when they were opened they smelled like the fresh clean sea.
A pirate party isn't complete without a plank. This was constructed out of scrap wood that was bound together with some decorative jute. I hand carved 'walk the plank' into the top of the wood. 
It was a great addition to the party, especially for the older kids.
We started the games off with a treasure hunt walk. I painted a simple treasure map on a piece of muslin that contained six stops along a path on our property. Hidden in the woods were red 'x's' that marked the spot for each stop. The first stop was a Parrot which was a Beanie Baby hidden in the trees. Next, Bars of Gold & Silver stacked high which were bricks spray painted with metallic spray paint. Then Cannonballs piled together which were stuffed brown lunch bags, tied at the top with a piece of jute hanging out, and sprayed with black spray paint. And finally shovels and picks staged in our horseshoe pit sand area.
We stayed together as a group and walked from spot to spot telling little tales of the objects we were looking for. The kids pretty much kept the conversation going by asking questions and telling us what they thought the pirates may have used each item as {I love seeing the kids imaginations run free and the things they come up with are priceless}
The final stop on our treasure hunt was a real pirate with the treasure chest. The kids were thrilled to say the least.
The 'treasure' was eye patches and scarves made from cut fabric for each kid to wear. Some wore them as head scarves and others tied them around their waist. It was a nice addition to the pirate costumes many of our little guests already showed up in.
Our second game was Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate. I put this together using cut felt attached to a piece of plywood. A tiny piece of velcro on the back of each patch allowed all the pieces to stick just where the kiddies put them.
Our last game was a homemade Pirate Piñata I made out of paper mache, painted and decorated with tissue. We used a wooden sword to swing and beat the poor guy down.
The piñata was filled with individual wrapped goody bags to ensure everyone got a prize with so many little friends in attendance.
I took the stress less route on the food as I had a pit beef chef on site. It is so much easier to have someone else present to take care of the main food and well worth it when you have a crowd to feed. {It also allowed me not to go insane and enjoy our guests instead of running around crazy}The simple menu consisted of pit beef, hotdogs and hamburgers. I set up a snack table {shown above} for our guest to munch before the meal. All the glass containers were decorated with ribbon and tags labeling the variety of snacks; a simple easy way to dress up the food.
The main birthday cake was four stacked rounds alternating between vanilla and chocolate flavors. I am not a professional cake decorator by any means but I love to come up with different creations that seem to work. The second layer was rolled fondant laid like a crinkled map with a red 'x'. The top layer was decorated in blue buttercream icing and topped with crushed graham crackers and another ship {as used for the centerpieces}.
I always make a personal cake for our little guy himself. This was made from half of a Wilton Ball pan and decorated completely with rolled fondant.
I also made a couple ice cream bombs to accompany the cakes. {I didn't get a picture but you can see one on the table to the right} These were so easy to do and so cute to add to our theme. I let several gallons of ice cream soften and layered them into round bowls lined with wax paper. Refreeze and release onto a plate adding a piece of jute to the center ~ so cute!
For take home favors every guest got to leave with their own boxed cupcake.
The cupcakes were decorated with pirate faces and flags made from homemade fondant.
In addition we had a candy bar set up with red, black and white candy along with small tokens that our little guests could package up themselves.
Thanks for letting us share our celebration with you! {I'll be sharing our second year celebration shortly}I hope everyone will stop back tomorrow and check out the Celebration Inspiration Party links! If you have a party to share be sure to link it up! {it can be any type of celebration - share your most creative party ideas, themes, and planning tips}
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