Pirate Birthday Party

Pirate Birthday Party Ideas

We recently held a pirate birthday party for my son and it was a great time. With my parties I usually have a mix of store-bought items, handmade crafts and re-purposed props to save money and time. Below are some of the ideas and links to other sites the provided me with inspiration even if I went a different way.
If you want more information or any photos, feel free to email us.
Pirate Games and Other Pirate Fun

Pirate Invitations and Decor

We decided to buy pirate invitations from Target but there are some great do-it-yourself options like the invitation in a bottle.

I did splurge for a pirate banner and themed plates and napkins (they were on sale) but to save money on decor, you can buy plain black and red plates and napkins. We bought black and red balloons and tablecloths.

Our party was outside so much of our "decor" consisted of the scavenger hunt spots (see Games section). We were lucky to have pirate bandannas left over from an event but I've seen them at Dollar stores. For finishing touches, we had chocolate coins, necklaces and gems. My son also had two toy pirate ships so they were placed on other tables as instant decor.

We printed little paper flags to stick in the lunch meats and larger flags for the ship mast.

We posted a few "piratical terms" that added to the decor and were entertaining for the adults and kids. I got the fonts from this site and the flag here. I also printed pirate-themed food labels, which rounded out the decor and inspired chuckles from the guests.

Pirate Grub

We got the idea for a watermelon pirate ship from a google search. There are some sites that get fancier, making gun ports or even using the rind for sails.

We kept it simple, just carving out the watermelon with a melon baller and then putting most of them back into the boat. A dowel and black cloth with paper skull & crossbones glued to them made our mast. My favorite part was the easiest - we had an Ariel bath doll that you could disconnect so we cleaned her up and stuck her top half onto the front for the ship's figurehead.

Our pirate pops - we nicknamed them Lil Mateys - were a little time consuming but relatively easy to make & fun. I let my 7-yr-old daughter & her friend help make them until they got bored. My mom had an old chest and we stuck the pops in a foam block and covered it with necklaces and chocolate coins.
We printed signs like Shark Bait (for our gummy worms and fishies) and Fish & Chips (goldfish & potato chips) to dress up the treats.
My friend made adorable pirate-face cupcakes and some with letters for his name. These were a big hit and tasty.

Other Pirate Sites for Inspiration

These sites had some great ideas:
Just Sweet and Simple - great decor, game and food ideas and printables you can copy
Hostess with the Mostess blog - lots of great ideas including the "pirate pops."
Make and Takes - I discovered this site too late to use their ideas but they're great - cute pirate crafts and "pirate ships" out of orange slices.Pirate Crafts - DLTK's Crafts for Kids has free printables and ideas with a pirate theme