Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Me

Hello me mateys and welcome to me blog all about throwing a great pirate party. Think black billowing sails, the skull and crossbones, peg legs and parrots, it's time to be a pirate, arrrrg. 

Although this theme has been in existence since time in memorial there are so many elements to work with when it comes to pirates that it always makes for loads of fun. I've been wanting to organise a pirate party for such a long time and we always seem to miss out on the opportunity to do so, but this time we landed the job and it was sails open and full speed ahead.

I must say that with this pirate party I had the most fun making all the different decor items. One of our large props was a pirate ship, cutout from corex and painted, that we placed behind the food table as a backdrop. On either side of the ship we had a little girl pirate and a little boy pirate. These also acted as a way to tell the difference between the girl and boy party packs, the girl's being on the table in front of the girl pirate and the boy's on the boy pirate side.                                 

On the table itself we also had a pirate ship as part of the centre piece. The ship acted to add theme and a bit of fun the the child's name as we always try to do. I used cardboard to make the ship but added a 3D element with the sail.

But decorating the table area was not our only decor task for this party. The client wanted the whole room to be a pirate paradise and we very happily obliged. On one of the walls we placed a treasure map that was cute and colorful and more suited to being a decor item than just a X marks the spot, skull and cross bones kind of one. 

We also had a pirate photo board where the kids could stick their heads through and really look like pirates. It's also a great photo op for all the mommies and daddies attending the party and wanting to get cute photos of their littlies. 

Then my absolute favorite decor prop and scene is the treasure chest with the added effect of the palm tree and large rum barrel.The barrel and palm tree I cut from corex and painted and the treasure chest a creative friend made using cardboard boxes and a type of foam material. I painted it to make it look like wood with gold trim and very proudly made the lock;) We scattered some chocolate gold coins to finish things off.

For the party packs we've been wanting to make little treasure chests for ages and we were finally able to do just that for this party. They landed up being rather small, because using a computer template, the largest we could print on was A3 and so once folded they were quite mini. Although this was adorable it did make packing them a challenge, but we managed. We changed some of the usual items that our party packs contain to fit the theme so they had some gold coins and edible necklaces as well as pirate related toys the boys getting plastic pirate figurines and the girls a 'gem' ring.

   

                   

                     


The pirate food was the usual party food that any plundering pirate needs, apart from a few theme related items and the strategic placement of a pirate flag;)
  

                                          

There were some palm tree and ship chocolates as well as pirate ship and face cookies.

                       

                      

 

Our final contribution to the party was a treasure chest cake, yet another pirate inspired item I've been wanting to make for ages. We had a little trouble securing the lid of the chest, but after a bit of engineering and some handy skewers we managed. The client wanted butter icing so I made grooves to look like wood and then we filled the inside of the chest with loads of fun brightly colored jewel-like sweets. This cake is an old classic, but it really is an attention grabber and despite the lid securing issue fairly simple to achieve. 

And there you have it me mateys, it really is a pirate's life.