Pirate Party

My youngest LOVES Pirates. I think it is because his big brother is into, Pirates of the Caribbean, right  now. He has never seen one of those shows, so I am thinking maybe it is our pirate books that makes him love pirates. In any case, that's what he wanted for his birthday party theme. It was such a fun party to put together, and the decor turned out so cute!

When I host a party, I am sure to make my decor functional. I decorate with items that the children will receive at the party, or favors they will take home. These are a few shots of the decor.

The hook hands came from the Target dollar section for . You can also find them in my affiliate links HERE but THIS is a better deal. The eye patches can be found HERE. More links to follow. 

You can find the telescopes HERE.

I made this little doll and parrot, and will have instructions later in the week. I got the lawn chair at Walmart last spring, but f you are looking for one sooner, you can find them HERE.

I only paid around $6.

I LOVE the cute swords. They were also from the Target dollar section. If you can't find them there, you can find similar swords that come with eyepatches HERE.

Throughout the rest of the week, I will be sharing printables, sourcing, and activity ideas for a Pirate themed party, including these darling peg doll sand toy favors. They are the cutest favor I have ever made!

There were lots of activities at the party, including finding a treasure chest. The kids loved it. I used a chest I already had, and filled it with party store and dollar store rings , necklaces and coins. You can also find them RINGS, NECKLACES and COINS by clicking on each one, if you prefer shopping from your couch.

The kids walked the plank that we made out of two crates and a 1x6 from the hardware store, and fought like real pirates!

I was glad we went with a 1x6 instead of a 2x4, because they were able to balance more easily, and no one fell off.

They loved this activity the most.

 

The kids each got to find and adopt a parrot of their own, because what is a real Pirate without a shoulder parrot?

I will be sharing the pattern for the parrot later in the week. You won't want to miss it!

Be sure and check back this week for:

Pirate Printables

Pirate Doll Instructions

Pirate Shoulder Parrot Instructions

Pirate Peg Doll Favors

I will make the links above, "live," as the posts become available.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Indiana Jones Birthday Party

Indiana Jones was the theme for Bubby's birthday party this year, and it was definitely an adventure!

We started out the festivities with a photo shoot in a field near our house. Here are a few of the photos I like the best! My son tells me, "Indiana Jones doesn't smile." I hardly got a shot of him smiling.

The invitations are always fun for me. I found the most popular pic of Indiana Jones I could online, and created the invitations in Picasa.

 I printed this in wallet size.

I LOVE to make invitations 3D, and these turned out darling! They were delivered to each child in a lunch bag, tied with string.

 I just hot glued the snake on. They are 8 for $1 at Dollar Tree.

 I started collecting decor for decorating, months ago, at local thrift stores. This hounds-tooth lined suitcase was one of my favorite finds! It was $2. I knew it had to be part of the party decor. It housed the gift bags that I sewed from a sealed package of maps I got at the thrift store for $.50.

 I simply folded the sheets in half, and cut them in strips, then zigzagged up each side. Same as I did HERE. Perfect, Inexpensive, and totally custom!

I just grabbed globes and plants from around my house.

 I borrowed the masks from my brother. He got them when he was on an LDS mission in Guatemala.

 I made the totem poles for a craft, using my parents ban saw, my scroll saw, and my parent's belt sander. I thought they were so perfect!

So, as each child arrived, they were given a fedora hat (dollar tree) a satchel (made by me) a dart gun (made again by yours truly)and a bundle of q-tip darts. I had all that stuff in a separate table.

After they suited up, we sent them in the back yard, and they chased each other with their dart guns for nearly 45 min. The Indiana Jones theme song was blasting throughout the whole yard. At one point, I looked at my husband, and was like, "I don't think I even needed to plan anything else!" It was very entertaining to watch them pretend.

 I had drawn targets on butcher paper around the yard for them to practice on, but they much preferred shooting each other.

The dart guns were made with the smallest pvc you can find, and duck tape.

My husband made a snake walk balance beam out of a 2x8, and we sprinkled snakes on either side.

They had all sorts of fun with that and the snakes! I got most of them at Dollar Tree and Wal-mart.

We brought them inside, and showed the boulder scene from Indiana Jones. Of the 20 kids that came, only 5 had ever seen the movie.

We then served them hotdogs, chips, and root beer floats for dinner.

My cute mom came to help. She is always the biggest, best help!

The next thing we did was the favorite part for the kids. They got to dig for real arrowheads (that I purchased on ebay).

 They all said this was what they liked best! Good thing we haven't planted our garden yet...

 

They each ended up with five arrow heads.

Next was decorating totem poles. I chose to have them use markers, because it is less messy than paints. This was a good idea. We did the same thing at sister's party for the craft. You can see what we did for her party HERE.

They had a great time, even if most of them drew, "butts," on the back of the totem poles.

 Before they left, Bubby gave them each a map gift bag with a totem necklace inside.

 

Here is a closeup of the loot.

It was a great day, and a fun memory. Boy parties are much more high energy than girl parties. Good thing I have a whole year to gear myself up for next time!

For additional inspiration, please visit my Pinterest Board.

Have a Happy and Creative Day, and thanks for stopping by! If you like what you see, please leave a comment!

Risa