Who doesn't love pirates? Let's face it...Johnny Depp was adorable as the bumbling Capt. Jack Sparrow and gave the image of pirates a whole new facelift. And to think Disney execs nearly didn't hire him when he audtioned, asking his agent "Is he drunk, high, gay or all 3?" (True story)
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Kids love pirates so a pirate party is a natural fit you can hardly go wrong with. Let's start with some pirate party planning ideas from Courtney and her husband, who made every element of their pirate party DIY!
They did a fantastic job...
The photos for DIY Pirate Party Ideas are by Courtney Jacques at Recherché Custom Invitations
Invitations
For my invitations I went to my local office supply store and bought 30 sheets of Astroparch for $3.
Astroparche resembles parchment in appearance and comes in a variety of colors. I chose the Antique Gold for my invitations.
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I wanted it to have even more of an antique distressed look so I tea stained it.
Tea staining is a simple process. Brew enough black tea to about halfway fill a glass 9"x13" baking dish. Let the tea cool. One sheet at a time, slip your sheet of Astroparche into the tea. Leave it set in the tea bath about 5-10 minutes depending on how dark you want your paper stained. Remove it from the tea bath, lay it flat and allow it to dry completely. If you want a more rumpled look to your Astroparche sheets, crumple them slightly before putting them in the tea bath.
Note: If you're going to print the invitations on your computer printer DO NOT CRUMPLE THEM!
They'll hang up in your printer.
I wanted my invitations to look even more distressed so I went over the sheets with smudge ink. (Also called distressed oxide). I went heavier with the ink around the edges of the sheets to make the edges a bit darker.
Tip: I've found applying the distress ink with a small makeup sponge to be the most effective way of doing it.
I inserted the rolled invitations into free corked wine bottles I got from my friend who owned a supper club.
Hubby dressed up as a pirate and hand delivered the invitations. Imagine our guests surprise to open their doors to find a pirate standing on their doorstep!
Go for the WOW factor. Every guest who received an invitation attended the party and several of them told me it was because of the way we'd cleverly delivered their invitations.
If you want to give the edges of your invitation even more of an antique look, take them outside and burn small portions of the edges of the invitation with a lighter. Then gently brush off the ash from where you just burned the edge.
I drew the pirate ship on a piece of chipboard and using an Exacto knife cut it out to make a stencil.
The Ahoy Matey! letters were Letraset rub on letters I had from my days as a graphic artist.
I handwrote the rest of the invitation.
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The X was made using a scrapbooking stamp and red ink.
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When the invitations were completely dry I rolled them and tied them with a thin piece of string.
Staging
When staging, I found it worked best to have one wall of your venue room be a focal wall. I'd always stage that focal wall first, then move on to the rest of the staging from there.
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I love to use wall backdrops. They're inexpensive and cover a large area very easily so I started with a piratey wall backdrop. Sand is one of the toughest elements to have to recreate for a large space. I discovered the easiest solution was to buy a 2nd backdrop, connect it to the first backdrop and lay it on the floor to look like a sand beach.
To make sand dunes on the beach I repurposed some ice forms I'd made, repainting them to look like dunes. I added some faux 'sea grasses' from the dollar store.
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I used my grandmother's steamer trunk as a
pirate's treasure chest. Because the trunk was so large, I didn't want the expense of filling the entire trunk with treasure. So I stuffed it over 3/4's full with throw pillows and made a corrugated cardboard false top I could lay over the pillows to stage my treasure on.
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Temu Pirate Gold Coin & Gem set
Temu Pirate Jewelry
Temu Pirate Eye Patches
I added candy and toy trinkets from Oriental Trading Company - all pirate themed of course.
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You can add whatever props you like on either side of your backdrops like DIY palm trees.
My focal wall ended up looking something like this:
For my second wall I used another backdrop. This went behind the kids banquet dining table to give them the feel they were on the deck of a pirate ship.
For the food table wall I took a roll of brown kraft paper and drew and painted a treasure map on it. You can also purchase a treasure map backdrop if you're not artistically inclined.
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Hubby was gracious enough to make me a DIY pirate ship as decoration for the food table. I painted it to look like the ship in the video below.
On one side of the food table I piled up DIY cardboard crates and barrels I'd made for other parties. On the opposite side of the food table I staged the pirate above right just using items I had on hand.
I made the bottle labels from printable Amazon labels. They were the only thing I bought for that display.
Hubby made the ship's wheel from cardboard. The skeleton came from our Halloween decorations.
I did buy a pirate wig/hat for $12.98 and a pirate flag for $3.49 to complete that display.
For the last display I used my boat bookshelf. The skeleton was from my Halloween decor, the clothes came from our closet, the chain was one we had on hand at our resort, the trunk was one we made from corrugated cardboard and the cannonballs were a DIY project using styrofoam balls.
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The cost of my staging all of this came in at just a hair over $100.
Food/Menu
We served sandwiches and snacks for the kids.
Tablescapes
There's a whole variety of pirate themed disposable dinnerware and tablecloths on the market. I added pirate activity placemats to my table, set out a couple bins of colored pencils and let them go at it while I got their lunch ready to serve.
For my table centerpiece I used a wooden treasure chest filled with treats and small treasures.
Activities
I always like to think outside the box when it comes to party activities, patronizing area businesses while doing the unexpected.
Near me there's a place called Pirate's Hideaway. that offers a chain of lakes tour on a pirate ship.
Hubby and I booked the pirate ship for a private party. The kids had no idea they were being driven to take a ride on a pirate ship.
We had a blast on that pirate ship. From the kids' perspective it topped even Loudmouth the macaw.
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Consider a pirate live theater performance as an activity. I live in the boonies and even we have a performing arts live theater that staged The Pirates of Penzance. $15 a ticket for kids.
Even up here in the boonies we have a live theater center called Campanile.
One year I took the kids to see Pirates of Penzance.
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Cost: $15 per ticket. That sounds pricey but it's really not when you add up the cost of other activities that would fill a 2+ hour time slot.
Rent a pirate movie DVD and set up a theater in your yard to show the movie after it gets dark. Set up an old fashioned popcorn maker, a corrugated cardboard candy counter and drinks chilling in a cooler.
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ADOPT A PIRATE NAME
When your guests arrive at your party, let them adopt their pirate name!
You can make your own sign or buy one here for $1.92
PIRATE RING TOSS
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Here are a couple tutorials on how to make the ring toss game.
Tutorial 1
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I've also seen the hooks at dollar stores. You can use pool diving rings for the rings.
If you're gluing your hooks to the backboard, be sure to use something like Gorilla Glue or E6000. Wear surgical gloves when applying it so you don't get it on your hands!
WALK THE PLANK
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Simple enough, right? 2 supports for the plank, one on either end, a plank wide enough for kids to safely walk across and an inflatable kids pool. Tip: Don't make the plank too high off the ground. You don't want the kids injuring themselves if they fall off the plank.
PIRATE PINATA
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I think most everyone knows how a pinata works. Kids are blindfolded and hit it with a stick, trying to break the pinata open so the candy and treats inside come spilling out.
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Easy Guide to Making Your Own Pirate Party Pinata or you can buy ready-made pinatas.