My daughter recently celebrated her 5th birthday with a Pirate Princess party. My inspiration came from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, a new show on Disney Junior, and one of her favorites.
I started by making this invitation to send out to all her pirate friends. I found the adorable pirate girl graphics
HERE.
With the extreme heat, we knew this year's party would definitely need to revolve around the pool, so the decorations went up around the pool area.
I made the "Pirate Lagoon" sign on a piece of butcher paper and attached it to a hula hoop coverd in black crepe paper. The pink bunting was made from a vinyl shower curtain I bought on clearance at Target. I cut out the triangles and sewed them together.
I purchased the white net from Oriental Trading Company and made the pink/black/white scrap banners with some leftover fabric I had.
I did add this extra bunting and wooden X in our front yard by the mailbox. This would help guests find where X marked the spot for the party!
For the party, we provided some pirate goodies for our guests. Pirate friends who attended, each received a pirate bandana and a handmade eye patch. For the eye patch I purchased stretchy headbands and sewed on a pirate patch shape cut from felt. The pink designs were cut using my Cuttlebug, and attached with sticky dots.
I made newspaper swords for big brother and his friend, following the tutorial at
Filth Wizardry. The pirates also decorated a wooden treasure box.
The birthday pirate princess had a special outfit to wear for the day as well. I didn't get many pics of her in this because most of our time was spent in the pool. I made the
pirate skirt a while ago and created this shirt to go with it. And Heather, over at
Celtic Tide Creations, was kind enough to create this Izzy (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) hair clip.
Besides lots of giggling and splashing in the pool, the pirate friends also went on a treasure hunt. I made up some clues for the kids to follow. To make them look old, I tore the edges of the paper, then soaked each piece in a bowl of soda and soy sauce. They ended up with this nice vintage looking color.
The pirates found the treasure where X marked the spot - in the sandbox! Then everyone gathered around to collect their loot and add it to their treasure boxes they decorated when they arrived. Treasure included rings, necklaces, pirate coins and tattoos. I even made some of the pretty pink pirate coins into old looking coins for big brother and his friend using gold spray paint and brown acrylic paint.
Of course, no party is complete without a birthday cake. Here is the cake and cupcakes I made. The same graphics I used for the invitations were the same ones I used for the cupcake toppers.
It was a fantastic party had by all! My daughter had a blast celebrating with her pirate princess friends. Seeing all those big bright smiles behind pink frosting covered faces and pink bandana covered heads was all the proof I needed to know, "this was the best birthday ever!" :)
Sharing our party at the following blogs:
