A Pirate Parrrrrrty

This year Jackson turned 6. We went with a pirate treasure party theme since he is all boy and swords and treasure hunts are right up his alley right now. 

Let me confess, I never thought I would be "one of those moms." You know the kind: the ones that plan extravagant parties that are color coordinated and themed. But when I told the baker at the local grocery store when ordering his cake what the color scheme was, I realized I had turned into "one of those." Although Jack's little pirate party was far from extravagant (and I refuse to embrace cheesy character themes with matching cups, plates, tablecloths, and balloons), I realized we had fun putting this party together.

I've decided to embrace my love for all things crafty AND my complete lack of skill at anything crafty. Insert Pinterest and other's extraordinary ideas and bam, somehow I can pull off something that turned out pretty piratey. 

About two weeks ago, I realized I was failing at motherhood when Jack's birthday snuck up on me and I hadn't even thought about his party, or gotten invites out. Jamy assured me I wasn't the worst mother and we created these. One huge mistake - I ordered the bottles online based completely on cuteness value rather than the realities of logistics. I had to send an apology email to the moms that they would need tweezers to pull the invite out. Luckily, mamas were gracious and by the sounds of it, boys had fun working to maneuver the invitation out. Win.

Decor was easy. Jackson's room has a nautical theme so we simply moved all of his room decor to the dining room. One of my favorite comments was when one of the moms realized this was probably not our normal decor to dine in. Nope, banners are usually not in the kitchen. (And yet again, banners were stapled to twine - because sewing is not a part of my skill set.)

Food was even more fun. Once I convinced Jamy that six year old boys wouldn't appreciate his gourmet cooking quite like adults do, we served fun finger foods. Cannon balls (olives) on little pirate swords, pirate gold (cheese), pirate coins (crackers), and pirate jewels (fruit cabobs). We had a cupcake cake made as a pirate island with Jack's Playmobile pirates as props.

During the party the boys painted treasure chests, had fun playing in the bounce castle, and having sword fights. The highlight was shooting "cannon ball" water balloons from the deck of the "ship" into hula hoops for points. At one point, a bad pirate came and stole the beautiful princess and the boys hurled cannon balls at them. (Jackson has a daddy and a big sister who are great sports.)

We also created a treasure hunt. The boys received clues leading them around inside and outside the house. There were coins to collect in their pirate pouches with each clue until they finally reached a treasure chest fully of goodies hidden in the swing set.  

The boys were adorable in their little mustaches, pirate hats, and eye patches. We were able to create an afternoon full of memories and lots of laughter. In the end, I'm thankful there were no eyes poked out with all the sword fighting.