Happy Monday! With the Holidays upon us I thought I'd bring up some birthday party ideas for those "Holiday" babies. My dad was one of those and we tried our best each year to make his party have nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with him. 

Along with that we are a "Disney" family and our own grandson is pretty enamoured with Jake and the Neverland Pirates right now. Of course the fact that his Poppa wears an eyepatch 24/7 means we are a "Pirate" family to begin with! Today we are going to talk about a kids party but that doesn't mean that a Pirate Party is JUST for kids. In fact, our first invitation could easily be used for a grown up Pirate Party...hey that could be FUN!

 This would be a super easy DIY invite to make! Just use a map, any map, and cut it into 10x7 strips. Apply that to dark cardstock with scrapbook adhesive then fold into half. Now you have the inside of your 5x7 invitation! Just print out the wording on your computer and use scrapbook adhesive to the front of the map. Fold it over and add stickers to the outside or maybe just another strip of map as a "ribbon" to wrap the invitation closed. Top that with a pirate sticker and there is your invite!

 Of course there are TONS of printable pirate invitations out there. These from candyindisguise.com are easy and affordable. And they have lots of coordinating paper goods like favor bag toppers too!

One really really easy way to decorate the tables, the walls, even the doorway is these 3x5 Jolly Roger flags. They are inexpensive and go a long way to making your party look very "Pirate" very quickly!

Playing dress up is the fun of a Pirate Party. You can purchase Pirate Hats or just use bandanas. Coordinate that with a vest, an eyepatch, and a bandana "belt" and you have a costume for you and your little one! 

 Probably would be great to have Dad standing at the doorway waving another Jolly Roger but if you can't talk him into that then just criss cross two of them over the doorway for a grand entrance!

 There are tons of ways you can go for the tables so I picked out a few I really like that would be super easy to do. This table LOOKS complicated but, in fact, it's just a black tablecloth covered with some fish net, a runner of checked cloth, pirate mugs, some treasure favors and red plates and napkins made from polka dot fabric that have eyepatches for napkin rings! Easy!

 Not everyone has a treasure box hanging around but there are plenty of the cardboard versions you can buy easily at the party store or online. You may even be able to find a pinata treasure chest that you can hang up later for a game to play with the kids! What I love about this table, other than the banner which I love, is that they used a fish net covered apple crate as a stand to show off the photo of the Birthday Boy!

 Balloons are always a hit with kids and these are really easy decor that doesn't cost much to add to your indoor or outdoor party. If you are using these outdoors just tie them to the corners of the chairs so they float up but not free. 

 I have to admit to being a birthdayexpress.com fan. We buy a lot of our party starters from them and then build our kids parties around that set up. They have several really great items to go with Jake and the Neverland Pirates that can be used to punch up your party like these great treasure chest party favor sets! Along with their plates, cups, and other decorations you would have very little work to do in order to have a great party!

 Now, onto games! Instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey how about Pin the Flag on the Treasure instead? You can buy or easily make a 3x5 treasure map and hang it up on the wall or fence and then just use little post it flags or pirate stickers with the kids name written on them for them to stick to the map.

 Another fun game is a Treasure Hunt. I found SO many great clues and ideas online that it would be easy to put one together. For very small children keep the clues under 6 but for other children make a full dozen! Have them start at one spot to get their first clue and then tell them to work with each other to figure out where to go next. At the end of the hunt have your little bags of favors for them to take home. Since they worked together they ALL get a bag of treasure!

Being a Disney family and having our own Pirate look-a-like in the family you know we have had Pirate Parties in the past. This was our son Jack's 7th Birthday party cake. The kids loved the figures and coins that they got to take home and keep. My son loved the fact that the treasure chest cake was chocolate and the "beach" was vanilla cake. The "sand" is just cookie crumbs.

But we have had the grown up version of this party as well. The Mickey, the center medallion and the keys on the plate are all from Disneyland. The coins and cask are all edible. The cask is cake, of course, covered in hand painted fondant. The Mickey on top is actually a photo holder so I just made a banner out of fondant to go where the frame would normally slide into place. The perfect topper for our own "Pirate" on his birthday.

Hope you were inspired enough to consider a Pirate Party in your future. Don't forget that they make Girl versions of this theme too! So whether you have a boy or girl, little or big, you can fit this birthday theme to whatever they like!

See you next week!

Cat