Claire, our youngest, has turned three. This girl has flair. She loves the color purple. She has been impersonating pirates for the past few months. I’m not sure where that came from, but I have a suspicion it may have been inspired by Kwazii in the show Octonauts, which she loves. So we decided to throw her a purple pirate party!
Backdrop and Buffet Table
I love to use paper globe lanterns in place of balloons. Reusing them year after year helps us reduce waste and save money on parties. If you live in the Tacoma area and would like to borrow some, please let me know! I have some in most colors now, so chances are I can lend you some for your next party. The tissue paper puffs were reused from my mom’s party the week before. April is a busy birthday month for us! I made a fabric bunting out of strips of scrap fabric tied to a piece of twine. This method was a little bit quicker and easier than sewing triangles like I’ve done in the past. Also, the rough edges were perfect for the pirate theme. I bought a bag of shells from a thrift store to add in to the fish netting and to scatter on the table. We used repurposed fabric to cover the table and added vintage candle holders with beeswax tapers. My mom made one of her glorious cakes. Everything on it was edible except for the treasure chest and the foil wrappers on the chocolate coins. Even the little jewels were edible!
Invitations
I found this invitation on Greenvelope.com to send to the few family members we invited (my parents, my brothers, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew). The invitation inspired the waves on the birthday girl’s crown.
Crown
The base of the crown is made of hand dyed and felted 100% merino wool from LilSprigs on Etsy. I cut out two pieces of the base color felt and used wool roving to needle felt the waves and clouds onto one of the base pieces. I used a blanket stitch to attach a felt “3” (using scrap felt from other projects). Then it was time to attach the front and back base pieces together with a blanket stitch. Finally, I attached two ribbons to the ends for tying around the birthday girl’s head in a bow. Since I didn’t have a pretty piece in my leftover ribbons, I went to Artco craft store here in Tacoma, where they sell ribbon by the yard. I usually get a yard and cut it in half and that works out perfectly. It is nice to be able to just get what I need for a little project without buying a whole spool. It has been so sweet having the tradition of a handmade birthday crown. The kids have come to expect it, they feel special when wearing it, and they use it the whole year or longer for dress-up.
Treasure Hunt
The highlight of the celebration was the treasure hunt! What’s a pirate party without a treasure hunt, right?! I used cardstock to print the clues, burned the edges, and soaked them in tea. Once they had dried, we rolled them up and tied them with twine. I hid the clues during the party. The five cousins had such an exciting time looking for each clue. They finally found the treasure, containing chocolates wrapped in gold foil, some faux jewels, and a brass pirate’s telescope for each of them!
Library Books
Another of our birthday party traditions is to check out a bundle of books on the topic of the party, in case someone wants a quiet activity at some point. We had a lot of fun learning to speak like pirates as well as learning about the history of real pirates.
Cardboard Pirate Ship
I used cardboard boxes to make a pirate ship for the kids to play in. I taped three boxes together, covered the outside with brown kraft paper, and added sails. The sails were made of wooden dowels, old sheets, scrap fabric, and twine.
It was a simple but very fun birthday! It felt so special after not being able to have any family over last year. I hope ye found some good ideas me hearties!
