Pirate Party in A Box...For Sale

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY?! WOW!

Is anyone having a pirate party?

I had so much stuff for LaLa's Pirate Party that I thought I would sell this overflowing box of goodies.
In my recent overhaul of all things clutter...I have to get rid of it. I am selling it for 15 dollars...to someone local.  It's a good bit of stuff so I don't want to mail it.

Here are some things in it (just a few)...
tatoos
foam hats
stickers for foam
pirate bandanas
eye patches
decorations
shirts (say it's a pirate's life for me)
treasure boxes for goody bags
a Wilton Pirate Cake Pan
and more...

First come...first one gets the pirate party box of goodies!
 Here are some pics...

Pirate favor boxes

wilton pirate pan

See that FULL box in the back?! I tried to pull some stuff out so you could see...

Ooops! Now just turn your head to the side...and see close up! There are several more shirts in that box too!

Box FULL!

Close up of the other side!

Search on the blog for pirate party to see how I used a lot of this to decorate for LaLa's party.

A Pirate Party...A special moment

This is my last post about LaLa's fourth birthday, a pirate party. I wanted to share two quick lessons that I will never forget as a mama.

The pirate party was a lot of fun. I would have to admit to my little girl that she had a great idea for a party. Something I never realized before I had kids, but you, as a parent, will spend most of your weekends shuttling from birthday party to party. It makes you really appreciate the guests that come to yours because it is a lot of work and time to make it to all these kid celebrations every weekend! Pirate was a theme that was fun and different from the norm. That statement describes not only the perfect pirate party but also my sweet, special, and unique little girl.

She is one of a kind! I can already see at the young age of three four that peers have influence over each other. My hope and prayer for her that she will stay true to her unique self and special spirit without being influenced by the "way" others assume she should be. Sometimes that uniqueness can drive me crazy as a mama, but I try to remind myself to value it rather than squelch it. LaLa put it best when I was trying to persuade her to a princess party, "Mama, my friends will love to be princesses, but I want to be the pirate and lead the crew. I'd like an eye patch and a peg leg." I pleaded to LaLa, "BUT don't you want to be a princess like everyone else?" LaLa replied, "No, mama. I'm a princess every day. Everyone is a princess at their party. I want to be something different, but if my friends want to be a princess, that's okay with me. I'm just going to be a pirate when I'm four. Maybe next year, we can do a princess party. We'll just have to see." EVEN the best mama couldn't argue with that statement... So, LaLa, you lead your crew and be whatever you want to be...for your birthday parties and in life!

Picture of Little Bit & her Daddy Gene. She wasn't feeling quite like her peppy self at the party. Ear infections, sore throat, and new teeth have a tough battle for Little Bit lately! She looked super cute as a little pirate though! She would not. absolutely. would not let me fix her hair! Oh, well, choose your battles!

Okay, now to my favorite, most precious birthday and mama moment ever!

We asked LaLa what her birthday wish was for her party. Did she want a character or a jumpy (thank goodness she said no)? She wanted her daddy to dress up like a pirate. Hee Hee. IF you know my husband, Robert is somewhat reserved. He can be crazy and rowdy, but he must be perfectly comfortable in the situation first. It was sort of the family joke that Robert was going to dress up for her party because no one (and I mean no one) thought he would ever dress up. Bless his heart. He found a pirate costume (from my brother....hmmm...odd, huh?) and spent the night before the party planning his costume. Just as people were starting to arrive, he came down the stairs all dressed up as a pirate.

Robert coming down the stairs in his pirate costume for the birthday party!

LaLa's facial expressions were priceless. It melted my heart. She looked up at her daddy and said (as she smiled and hugged her daddy), "Daddy, you tricked me. You did dress up like a pirate to make my birthday special."

Took this picture as she looked up and saw daddy as her pirate.

Later, that night as I put her bed, I asked her what her favorite part of her birthday was....after toys, toys, toys, cake, ice cream, food, friends, games and all...do you know what she said?

"Daddy dressing up for my party was my favorite part of being four. Daddy is my prince, mommy." I don't think I have ever loved my husband more than at that moment! It reminds me of this plaque I saw once at a craft festival,

"I found my prince, and his name is Daddy."

Better later than never...going to share Easter pictures on the next posts! Then, (hopefully!) I can share the reason(s) why our life has been so extra crazy lately!

A Pirate Party....Decorations & Games

Easy Pirate cupcakes....bake regular cupcakes. Add a bandana, an eye patch and a smile using icing. Use a chocolate morsel for the 'good' eye. They looked really cute on the cupcake rack.

Pirate Birthday Cake. LaLa wanted a pirate ship cake with "candy" on it...where does she get these ideas? I used swedish fish on the "ocean" and put the four pirate candles nearby as decorations so they would be close for the BIG blow out moment! This is the first time I used a cake mold pan to make a cake. Wow...it's like icing by number...so much easier than trying to shape and mold a cake! I would get frustrated because I could not mix and make colors to match the "wilton" example on the cake mold, but I believe that is probably more my OCD and not necessarily anything any normal person would notice!

I am so glad that the dollar tree seems to work with my kids' party ideas! I have just gotten really lucky that last couple years and accidently discover their requested theme at the dollar tree. Some of the napkins and decorations also came from Michaels. They were getting rid of all their pirate collections a few months ago! Everything was a quarter! Paper goods and decorations are often the biggest waste of money when you are having a party...do not forget about your local dollar store and don't wait until the last minute. If you keep your eyes open throughout the year, they will often carry what you need or what you could use with a little creativity!

The kids' table for the party. Do you see LaLa's new dollhouse she got for her birthday? My girls actually love this thing. I like listening to them pretend play with the stuff! It cracks me up!

The kids played games included a treasure hunt with a treasure map and clues. They each had their swords, their eye patches, their telescopes, and their hats that they decorated to help them find the X that marked the spot! LaLa was so determined and focused throughout the hunt. It was hilarious. Looking back on the video that my hubby took made us laugh and laugh. Her facial expressions were priceless. She would take off running before I finished the clue...at least she had fun. Little Bit trailed behind the pack trying to figure out what in the world was going on!

Okay, now turn your head sideways because I cannot figure out how to rotate it. I had it rotated when I downloaded it and it turns back all by itself...it's the computer's fault...surely, it's not my lack of skill!

Madison holding her treasure map. She was one of the head ring leaders looking for this treasure!

Other games included...walking the plank and X marks the spot (pirate version of pin the tail on the donkey). After the kids found their treasure, they went downstairs to sing Happy Birthday and for LaLa to blow out her candles. While they were sitting so still on the floor and all the parents were around, they were given some "GOLD". LaLa and her daddy went that morning and got each child a GOLDfish and a bowl. Note to self...I should have probably have included food! All those poor mommies and daddies had to stop and get food! The kids (as well as the parents-heee hee) were so excited! Robert had the fish lady bag each gold fish seperately so it would be easy to transport them to their new homes. I found bowls at the dollar store. 

Now, they could take home their very own Pirate "GOLD" as their treasure from LaLa's party!

On the next post, I'll include my two favorite pirate moments.

One of these moments actually made me tear up!

A Pirate Princess for a Pirate Party

Pirate Party...the costume

LaLa was determined to be a pirate, and I was determined to make her a girly, cutesy pirate. She wanted an eye patch and a peg leg. A compromise was needed. I am sure it will be the first of many compromises in our relationship. She got to be the pirate...actually, captain of the pirate crew as she corrected me throughout the day. She didn't have a peg leg, but she had an eye patch....actually a couple (they disappeared throughout the party!). I made the costume girly, girly, girly! She really liked the costume and wore it the entire day.

How to make a Pirate Princess Costume...

It was a really easy costume. Black leggings (from Walmart during Halloween clearance). Black/white canvas high tops (I love these spunky things! Found at Payless.) Tutu with black and sparkly pink tulle. Then, I took a pirate bandana and cut 3 inch strips to tie throughout the tutu. You tie the fabric just like you tie the tulle on the tutu. I like to use the wider elastic for bigger girls so they can get it off and on for dress up and such. Black short sleeve shirt from Walmart (I think little kids in black are so cute because there is not a lot of black out there in kid clothing.). Skull & Crossbone rhinestone iron on patch (Michaels for a couple dollars). Embroidered LaLa's requested phrase, "Arrrrgh, Mateys." The hat is actually Captain Feathersword's hat from a Wiggles' concert. I took off the 'feathers' and added maribou around the edges. She really, really liked the hat and still wears it. She has a cute pirate bow in, but since she never took the hat off, I don't think I ever got a picture of that! She also had an eye patch with hot glued rhinestones surrounding the skull and crossbones. I think she lost this one early into the party! The costume turned out to be super cute and cheap!