“Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate Party for me…” Actually, this happens to be a fantastic Pirate Themed Birthday Party that Deb Currie threw for her son’s 2nd birthday – didn’t she do a great job?!

The use of skull and crossbone silhouettes + colorful paper pinwheels is a perfect combo here… very pirate-appropriate but also playful & kid-friendly! More fun details include super-cute pirate ship cookies, homemade seashell candy cupcake toppers, pirate hats for all the little mateys, sandpail favors filled with all kinds of “pirate treasures”, and a fabulous DIY cake & cupcake stand made from 2 of the birthday boy’s gifts.

Read on for more playful party pics + creative details…

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Deb…

“Growing up with a wedding planner as a mother, my childhood memories are filled with fantastic images of sky-high tiered birthday cakes, hundreds of balloons, wacky costumes and all things fun and frivolous. When our son was born I could not wait to start throwing him parties that would also spark his imagination and also rekindle that impish spirit of kid-dom I seem to have never lost.

INSPIRATION

Favors are always my favorite part of birthday parties, so in many ways my inspiration started with the adorable Goldfish in Soap favors that were featured on Project Nursery. I had been toying with several party themes but once I saw these I knew I had to have them. After that and our son’s inclination to all things pirate our Pirate Party Playdate was born.

SWEETS & DECOR

Since Liam was only turning two, focusing on the ‘Argh’ factor was not what I was going for, and I did not want the typical black-white-red monochromatic party look as our house already has a lot of red in it, so I incorporated ‘beachy’ themes into the party in the form of teal accents and lots of seashells (banana bread muffins and homemade seashell candies adorned the red velvet cupcakes). I am a firm believer that every color scheme needs something a little random, so if you look closely you will see orange accents and some glitter zebra paper incorporated into the pinwheels and name banner I had custom made from a vendor on etsy. I also made 24 tissue poms that adorned the backyard and front entrance and balloons carried the theme throughout the house and backyard.

As a nod to the tiered birthday cakes of my past, and in a moment of pure present wrapping inspiration two of Liam’s gifts became cake stands, and I used leftover wrapping paper as a runner down the table which provided that extra pop of pattern on the table in no time at all.

The pirate ship cookies were a big hit with the kiddies, and as a nice tie-in the black frosting turned the kids teeth black – perfect for some swashbuckling authenticity.

FAVORS

I travel extensively for work, so started planning the details for this party a couple of months ago and cut out the pennant banners, cupcake wraps and juice box wraps a little at a time so as not to be overwhelmed at the last minute. This longer planning period did mean that my favor obsession got a little crazed though, so Liam’s pirate buds went home with their Sandpail filled with their ‘Daily Catch’ (fish in soap) and Booty (chocolate gold coins, play-doh and jumping frogs) as well as fishing rods and bubble swords (which doubled as an activity at the party) and of course their pirate hats and eye patches. A pirate can never have too much treasure!”