Pirates Party - 1 year

January 2010

My Griffen turned ONE the 12th of January. How time flies !!! I had this idea in my head and just ran with it ... I first sent out a "save the date" mail to all the maaitjies. Then, in early January I sent out the Invitations which I made myself. Because we were trying to save on costs, I did EVERYTHING myself (the cake with my sister's help). I rented the chairs and tables with the covers from "Vergeet-my-nie" in Centurion. I made some boxes with some sweeties and goodies in for the kids, with a scull & crossbones picture on it and every child's name & their pirate name. (Here I had to use my own imagination). I got some material with sculls on, cut out large squares and rolled them up for a bandanna and attached a eye patch for each child. The pirate ship in the middle is my nephews LEGO ... Can you believe how lego has changed ... The usual other party stuff I got at a party shop in Eco Park Centre. The Flags I made from colored paper. The cake was a mission and a half, but it came out a success after a few hours of trying hehe (Thanks to my sis). My mom also made the rice crispy cupcakes (marshmallows, butter and ricecrispies) and inserted a coin in the middle !!! It was really fun to do it all myself ... And it makes you sooooo proud. Luckily I didn't have to pay a photographer as I am a photographer myself !!! Kind Regards, Mommy Monique @ Griffen's 1st Bday as a Pirate !!!

Monique - ROOIHUISKRAAL

Pirate Party on a Cabin boy’s budget - 4 years

May 2009

My son recently celebrated his 4th birthday party and quite excitedly decided on a Pirate theme for his party, which was held at his school. Practically all of his friends attend his nursery school and with the teacher’s permission, we held a party for him there.

The invitation reading, "Aarg, me Matey, We Pirates of the “Nursery School name” Seas are getting together on the 19th of May at our secret hide out for some swashbuckling fun for Pirate Connor’s 4th Birthday……Come prepared for some real hearty Pirate fun and don’t forget to bring ja swords, we may just have to fight for Treasure!! Aargg..Please let the Captain know if ja coming or ja may have ta walk the plank", was printed out on some beige cardboard, a rough diagram of the school’s location drawn on the map, cut roughly and “dirtied” like a map using scrapbooking chalk.

Once he had blown out the “cannon” candles on his pirate ship cake, I very anxiously announced that the party packs had been taken by pirates. Concern for the lack of sweet treats caused wide spread panic and the kids readily jumped from their seats in order to search for the pirate’s stash. The “treasure chest” was made using a cardboard stationary storage box, wrapped in brown paper and painted. The kids searched the schools grounds for the treasure (which was previously hidden in the wendy house while the kids were all waiting inside). The treasure, finally found, was filled with the party packs made of brown paper bags with skull decorations, which my children eagerly pitched in to help make and were filled with treats such as candy necklaces, chocolate coins and a variety of age appropriate treats.

After the kids had eaten their sweets it was time to go to the “tattoo parlour” and each child was given a stick on tattoo of their choice and once each of them had been tattooed it was time for the craft. What good is a pirate without a sword and eye patch right? I found a fantastic pirate foam craft pack, perfect for the age group (2-5 year olds). All the kids had to do was “peel and stick” their crafts together which was fantastically easy for most of them. The grown up’s that were there assisted with inserting the elastic cord for the eye patches. Before we knew it the two hours was up and they kids all had a blast, especially my son who thoroughly enjoyed being the Captain Pirate for the morning.

Tanya - DURBANVILLE