Pirate Party: Yo ho ho and a bottle of...soda!

A sailing club and a deserted beach made the perfect location for our pirate party. Plenty of space and a few nautical props are all you need to get little buccaneers in the mood for some light-hearted skulduggery. We dug out some old fishing net, raided a shell collection and traded in some doubloons for sacks of treasure from our local Spotlight and variety discount stores.

The canon, barrel, bucket and treasure chest that we hired from a local costume outfitters added the finishing touches and also provided much entertainment for games and shenanigans out on the beach.

Jolly Rodger flags are a dime a dozen where party supplies are sold, but some can look a little sinister so we painted our own onto calico and flew it proudly from some bamboo.

Invitations and thank you notes make lovely “messages in a bottle”. Our pirates also took home some well earnt treasure in little organza bags – chocolate coins, treasure and gold nuggets (Crunchie bars).

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Pirate Invitations
Pirate Thank you notes
Pirate Cupcake toppers
Pirate Ship Sails

Grab a collection of pirate-themed fancy dress items, some swords, cutlasses, hooks and a telescope or two and create a dressing-up station for guests to really look the part.

Our pirates feasted on fish and chips, jelly and orange boats, cupcakes, treasure map and sword cookies, mini fruit kebabs, chocolate fish, crackers and blue rock candy.

The grub was washed down with pirate punch (lemonade with a dash of blue food colouring), served from a neat barrel dispenser.

Our fabulous pirate ship cake was made by Megan from MegR Cakes.

Walk the plank
Hand out a plastic cutlass or two, lead your little lads and lassies to a treasure chest full of booty and they will be in character quicker than you can say “Shiver me timbers!” Other party games include a tug-o-war, “rob the nest” (or treasure chest, in this case), and a piratical obstacle course complete with walking the plank. If you’re at the beach you could bury treasure in a small area of sand, mark it with an “X” made of shells and let your little pirates lose with a simple map.

Stockists details
• Pirate ship cake, facebook.com/MegRCakes.
• Rock candy, eco chic boat dishes, nautical straws, coins and blackboard drinks sign from poprocparties.co.nz.
• Pirate hats and costume items, calico, bead necklaces, foil cupcake cups, organza bags, and decorative gold foil from Spotlight.
• Sword shaped cookie cutter from cakestuff.co.nz
• Gold plates and cups, plastic tumblers, knot skewers and plastic swords from Look Sharp Store.
• Striped T-shirts and white button-up shirt from Cotton On Kids; jeans and grey pirate jacket models’ own.