Pirate Birthday

As Stephen's 4th birthday was approaching, his interests turned to pirates.  So, of course, the birthday party planning did as well.

the invitation

The gorgeous invitation was handmade by Megan Hedge of Pink Press Designs.  They felt so authentic and I just loved them!  You know, because I know what an authentic treasure map feels like.  *wink*

the birthday outfit

The shirt was homemade (my first attempt at sewing clothing!).  It was quite simple actually, since pirate garb is meant to look sloppy.  LOL  The accessories all came from Oriental Trading.

the cake

 Covered in mainly fondant, this cake took me 10 hours to make!  Those little boards we incredibly time-consuming!  I was thrilled with the final product though!  Made from sheet cakes cut and layer into the boats body, then covered from stem to stern in little brown "fondant boards".  The masts were wooden dowels, also covered in fondant.  The sails, fondant again, painted with watered down black food coloring.  The only things not made of fondant are the pirate flag (printed on regular paper, taped to a toothpick and stuffed into the fondant), the "cannons" (peanut butter cups) and the pirate and treasure.

This adorable set was made by Tina over at clayinaround.  She does the best work and is incredible nice!

the decorations

The decorations consisted mostly of red and black and a bunch of Jolly Roger flags.  This sign was from a local party store.  I separated the "happy" and "birthday" and added my own "4th" and "stephen" below.  Simply printed the letters on plain paper and cut the ends to look ratty like pirate flags.

For the perfect photo-op, I purchased this door banner from Oriental Trading.

Most of the decorating was on the food table.

the food

For lunch, our guests enjoyed, Parrot Wings (bbq and "fire in the hole" buffalo wings), Walk the Plank (cream cheese & peanut butter filled celery sticks), Shiver Me Timbers (pretzel sticks), Sea Dogs (Lil' Smokies), Polly Want a Cracker (cheese & crackers), Cannon Balls (peanut butter balls dipped in black colored white chocolate), Treasure Chests (pizza rolls), Shark Bait (shrimp cocktail), Chips Ahoy Mates (Chips Ahoy cookies), and Silver and Gold Bricks (Hershey Nuggets).  I used cocktail "swords" to hold all of the food signs in place.  Covered the table in red and black tablecloths, as well as some Jolly Roger fabric.  Costume jewelry and tarnished silver looked like treasure and Halloween decorations (the skeleton parts) finished off this fantastic look!

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The Pirate Bedroom

Not only is Stephen's 4th birthday approaching, but the extension on our house is nearly done, which means Stephen's about to get a brand new bedroom!  We're decorating it with a pirate theme.  I've made some paintings to hang in his room.

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Mermaid Birthday

For Samantha's 1st birthday, we chose a Mermaid theme.  Her favorite toy was this little fish bowl so we decided... fish = ocean + little girl = MERMAID!  <3  Like how I came to that?  ;)

the invitation

12 black and white photos, one from each month of her first year.  2 color photos from our very first Mommy/Daughter photo shoot.  <3 

the birthday outfit

I made this tutu by hand using the colors I planned to use for the party.  Purple, dark blue and dark green.

I ordered this adorable bloomer/onesie set online.  I added some purple ribbon to it and came up with this final product.

the cake

My first "wow!" cake!  Again, my sister helped me with this cake.  It was the first time either of us had ever used fondant, so it was definitely a learning experience for us both.  The decorations are made from fondant, royal icing and melted chocolate.  The "sand" is brown sugar.  And the gorgeous topper...

...was purchased on Esty from Tina of clayinaround.  I love it so much, I've used her more than once!

the decorations

Purple, green and blue streamers symbolized the "waves".  I added some pink streamers to my light fixture to give it a "jelly fish" look.  I decorated a large box with brown paper and draped it with plastic jewels to look like a treasure chest.  This is where the guests put Sami's gifts.

I made a "photo op" submarine out of yellow poster board.

Balloons made a great touch, everywhere!  Note the "seaweed" around the treasure chest.

"Fish" and "bubbles".

Even an "octopus"!

the favors

At Christmas time, I'd bought some of those M&M tubes when they went on clearance.  I saved the empty tubes for Sami's party favors.  Each had a tissue flower on top and were filled with Gummy Aqua Life.

I used some of the photos I'd taken of Sami during our first Mommy/Daughter photo session to make her a keepsake frame and had guests sign it.

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Bakerella's Spring Chickens

Easter Sunday's coming so I tried my hand at Bakerella's Spring Chicken cake pops today.   *swoon*

You'll find a link to Bakerella's web site on the right.  You should give it a visit!

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