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I have been working hard at writing up all of the wonderful pirate party ideas from my brother’s Pirate Theme Birthday Party. This post is all about the pirate decorations and party supplies we used.

You can also check out the post I wrote on Making Pirate Party Invitations.

I had about a $200 budget for this party, and since we were ordering pizza and serving pop that left me with a decent decorating budget. I ended up making some of the decorations to save money, like the pirate flag and a cardboard treasure chest. (I will post instructions soon!)

With any theme party you will be decorating more than normal, and if you don’t have a large budget then you need to get the most bang for your buck. Here are the items that I purchased for this party…

Pirate Scene Kit

This was by far the decoration that had the most impact for the price. If you have never worked with scene setters, they are big plastic sheets that you stick up on your wall, and then you get these plastic “add ons” to decorate it further. If you get the kit you will have enough to decorate 30′ of wall. If you buy an extra set of sky/sea,  there are enough add-ons in the kit to decorate 60′ of wall without looking sparse. Here is a rundown of all the pieces in the kit, since you can by them individually, and they are not all created equal:

30′ Blue Sky & Ocean Beach Backdrop and 30′ Beach Wall Backdrop

This is the background material (one roll for the top and one for the bottom). I wish I would have bought another 30′ so we could have done the whole room. It is easy to put up with 2 people and some packing tape, but if you are worried about your wall I would suggest sticky tack. It took us about 30 minutes to hang 30′.

Most of these pictures were with the flash on, so they turned out a bit stark. The scene setters look much better in person without the flash bouncing off the plastic.

5′ Bonny Blade & Calico Jack Wall Add-Ons

I ended up decorating 2 doors with these guys, since they fit perfectly. I would get these again. (You can see Bonnie on the left side of the previous pic, on the door).

Dueling Pirates/Bandits and 5′ Pirate Hideaway Props Wall Add-Ons

The pirates and hideaway are pretty large. You cut them out from one large sheet, which didn’t take too long. I would buy these again as well.

Pirate Ship & Island Wall Add-Ons

These were the biggest pain in the butt… BUT… they looked really good. Like the dueling pirates they come in one big sheet and you cut them out. There are a lot of small pieces! I cut out most of them, and they looked great on the wall. So you will have to decide if it is worth it to you.

Pirate Treasure, Fatal Treasure, and Pirate Skeleton Peel ‘N Place Wall Decorations

These were the easiest to put up since they are just window clings! You can put them on your background or use them to decorate a window. These are smaller and relatively more expensive than the other add-ons, so if you are going to skip any of them I would say it should be these.

Blue Crepe Paper Streamers

We wanted to dress the ceiling up a little so we decided to do dark blue and light blue crepe paper in waves all across the room. It took about 45 minutes to do, and we used a lot of tape, but it looked fantastic, and we only spent about $5 on the streamers.

Gold Coins, Skull and Bones Confetti, and Multi Colored Beads

I did a mix of gold coins, mardi gras beads and skull and bone confetti around the room. I made piles of “treasure” everywhere and it really looked great. I bought 3 bags of gold coins and one bag of confetti offline, and I picked up the beads at a local craft store. They were in packs of 10 for $1, and I think I bought 10-12 packs. A lot of the kids augmented their costumes with the “jewels”. All in all it was about $25, and made a big impact.

Pirate Hat Snack Bowls

These were just some fun little hats I set around for snack bowls. They have a nice upturned brim that I filled with chips and pretzels. Volia! Pirate snack bowl!

I also had a few inflatables for a luau theme party we had a few years ago that we set up, and they were a huge hit. The sword is the only thing I purchased for this party.

• 44″ Inflatable Monkey
• 5′ Inflatable Palm Tree (We had 2)
• 3′ Inflatable Parrot
• Inflatable Sword (I bought this for my brother)

12′ Fish Netting

I wish I had bought more of this for around the room. We hung what we had over the favor table (you can see it in the top left corner of the picture). I think it would have been great as a table overlay on the blue plastic tablecloths. I would have liked to use it over the windows as well.

Now, if I had the extra money there were a few other things I had my eye on…

Pirate Ship Cooler

I would have loved to get this!

12″ Latex Pirate Balloons

We didn’t do balloons since it was too cold outside, but maybe you could use these cute skull and cross bone balloons.

6′ Jointed Pirate Skeleton and Pirate Cutouts

These are fun little signs and a skeleton. I decided not to buy them and try to make the signs instead. Which did not work out. So I probably should have just bought them. 

The last thing we did to decorate was to hang up some white twinkle lights around the edge of the room. this party was in a dark basement so it was in desperate need of some lighting! I took a picture with my flash off so you can see the glow of the finished effect:

J.J

Until my next Pirate Post (on making a pirate flag) I will leave you with this pirate song from one of my favorite plays:

“The Pirate King” - from The Pirates of Penzance

Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.

Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.

For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!/For I am a Pirate King!…

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