Aaargh! Pirate Birthday Party & Free Printables
;)
Pirate Ship Cupcakes © 2010 Cameron Blazer // Cottage Industrialist
Pirates are kind of a big thing with my son, and he's lucky—he lives in a town by the water where real pirates once docked.
A few weeks ago, when my son had spring break, I took the day off from work, and he and I spent the morning at Charles Towne Landing, which has a working replica of a 17th century cargo vessel docked in the marshy edges of the Ashley River. At first, fearful that real pirates might be aboard, my son was hesitant to climb aboard, but after assurances that there were no Blackbeards or Captain Hooks in sight, he had a blast, steering the ship, pumping the bilge, and ordering me to "up anchor!" I had a great time, too, and I took a boatload of pictures. The beautiful ship against the brilliant blue spring sky planted the seed for a pirate birthday party.
;)
© 2010 Cameron Blazer // Cottage Industrialist
I started sketching. Ships. Pirate Hats. Pirate Flags. I may have gone a little overboard (har har). I had the paper part of the party down. But my house is pretty small and far away from where most of his friends live, so I needed another venue. I thought about Charles Towne Landing itself, but a split second later I thought about a four-year-old darting away and falling into the pluff mud, and that was the end of that thought.
We are lucky in Charleston to have a small, but wonderful, children's museum (If you are ever visiting here with kids, I highly recommend the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry) which just happens to have a fantastic, indoor pirate ship. And which also just happens to have very affordable prices for children's birthday parties. DONE. All I had to do was supply the cupcakes and the birthday boy, and they would do the rest. Did I say done? DONER.
© 2010 Cameron Blazer // Cottage Industrialist
;)
Looks great on adults, too! © 2010 Cameron Blazer // Cottage IndustrialistBut, of course, I couldn't let well enough along, and all those sketches turned into a whole host of party goodies that we brought along. The boys loved the pirate hats and moustaches, though, even with my setting an example, the girls weren't about to put them on. But everyone got a kick out of their pirate ship cupcakes. They decorated foam swords, swashbuckled on the ship, and searched for pirate treasure on a scavenger hunt of the museum. It was exhausting just watching how much fun they were having.
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In honor of my sweet boy's birthday, I'm giving you all the presents, as I am giving up all the paper goodies I designed for the occasion. As always, these are for personal use only. Since there's so much here, I've split it into individual files. Each one is a PDF. If you have a borderless printer, you should use that setting (with minimal "expansion" if that's an option on your machine). If you do not have borderless printing capabilities, make sure you check the box in Acrobat to shrink pages to fit—your stuff will be about 8% smaller, but that's no biggie, right? Because, hey, free stuff!
I had so much fun designing these—my personal favorite is the treasure map envelope: it totally worked every geometry-capable brain cell in my head, and I think it came out great, so I hope you'll check it out.
;)
Thank you notes & treasure map envelopes © 2010 Cameron Blazer // Cottage Industrialist
Invitations (5"x7", two-up)
Pirate Hats, Moustaches & Eye Patches
Pirate Ship Cupcake Sails and Flags (12 per page)
Pirate Bunting (3 flags per page)
Pirate Ship Thank You Cards (4.25"x5.5", folded; two-up)
Buried Treasure Envelopes (fits 4.25"x5.5" thank yous)
I hope you enjoy these printables—whether you plan a whole party or just a fun afternoon at home (we're still getting mileage out of the pirate hats a week later!).
Want even more pirate-y goodness? Do you have a permanent pirate like mine? You might like my pirate ship fabrics—they make great pillow cases and room decor!
Cameron Blazer
I've been getting emails and comments from folks saying that they can't download these printables. They are all working fine, but they are LARGE files, and so they can take a while to download, depending on what kind of internet connection you have. Because I, too, am impatient, I find that using a browser like Chrome, which gives download progress information, makes it easier to sit through a long download.
Reader Comments (74)
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Thank you for being the person that gets carried away. Thank you for being the person that is so talented. Thank you for being the person that uses their special powers for good instead of evil. Thank you for sharing with me. Thank you for being the greatest pirate wench of all. (oh my)
My child a pirate wench....oh, yes, a glorious one! You never cease to amaze me! How lucky the boy(s) is/are in so many ways. jam
Nice stuff here! I love the cup cake wrappers and toppers! the envelope is pretty sweet too. Thanks for sharing. I wish I would have had these when my daughter turned 5 about 5 years ago. She was all about the pirates! and dolls? There had better not have been one in sight or they would have walked the plank! I am glad to say that she has changed dramatically and now is a 10 yr. old dragon loving, dinosaur carrying, fashionista. We are moving right along. I think I will have to convince my son to have a pirate party this year!!! I might just have to make things a bit more mature for him but I am sure these will work fine for a 13 yr. old as well.
You are too good to us! Thankyou for being so generous. Michelle
Thank you so much for sharing these gorgeous printables! I love pirates! My daughter, who'll be 10 next March, loves pirates, so we might be able to convince her to do a pirate party. If not, I have tons of nephews who love pirates. This kit will definitely get a lot of use. Thanks again!!
WOW! I don't feel like I can say thank-you enough. This is so amazingly generous of you! I get emails all the time asking about pirate parties. This is PERFECT!
You are incredible, Cam. You create with such imagination and follow through with your thoughts beautifully. I was amazed at the details you used for the pirate party, Martha needs YOU!!! Keep going and I 'll bet you will have your own show.
These are sooo soo awesome. Thanks for sharing. My son's 3rd bday is coming up and this is perfect!!
Thank you for sharing, these are so cute!!!
How beautiful and generous! Thank you!
These are fabulous! My son had a pirate party in March and I could not find anything that I loved. I love these and will remember for the next pirate party (with 2 sons I am sure we will have another pirate theme).
Thank you for sharing -xx-
I wish I'd found this two weeks ago. Don't worry, I'll still use them.
Ohhhh.... yuo are awesome! Thank you so much for all the printables! I have been trying to plan a pirate party (on a budget) for my two boys in July. This is PERFECT! It will be a huge blessing to be able to make/print most everything myself! Keep up the good work! I just found your blog today, but I will be back regularly now!!!
I've been planning a pirate birthday for my little boy. Thank you so much for the great printables! You are so talented!
Wow! Wow! Thank you so much for your generosity
Thank you, I have spent ages looking for pirate ideas for my son's 4th birthday party. These items are fantastic and more fantastic that these printables are free. You are very generous and very talented. Thank you SO much.
ARGH! We ABSOLUTELY LOVE the cute pirate cupcakes with pirate sails. Thanks for sharing. We'll be linking soon to your great site of pirate ideas and pirate freebies!
I'm in love. Gorgeous! Last year we only had pirate cake! This year - everything will be in order :-)
http://jagode-zavri.blogspot.com/2009/06/gusarcki.html
What a fun party! Loving the printables, thank you! I plan to save the ocean/wave cupcake wrappers for something wedding related... we're having a beach wedding and I think these would be fun for our rehearsal dinner or a bridal shower or something! Thank you!
Thank you so very very much for this sweet collection. Your little pirate is one lucky fella!
Thank you so much for these free printables. I have used the Sails toppers and Pirate bunting at my daughter's pirate birthday party and they looked great.
I have linked back to you blog from http://thatcutelittlecake.blogspot.com/ where you can see pictures of the party.
Thanks again.
So gorgeous. I love it & can't wait to use it!
Thank you SO much for these darling printables...I've been searching the web all morning for pirate loot for my soon to be 5 year old's party in November. These are PERFECT! I'm so excited : )
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
BTW I've loved and followed your blog for a while as well : )
hi am your reader from indonesia (that's very very far!) thanks for being generous, i hope you know you're making my two year olds extremely happy. will post the link of his bday soon. THANKS A LOT!!!
Thank you so so much. you are so creative. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas. xxx
Love your printables! I would love for you to link it up to my link party http://phubie.blogspot.com/2010/11/sassy-photo-creations-giveaway.html.
These are amazing! I'm planning to use them for my son's 5th BD in February!
Thank you very very much for sharing these printables. I am using them all for my sons 4th bday. Thanks, you saved me lots of time!!
Thank you so much for these free printables. They made organizing my son's 4th birthday part SO MUCH easier. When the party is over I'll send you a link to pictures where you can see all of your goodness used to make another little man so happy. Thanks again for sharing!
You are so very talented and THANK YOU for sharing the wealth (or bounty!) with others. It is generous people like yourselves that make the world more pleasant as us moms try to make the most for our children (sometimes on a shoestring budget) that still has so much pizazzz! Thanks again - truly.
These are fantastic printables! Honestly, I can't believe they're free. You have such a fabulous talent. Thanks for offering it up so freely to the rest of us. I can't wait to share your site with my readers on MeckMom.com. Thanks so much.
These are amazing and free! I can't thank you enough for your time on these and giving them out for free.
I used your printables for my son's birthday party! I posted pictures of them and linked you to my blog! :)
http://lovepointcreations.blogspot.com/2011/04/pirate-party-and-more.html
there is my link if you want to check it out! Thankyou!!!
You are the goddess of all the is good and awesome. Thank you so much for these printables. They are EXACTLY what I needed. YOu are too kind and generous. may we all pay it forward.
Hi there, Thanks so much for these. I used them at a Pirate Playdate today!
http://just-starting-out.blogspot.com/2011/05/arrhhh-mateysits-pirate-playdate.html
Thank you so much! We are having a pirate-themed party for my nephew and these are PERFECT!
I love your designs - these pirate printables are GREAT! Just shared on our Facebook wall - thank you!
oh dear... thank you so much for sharing...
I'll post it in my blog
brazilian hugs
Wow! Perfect and free!?!? Thanks for sharing. I am doing a similar party in Raleigh- at Marbles kids museum with an indoor pirate ship. What did you do for favor bags for the pirates to take home their booty?
Thank you these are great!!
Carmen
Thank you for these darling printables. I hosted a pirate party for my 6 year old son this morning and used all of your cute printables. Thank you for sharing!
~Erin from thesisterscafe.com
WOW! I am hosting a pirate party for my one year old, along with a mermaid theme for his sister. Thanks for taking care of the pirate part!!! Kristen
I'll use this kit in my son's party at school!!!
This is AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing. Pirates are such a big theme in childrens clothing right now that it seems my baby wore pirate stuff half his little life. For his first birthday it only seemed fitting to have a pirate themed party. My older kids will LOVE helping put this stuff together! Amazing! And thanks for sharing!!!
i love this party, thank you so much. xoxo
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for creating and sharing such beautiful pirate printables! These are just what I needed to get started with my soon-to-be-four-year-old's party. Seriously...I appreciate you so much that if I knew you in real life, I'd bake you a cake. :) Thanks! Amy
WOO HOO! Pirates go to school. We are celebrating "National Talk Like A Pirate Day" in fourth grade. Why? Because it's fun and a great way to get the kids to do a ton of language practice. The pennants and hats made this day even more fun. You aaarrgh awesome! :)
I love you for sharing these, thank you so much!!!
Thanks, thanks, thanks!!!! This is my first visit to your blog (and won't be the last) and I am just so so happy!!! You make wonderful things, congratulations! Just know that in a couple of weeks, somewhere in Tel Aviv, a bunch of kids are going to have fun with your pirate hats! I am organizing my son's pirate birthday party and I was delighted to find your blog. Good luck and Happy New Year!
Thanks very much! This should make our pirate party so much easier!