Pirate Princess Party on a Budget

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Chiquita wanted a princess/pirate/flower/frozen/Dora/Smurf/kitty party.  I made her narrow it down...
After she picked Pirate Princess as her theme I started looking for inspiration.  You can check out my pinterest board here.

1. Loot - I decided not to do goodie bags, but to give out plastic coins during the party and let the kids pick their own toys from a little treasure chest.  That way I hoped they would actually like what they got and not just throw it away.  Here's what we included in our treasure chest:

• Pirate tattoos
• Novelty Telescopes
• Pirate Prisms
• Jewel Rings
• Rubber Pirate Bracelets
• Mardi Gras Beads

Every kid took a bag home but I still had so much left that I think it will cover Halloween trick-or-treaters.  Spent: $35 

 2. Activities

• Pirate dress up: When the kids first arrived I had a dress up station with pirate bandanas, pink or black paper pirate hats, and tp roll telescopes.  Some kids came already in costume.  I had a few older neighbor girls help me with the party (in return for cake and loot) and that was particularly helpful here.  Spent: $16
• Princess Jewels and Pirate Necklaces: I got pretty pony beads for the princess jewels with pink wrapping ribbon to string them on.  For the pirate necklaces I had black and red pony beads, skull beads and black wrapping ribbon. I popped them into ziplock baggies and the kids could pick pirate, princess or both!  Chiquita of course did both - on one necklace!  Spent: $15
• Walking the plank:  Just a board on top of two boxes.  We happened to have a blanket my sister made with an alligator on it to put under.  It would be fun just with a blue tarp or some ocean toys under the plank. Spent: $0
• Treasure egg hunt: I spray painted a bunch of left-over easter eggs silver and filled them with plastic coins (to buy loot). The idea was to have an egg hunt outside but it rained TONS.  So I did some quick thinking and came up with:
• Fishing for treasure: I just took a shower curtain rod and shower curtain and set it up in a doorway.  The kids had a fishing rod made from a stick, some string and a paper clip.  Spent: $8
• Storytime: I found a book, "Pirate Pearl" that was perfect for this party.  A princess is raised by pirates and gets the best of both worlds.  I let any kids who wanted come into another room for storytime.  It was nice to bring a little quiet and calm into a very high energy party.  Spent: $5 (Could be free if you could find it at your library)
• Pin the Eyepatch on the Pirate Girl.  I enlarged a picture of a pirate girl and cut out a bunch of pink eye patches.  Really easy!  Spent: $0
• Treasure Chest Pinata: I knew I could make a pinata that was basically just a box!  I found an easy tutorial at momssavingmoney.com and then filled it with fruit snack and pirate lollipops.  Spent: $15

3. Decorations - I didn't do a lot for decorations.  I honestly expected to be outside so didn't do much.  I printed out these pirate pennants from this website and glued them on burlap triangles.  I sewed the triangles onto yarn with a zigzag stitch and hung it in the kitchen.  Done!  Spent: $6

4. Food - I won the cake at a neighborhood service auction.  Awesome right?  It was delicious as well as beautiful.  I added some goldfish, Pirate Booty and cut a watermelon into the shape of a ship.  I got the idea from this post by Fit Body Full Life.  I also served lemonade in these cute little skull sippy cups from Walmart.  Spent (with napkins and plates): $25

I spent $125 total and we had over 15 kids come!  That means I spend less than $8.33 per child.