So for those of you just getting to know me….. I LOVE PARTIES, no really, I LOVE PLANNING PARTIES. I will take any reason to have a gathering, and make an event out of it! Birthdays, game night, I even get excessive when putting together a garage sale…. you name it. I am a lucky lady, with 3 beautiful kiddos and many clients that I’ve been able to style parties for over the past, eeek, almost 11 years! Between having 2 girls, a boy & clients too, I get to create parties that run the gamut!
{Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr………..you ready to plan a party?}
So since I’m taking Perfectly Posh into the direction of teaching, I thought it would be fitting to blog my way through the creation of his party! While you may or may not be planning a “pirate party”, this series of posts will not only be fun to peruse, but also will give you ideas, know how and techniques to use in other themed parties!
So in this series, we’ll start with today’s post, where I’ll share all the ideas that I have collected as of this point, and try to nail down some plans! Then I’ll share subsequent posts about shopping, preparing props, how-to’s on cookie decorating, games, food & party layout, and then of course the full reveal of the party! This is one of those times, where I’m thanking my lucky stars for Pinterest. I mean, life couldn’t get any easier with pulling together a barrage of pirate party inspiration that I just love! What ever did we do before Pinterest? {The thought is just scary}
{brainstorming, and a little Pinterest how-to}
Anytime I plan a party it starts with pulling together a million ideas. I think this is my favorite part, just pouring over ideas and checking out what amazing moms & party experts have done in the past. Luckily for us, we have Pinterest. Just jump on there, type whatever your searching for, and voila, there you have it. Find images that inspire you, and save them to your own inspiration boards. In this case, you can access the Pinterest board that I’ve created and fittingly named “Pirate party.. arrrrrrr!” While Pinterest is an amazing resource for inspiration, don’t forget to search the web, crazy as it is, the entire world is not yet on Pinterest! So once you find some other amazing ideas, be sure to use your ‘pin it’ button {that you can get here), which will allow you to pin most other images found on the web, onto your inspiration boards, click, done. No more trying to find a page you’ve favorite’d, or saving tons of files to your computer. Now isn’t that wonderful? And not to mention, other lovely pinners will thank you for sharing it with the Pinterest community!
{pirate inspiration}
Ok, so did you check out the link I gave you for my pirate inspiration board on Pinterest? Aren’t the ideas amazing! I’ll be adding to them, and narrowing down the ideas as I go along, and then I will begin to turn ideas into my own concepts!
So after I pull together my inspiration board, I take a look and see what style I {my child, or clients} are drawn too, and try to decide upon the style. I believe that parties need to have an on-going style, whether its vintage, natural/rustic, simple, playful, cartoony/character related, etc., that is carried through the entire party. So, pick a style within your theme, and try your best to stick to it, the display/decor will look much more pulled together and cohesive.
In this particular case, with a pirate theme, I’m going with a natural – think Pirates of the Carribean feel.. without the characters.
With any party, I first look to see what items I already own, that I can can use, re-purpose or make/build — because no one wants to spend a fortune on a party! I’ll be looking for details like a treasure chest, gold
coins, pirate dress-up items {etc.} to go with items I luckily already have: old wooden crates, burlap, fishnet, skulls from Halloween. These items will serve to style the party, as well as provide a backdrop for fun photo ops!
I’ll also be enlisting my husband in some projects to create props such as a one-dimensional table top shape that will look like a boat (looking for shape here to be covered by a tablecloth, not the actual boat!), and of course, someplace for those pirate flags to sail!! {I’m sure hubby will be glad that we’re not doing something elaborate, like building a concession stand like in years past, hee hee!}
So now that I’ve gathered my inspiration, and decided on the style, this week I’ll work on my to-do list! I’ve learned over the years, the more I can accomplish in advance (props, decor), the more I can enjoy myself the day of the party! Parties are intended to be fun and create memories, not a stressed-out momma!
{Tune in for more next week!}
{Image credits: top 2 images found on Pinterest (original author unknown) & bottom image is from Pinterest, originating from www.LoraleeLewis.com , pirate invitations found on Notable Nest }
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Comment by Lyxiga pennor — May 1, 2012 @ 3:39 pm