Pirate Party: Do I have to supply hats and patches?

I have finally decided what I want to do for our pirate party favors (pirate packaged homemade play dough from Etsy seller in piratey colors). These work out to about $3.50 per kid. That takes up my entire favor budget. I was hoping to supply pirate hats/eye patches too. This is swim party, so I don't know how long they would even leave those on for. I did see some pirate hats at the dollar store that I could get just to have SOMETHING. Would you expect to get a hat/patch at a pirate party?

We sent Evites, so I could "remind" them to come dressed in pirate garb in an email.

No, you don't "have to" but just my humble opinion...I would go with pirate hats and eye patches instead of the playdough :wink2:

You don't have to. It's what works with your budget. You could opt for a few pirate hats to just have around on the tables... kids can try them on, maybe take some pictures and they'll be taking them off for swimming anyways. Bandanas are always an option too.... Oriental trading is the place to go for those.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...rate+Bandannas

Oriental trading has TONS of pirate stuff

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...true&rd=pirate

I would expect a pirate hat and an eye patch at a pirate party before I would expect play-doh.

ETA: I also expect copious amounts of rum, swordplay, and drunken pirate shanties. Oh. You meant for the kids...my bad.

All of the pirate hats I've found seem so junky. I don't want them to be just thrown away after the party. I figure the playdough would at least get played with afterward.

Oriental Trading has some OK hats (I'd get the personalized ones I guess) but no eye patches...and I'd need to spend $50 to get free ship. Hmmmmm..... thanks for the input so far.

Many of the kids are 2yo as well. Do you think the hats would even fit?

You could totally make the eye patches yourself and forget the hats.

Felt sheets are only about a quarter each. Buy 4 in black, a spool of elastic thread and some tacky fabric glue. I've sewn them before but glueing would be just as easy and last for a good while. Just cut out two patch looking shapes then sandwich the elastic thread between the two shapes. Put glue around the edge of both shapes and insert the elastic thread on each end. Press firmly, allow to dry. Done.

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Originally Posted by Penny's Pappa

I would expect a pirate hat and an eye patch at a pirate party before I would expect play-doh.

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:yeahthat:

[QUOTE=Tondi G;2701929]You don't have to. It's what works with your budget. You could opt for a few pirate hats to just have around on the tables... kids can try them on, maybe take some pictures and they'll be taking them off for swimming anyways. Bandanas are always an option too.... Oriental trading is the place to go for those.

:yeahthat: ... we just had a pirate birthday party and that's exactly what we did and it seemed to go well - we had some pirate bandannas on the table (bought at Michael's for $1 each) and some kids put them on, some didn't (I didn't have enough for everyone anyway); I did also put some paper pirate masks from Party City but the kids really didn't go for them.

All right. I'm convinced.

Think I could link the Etsy seller to this thread to explain why I'm bowing out? ;)

One way to get around providing a hat and patch for each child might be to set up a photo booth...

have a few sizes of full pirate costumes and a few props and maybe a back drop or something cool in the pic (parrot, ship wheel, telescope, etc)

then plan to take a pic of each kid with your digital camera to be printed and sent home or sent later with a thank you for coming via snail mail or email (esp. since this was an evite you can easily send an electronic thank you with the photo attached)

esp. since it is a swim party the kids will be in bare minimum clothes so slipping in and out of a pirate get up won't be inconvenient at all....

you could even be in full pirate dress or get another adult or older kid/teen to assist them and/or be in the photo with them...

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Originally Posted by MommyofAmaya

All right. I'm convinced.

Think I could link the Etsy seller to this thread to explain why I'm bowing out? ;)

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Just use the old "We've decided to go in a different direction..."

the eye patch and bandanna are a nice change to the hat most folsk use if you don't like the quality of what you are able to find....

Ok after visiting another local party store, I've decided on these hats:

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/sh...roductsCatalog

and this patch/sword combo:
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...+With+Eyepatch

I feel better about this choice. I just hope the hats fit. Any ideas for personalization? "Amaya's pirate party" is a snooze.

ETA: Found a click-through for free ship.

Yo Ho Yo Ho
A Pirate's Life For Me
Shiver Me Timbers

I had a pirate party for DS1. We got our stuff here:

http://www.birthdayinabox.com/search...keyword=pirate

We got the hats (which were great - foam like - not paper), the eye patches and the inflatable swords. The swords were a big hit. We also had coins decorating the table which looked really cool. :)

BTW, Amaya has to meet my DS. Sounds like they would be fast pirate friends. ;)

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Originally Posted by arivecchi

I had a pirate party for DS1. We got our stuff here:

http://www.birthdayinabox.com/search...keyword=pirate

We got the hats (which were great - foam like - not paper), the eye patches and the inflatable swords. The swords were a big hit. We also had coins decorating the table which looked really cool. :)

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I just saw these hats at our local store this morning and they were only $2.19.

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Originally Posted by arivecchi

BTW, Amaya has to meet my DS. Sounds like they would be fast pirate friends. ;)

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Awww. I bet they would. Her "best friend" atm is a very pirate-like young man of three.

I love the stuff you found at Oriental trading company.

We bought a good deal of the pirate stuff from Birthday in a Box for Joshua's 5th birthday party. It was all very cute, and they had great customer service. We ended up ordering too much, not everyone came, and they were great about taking back anything we didn't need.

FYI...Trader Joes has bags of chocolate gold coins for a good price.

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Originally Posted by daisymommy

We bought a good deal of the pirate stuff from Birthday in a Box for Joshua's 5th birthday party. It was all very cute, and they had great customer service. We ended up ordering too much, not everyone came, and they were great about taking back anything we didn't need.

FYI...Trader Joes has bags of chocolate gold coins for a good price.

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That is exactly what I was worried about. What if everybody flakes last minute (this happened two years ago). Then I'm stuck with the stuff. That's why I try to stick to local for stuff like this.

No TJs here. :(

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Originally Posted by MommyofAmaya

Ok after visiting another local party store, I've decided on these hats:

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/sh...roductsCatalog

and this patch/sword combo:
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/br...+With+Eyepatch

I feel better about this choice. I just hope the hats fit. Any ideas for personalization? "Amaya's pirate party" is a snooze.

ETA: Found a click-through for free ship.

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We received these hats and in case anybody else is looking soon, they are great quality and fit all head sizes (Sebastian and DH can both wear them). We got them personalized with:

Let's Parrrrrrrrrty (stole this from a commerical).
Amaya's Bday 2010

At $1 a piece, they are a steal.