First, everyone dressed the part. We wore bandanas and pirate gear, large dangly earrings, gaudy necklaces, etc. Grandaddy even came with sword and gold medallion necklace that just "happened" to get left behind for the birthday boy.
I colored pictures of all of the Jake and the Never Land Pirates characters and laminated them. Then, we glued them to tag board, and my wonderful hubby cut out the tag board and made little stands for them. About halfway through this process, I told my hubby that I probably should have had it in our marriage vows about all the birthday parties. You know? "To have and to hold, in sickness and in health...and psycho birthday bashes." I know he thinks I'm crazy sometimes, but he's such a good sport and helps me out when I start having meltdown and realize that I've been over-ambitious with the party-planning. Anyway, he bailed me out when I wasn't strong enough to cut out all the tag board AND we were running out of time, and here's the finished product! We are quite proud of these, because now my little boy has Jake characters to play with! Kind of like "boy" paper dolls. Hahaha. They don't sell Jake toys in the Disney stores yet (not until June!), so this is the next best (and maybe better?!) thing!
Then we come to the pirate pops. I saw these about a year ago (I think?) in an article, and I knew they'd be in our future some day. I'm so happy with how they turned out, although I've learned all kinds of things about making cake pops! Quite the adventure, but a cake pop maker (kind of like a waffle iron gadget that makes cake balls) makes ALL the difference! I've tried it the other way before (smashing up cake and icing and freezing it), and it was not a success. These, on the other hand, almost make me think pirates could be cute and cuddly!
And, as if that weren't enough chocolate (I know, there's no such thing as "enough" chocolate!), my hubby offered to hand-paint these yummy candy pops as party favors. My son picked them out at the store, but I just ran out of steam (and time) and had decided to just pour one color of candy in them. Daddy to the rescue! Even though he was drained from a long week of school and getting over a cold, he persevered and made enough for everyone!
On to the other decorations. Big Sis colored a sign similar to the title screen on Jake and the Never Land Pirates, substituting her brother's name in it. And, she made a sign that said "Stash Yer Loot Here" so people knew where to put the loot...er...gifts. Somehow I didn't get a picture of it, but maybe I can add one when I do "real" birthday postings.
No pirate shindig would be complete without a plank, would it?
We walked down the plank, jumped in the "water" (blankets), and searched for hidden treasure (chocolate gold coins) in the waters.
We also had a photo-op pirate cutout that resulted in the most hilarious pictures...but in keeping with my self-imposed privacy rules, I won't post those. Close friends, feel free to ask and I'll send them to you!
And, then, the cake. The big production. Usually I'm not really happy with my creations, but I love this one! I wish I'd taking pictures as I went along, because it looked pretty rough up until the end! By the way, Jake's ship is named "Bucky." :) The big ship is funfetti cake with "slightly chocolate" icing. Pretzel mast, fondant accents, pop tart railing in the back, and a cookie for a steering wheel. Captain Hook's rowboat is yellow cake with buttercream. The island is yellow cake iced in buttercream with brown sugar "sand." I really like the palm trees, a last minute, desperate attempt to put leaves on the pretzels when I realized I'd forgotten the leaves! The people are laminated pictures on popsicle sticks, and the water is a mix of leftover cake pieces, blue icing, and cool whip. :)
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