For my daughters 6th birthday we did a Medieval/Renassaince theme.   First we sent out invitations printed on parchmant paper personalized to the Lords and Ladies.  It read:  King Ray and Queen Karen invite Lady Amanda of (last name) to a celebration in honor of Princess (daughter's name) 6th birthday.  We also invited the families and encouraged them all to wear costumes.  We tore the edges of the parchmant and tied with raffia (I couldn't find regular twine)   We built a wooden frame around the swingset out of 2x4s and 1x2s. On the day of the party we covered the front and sides with paper that looked like stone and turned it into a large castle.  Her slide is in the middle - and we made it a tower.    We made an entrance on the side yard with string and flags coming down. We lined the children up and introduced them one by one with a title.  I made a fake horn out of wrapping paper tube, spray painted it gold, drapped some felt over it and added some cording. We played a taped trumpet blast just before introducing each child.  All the adults also came in costumes so I had plenty of helpers.    After each child was introduced we gathered everyone around to welcome them to our Kingdom when a "bad guy" (my brother dressed in black) snuck up behind us (the kids could see it happening) and "kidnapped" our princess (she knew what was going to happen - as did the parents to keep anyone from being scared).  He ran behind the castle swingset and placed the princess in the castle.   We acted all upset adn then announced that the only way to save the Princess was for each child to complete the maze and find a piece of the "shield/crest" I had toake foam core, spray painted it gold, trimmed the edges in masking tape and then had a back board to mount the pieces on.  (I numbered them to make placing them back easier)  We hammered 1x2 into the ground every 3 feet and used the same paper to make the maze.  This was very time consuming and had to be done the day of the party so it would hold up but the kids LOVED it! I had a basket of the "shield" pieces in on of the wrong ends..the kids had to find one and then find their way out of the maze.  The maze itself was simple but it was just enough. Then once the shield was constructed from the pieces - the Princess slid down the slide and was rescued!    We also set up bales of hay in the lot next door so the kids could shoot bow and arrow (with DH help). I also blew up a black and white drawing of a knight and mounted it on a board.   The kids were each blindfolded and spun around (pin the tail style) and then given a sword dipped it a bit of red paint. They then proceeded to "stab" the knight.  It left a red blop where they touched the paper - and the one who came closet to the cross on the center of his chest one. I wanted to have "jousing" or "sword" play without involving the kids actually hitting each other.  This worked out really well.    We also "slayed a dragon" which was a pinata and I made a cake to look like a castle out of sheet cake and some ice cream cones. We served drumsticks for the kids and fruit with dip but we got away from the theme for food as the kids wanted junk food - -not bread, cheese etc.  I did have some for the adults though. It was adorable to see all the kids dressed up in their princess and knight costumes and eveyrone had something from their home stash. A lot of the adults purchased costumes for themselves - figuring they could be used for Halloween - and it really added to the excitement. It was a great party.