I planned a huge pirate murder mystery party last year. It was a big hit, and so much fun! I started planning it 5 months in advance just to be sure all the little details were perfect! INVITATIONS: I found some clear plastic bottles (they looked like old glass beer bottles) that i used for the invites! the bottom of them screwed off so i could easily put stuff inside without pushing things down the small opening. i put about a half inch of sand in them to add to the floating bottle effect, a cardboard eye patch, and the actual invite (rolled up) with a skull ring around it. I used two different invitations.. one was for a pirate murder mystery dinner I had the first night, and the next was for a kid and family party I had the next night (i took full advantage of all my planning and pirate decor, so I had 2 parties in one..it was a lot of work, but was well worth it)! The first invite had a picture of a pirate on it with pirate skulls and swords...it read; The Caribbean Pirate Council invites you to their 1776 Annual General Meeting. It will be held at...o'clock...on the...at the Jolly Roger Inn. You are invited to take the part of.... On the back was a description of the Murder Mystery Game we were going to play & a description of their character and what their character dressed as (all guests came in appropriate pirate attire). It also set the pirate mood, telling a pirate story that took place in 1776. The second invite looked like an old treasure map with burned edges. It read: You are invited to a night of pirate fun and entertainment! For: Captain(s) (person's name). Place: Allen's Island. Time..Date...and Arrr Matey's, dress as a pirate if you dare! etc. On the outside of ALL the invites i placed a sticker (that also looked like an old pirate treasure map) that said From the Great Allen Ship..To: The Great Captain (person's name). I also stuck a skull sticker around the top of the bottle to look like a wine seal etc. And of course, a cork was at the top of the bottle. I both hand delivered these, and mailed them (for a little extra postage). The recipients absolutely loved them, and couldn't wait for the party! DECORATIONS: This is where I really had fun! First off, I bougth a photo op off a high school dance supply website. It consisted of 2 large pillars (about 9 feet tall!) that looked like they were made out of old wood, a huge pirate skull with cross bones behind it that hung at the top inbetween the two pillars, a rope that I tied onto the bones and pillars, and fish nets hanging down the sides. It took a while to put together, but it looked awesome! We took everyone's picture in front of it as they arrived. My whole first floor in my home was all decked out from ceiling to floor with pirate decor. I bought a bunch of fish nets that I hung all over the ceiling. I found some pirate lantern lights and pirate skull lights that I weaved thru the nets. I purchased some colorful 10 inch parrots that I hung from the nets and all over the ceiling. I had pirate flags hanging all around the living room and kitchen walls (100 feet of it!). I found some black cheese cloth that was all torn and worn that I hung over the windows. I had another pirate photo op (the kind that has holes for you to stick your heads thru) that I hung in my back doorway for eveyone to take their pic behind as well. I had a old, torn, black pirate flag that i hung over the food bar. I bought a fog machine that was on a timer, so it would go off and on throughout the night and fill the room with fog. I also found a bunch of plastic pirate dressed skeleton's (about 12 inches tall) that I hung from the nets and chandelier. I dowloaded a bunch of pirate music that I had playing on our stereo the whole night, and also had pirates of the caribbean playing. I made a large cardboard skull stencil (drew a skull head etc on a box and cut it out) that I used to spray paint skulls onto 2 black, and 2 white flat sheets that I bought. I made them to look just like ship sails. I hung them from the ceiling and attached them to the bottom of my walls, and added rope to the sides of them (hanging) to add to the sail effect. They looked awesome! I had tiki torches up my walkway in front of my house that were lit. I had a large pirate plaque hanging from my front door that had led light up eyes. I bought a huge role of ship deck backdrop (ot) that was about 4 feet high and all togethet 40 ft long that I put at the base of most of my walls (it looked like a ship deck raling). I found a few skeleton garlands (that were made up of twine and skeleton bodies) that I strung around the bar and tables. I had platstic pirate skull heads and plastic ship wheels that I hung on the walls too. I had cardboard ships (purchased at ot) that I hung from my kitchen cupboars. And I put an actual plastic pirate ship (found at target in the toy section, about 18 inches by 10 inches) in the middle of the coffee table. Around halloween I found some cool candle holders that had cobwebs hanging from them. I put these all over (about 5 of them) with candles (that I lit), and strung beads around them (pirate loot). And now to explain the TABLE that we ate at/played the game at... I covered the table with a skull tablecloth & gold & silver gum coins along with some skeleton beads. At each setting I placed a treasure map place mat, a skull & cross bone paper plate, a skeleton goblet, a pirate bandana for a napkin, and a place card holder made out of wooden pirate shapes (treasure chests, skulls, parrots, pirate hats, skull flags, etc) that I found at the craft store (I glued them together on an angle so the place card could slip through the top). The table also had candles and a big oil lamp that I lit during dinner. Oh & I also found some small glass dishes/cups that I filled with plastic skull heads :)...And to top it all of, I bought a huge styrofoam pirate chest & filled it with gold and silver candy coins, colorful beaded necklaces, silver skull rings, pirate hats, skull head bandanas, eyepatches, light up skull heads, and more. I put the chest on my kitchen bar that was decorated with a red tablecloth, nets, coins, a large skeleton (5 feet tall) that I placed to guard the chest, and large pirate skull heads that lit up (again, found at halloween time). I also had a trick or treat container that was a skull head that I filled with candy cross bones. Oh, and I had vases of fake black roses that I placed all over.  ACTIVITIES & GAMES: We of course, played the murder mystery game during dinner..which was a blast! The game came with pirate notebooks that we all followed, a cd that we listened to the whole time, and treasure maps, and clues. I also had a big blow up pirate ship that was a ring toss game for the kids. And had a treasure map game for the kids to play (kind of like a puzzle), they had to find all the missing treasure pieces that I scattered all across the back lawn. I also had cupcake decorating for the kids (I foung gummie skull heads and bone candy etc to decorate with)...and a pin the treasure on the treasure map game. For the adults we had a costume contest. Everyone had to get up and strut their stuff and come up with a pirate line of phrase as to why they should win. We also had couple prizes..each couple was given about 5 minutes to come up with a pirate skit. This was hilarious. The best skit won. The prizes consisted of a pirate dvd board game, pirates of the caribbean (dvd/movie), an applebee's gift card, and some pirate toys for the kids (costume contest). COSTUMES: This was great! I found my husband a long pirate wig with a pirate hat..an old pirate looking shirt, pirate boots, and a long john silver jacket. He wore fake teeth, and i lined his eyes with dark eyeliner. I also found little pirate costumes for my boys too...red and white pirate suits with a black & gold belt..they also had pirate hats attached to them. I put pirate bandanas, hats, beaded necklaces, rings, eyepatches, and tatoo sleves by the front door so that anyone could wear them if they wanted. My boys both had tatoo sleeves on as well. My costume was a striped pirate costume (all found at the costume store) that tied at top, with black pirate pants that were cut and worn at the bottom. I also put a pirate bandana on. FOOD: first off, the drink bar. I don't drink alcohol, as well as a lot of my family & friends who attended the party. So I had a 'mock-arita' bar. This was one of my favorite parts of the party. I got tons of drinks, juices, mixes, syrups etc (even made home made mint syrup etc) and placed them on my decorated bar. I poured some of the juices into jones glass bottles (label peeled off of course) and labeled them with pirate font letters. I made menu's in my photoshop program that were so cute and fun..they had pirate clip art all over them and read, Mockarita's Matey's! The menu had instructions for all the different mock-arita's that everyone could mix for themselves with all the ingredients I had out. The margarita glasses where skull hand glasses I found at walgreen's. for food I had brain and hand jello ( I bought the jello molds on ot)..crackers & cheese squares with skeleton pics in them, rolls, carameled apples, and frozen sorbet that was in real pineapple, mango, orange, coconut, and lemon bowls (fruit cut in half and scraped out..found them at costco), and pirate candy. CAKE: I made cupcakes instead of a cake. They were frosted and had a gummie pirate skull on top of them..I placed them on a treasur map. FAVORS: I had plastic pirate daggars, a plastic eye patch (different from the cardboad ones i had all over, a plastic skull ring, gold gum coins, and a bandana all in a pirate loot bag for the kids. The party was AWESOME!! People still talk about how much fun it was. A lot of my friends said that they went home feeling like they had actually spent the night on a real pirate ship. You couldn't even tell it was my house because of all the fun decor etc :).