Ahoy Matte! My son's birthday was a hit! He turned 4 and we had a large crowd attend. 30 kids were invited and 24 showed up. I knew I had to really work on making it fun and not let things get too expensive. For the Invitations: I took typing paper or copy paper and I tore of all the edges. I then soaked it in tea and then laid it out to dry. (If your making alot like I was I found that a few seconds in the microwave was a quicker solutions but you have to be careful) Then I typed up the following message on my computer using the Old English hand writing and printed it out on the dried paper. The invitation read as follows:( you can adjust it easily to fit your child) Ahoy Matte! Grab your swimsuit and set out for sea Get Ready to join the crew and Celebrate Austin’s 4th Birthday, It’s True! There’ll be loot for us greedy pirates and  a waterslide for those with guts So come on Buccaneers eat, drink and be merry Before you set off on a treasure hunt Come on, I dare Ye!  Be sure to bring your Landlubber siblings along We’ll make a Blimey Buccaneer out of ‘em with a yo-ho-ho song!   The date we set sail is ______  in the year _____ _____ is the time to arrive The Ship of ______________ will be where the party will begin RSVP: ___________ Directions enclosed Just remember X marks the spot!  I then rolled the invitations up and tied them with a brown string. I put it in a plastic bottle and added sand and sea shells ( I kept from my trip to the beach) and placed a mailing label on the outside of the bottle. (If your feeling really crafty you can print your own mailing labels and use a Jolly Roger sign as some art work and be sure to put Cap'n (Your childs name) on the return address. The post office mail's these with no problem. Now for the decorations I shopped around months in advance. I found pirate ship figures at the Dollar Tree, Fish Nets I borrowed from my grandfather and actually bought decorative ones for $1 at a party supply store. Gold Coins, Treasure chest full of goodies, pirate swords and patchs, paper parrots and so much more can be bought from oriental trading for OH so cheap! I made Happy Birthday signs the same way I made my invitations and hung them around the party area. Pirate signs etc were also made the same way. Oriental trading offers 1 dozen Pirate swords with eye patches for only $9.95. The Pirate party them we chose was one that was made after the book "All I know about Pirates". It is by far the best looking Pirate Party stuff out there. BUT hard to find! I found it on line but I kept calling party supply stores until I found it local to save on the shipping (It was cheaper at the store too!) The store I found it at was Party City for anyone who has one near by. Your childs pirate toys can also make for terrific decorations. Wal Mart has a Pirate Ship set that is only $14.88 by Kid Connection. It has a large ship with great Pirate's. The Ship makes for an excellent centerpiece! The Pirate and crocodile are also great to decorate with! We actually got it as a Birthday gift and gave it to him early so we could decorate with it.  The CAKE and food: I made a Pirate Cake myself since I found it would be cheaper as well. I found a fantastic recipe on the internet. It was the shape of a treasure chest and so easy. My advice is to type in Pirate Cake in your web browser and check out all the ideas to find the one that best suits your abilities. If you have a large crowd make up a dozen cup cakes and stick a gold coin on the top!  For food I did Hot dogs (CHEAP) On each hot dog I took a wooden steak scewer and put a sail on it ( just a piece of white paper) and stuck it in the center of each hot dog. I also served Gold Fish instead of chips (Healthier and goes with the theme) For drinks I just served fruit punch (my son is convinced the fruit juice that Koolaid puts in those plastic bottles is "Priate Juice" Gee wonder who gave him that idea :) The party: When the guest arrived they came aboard ship ( I went to a furniture store and got a LARGE box. Tall enough for an adult to walk through. I cut it out to make it look like a ship and painted it. I got a piece of wood that they walked up the plank to get on board (the deck) At the entrance stood my brother in law (who is 12) dressed as a pirate handing out swords and eye patchs. After the child recieved their gift they came upon my husband also dressed as a pirate awaiting to give them a tatto. Once they recieved their tatto they walked onto the rest of the deck were the party awaited. Pirates were everywhere! We had a water slide for the main activity (mainly because my son had asked for it. And it was his gift from us). After everything was finished we had a treasure hunt. I had my husband tell them were to go. At each spot they would find a new clue. (Since they were all 4 I took large pieces of paper and put a HUGE X on it. They found it handed it to my husband and he directed them to their next spot. They loved this! Finally after three times they found a treasure chest full of Pirate goodies (from oriental trading). My husband handed them their Loot bags and told them all to get 3 things. The day was a smashing success. Not alot of money just alot of time. But if you do all that has to be done with your child it is something they will never forget!