nce of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and ro

This party season continues to see the Pirate Theme as top of the popularity charts. And why not..? With the launch of another blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean movie, new pirate based TV shows and a vast array of books on the subject for all ages, it's easy to see that this theme has really captured the imagination.

So if you are planning a pirate party, it's time to haul in the gangplank, raise the Jolly Roger and make ready with the sails as we look at some fun ideas for your invitations…….

Fun ideas for your Pirate Birthday Party Invitations

Ye' Olde Pirate's Clue Invitation

This is a great way of preparing your invitations but needs some careful planning. First you need to write out what you want the invitation to state, this should include; name of guest, name of party giver, date, time and location at a minimum, and can should also include dress code if you want everyone to dress up.

Having prepared the information you need to encode it. The way you do this will depend on the age of your guests. Visual clues work best across all age groups and you can get ideas for this from most children's puzzle books. Remember it doesn't have to be complicated just FUN!

It is always advisable to include the correct answer to the solved puzzle on the back of the invitation otherwise you may not get any guests if you've made it too hard…

Pirate Treasure Location

Draw a simplistic and stylised map of the area surrounding the venue for the party as if it's a desert island. Use plenty of pirate symbols palm trees, pirate caves, skeletons and place a pirate's chest and a big cross at the position on the map where the party is to be held. You can include all of the party details (see above) on the map in pirate language….plenty of AAARRHs and avast and ahoy maties…..hey you'll get into the swing of it!

Again, some care will need to be taken to ensure that the map has enough real information and again, the solution to the map could be included on the back.

Pirate Clue Invitation

With these invitations, all of the guests receive a piece of a treasure map and are instructed to bring it with them to the party. As they arrive, their piece of the 'treasure map' is added to the rest – cut into jigsaw shapes helps the reassembly of the map by smaller children – until the whole map is assembled. Time should be taken so that the answer cannot be seen until all of the pieces are assembled – use dummy clues to assist in this.

A good solution is to use a word game 'my first is in xxxxxxxxxxx and not in zzzzzzxxzzzz'. If each guest has a letter then arranging the letters should give the location to the treasure.

Always keep a copy of each clue just in case little Tommy doesn't make to the party. I guess little Tommy will be first to walk the plank…..

These are three great swash-buckling party invitation ideas, now for a couple of tips. These invitations look best on old brown paper with crumpled and torn appearance, charred edges (responsible adults only) and generally aged. An alternative is to use white paper and give it the appearance of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and rol

of guest, name of party giver, date, time and location at a minimum, and can should also include dress code if you want everyone to dress up.

Having prepared the information you need to encode it. The way you do this will depend on the age of your guests. Visual clues work best across all age groups and you can get ideas for this from most children's puzzle books. Remember it doesn't have to be complicated just FUN!

It is always advisable to include the correct answer to the solved puzzle on the back of the invitation otherwise you may not get any guests if you've made it too hard…

Pirate Treasure Location

Draw a simplistic and stylised map of the area surrounding the venue for the party as if it's a desert island. Use plenty of pirate symbols palm trees, pirate caves, skeletons and place a pirate's chest and a big cross at the position on the map where the party is to be held. You can include all of the party details (see above) on the map in pirate language….plenty of AAARRHs and avast and ahoy maties…..hey you'll get into the swing of it!

Again, some care will need to be taken to ensure that the map has enough real information and again, the solution to the map could be included on the back.

Pirate Clue Invitation

With these invitations, all of the guests receive a piece of a treasure map and are instructed to bring it with them to the party. As they arrive, their piece of the 'treasure map' is added to the rest – cut into jigsaw shapes helps the reassembly of the map by smaller children – until the whole map is assembled. Time should be taken so that the answer cannot be seen until all of the pieces are assembled – use dummy clues to assist in this.

A good solution is to use a word game 'my first is in xxxxxxxxxxx and not in zzzzzzxxzzzz'. If each guest has a letter then arranging the letters should give the location to the treasure.

Always keep a copy of each clue just in case little Tommy doesn't make to the party. I guess little Tommy will be first to walk the plank…..

These are three great swash-buckling party invitation ideas, now for a couple of tips. These invitations look best on old brown paper with crumpled and torn appearance, charred edges (responsible adults only) and generally aged. An alternative is to use white paper and give it the appearance of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and ro

es, pirate caves, skeletons and place a pirate's chest and a big cross at the position on the map where the party is to be held. You can include all of the party details (see above) on the map in pirate language….plenty of AAARRHs and avast and ahoy maties…..hey you'll get into the swing of it!

Again, some care will need to be taken to ensure that the map has enough real information and again, the solution to the map could be included on the back.

Pirate Clue Invitation

With these invitations, all of the guests receive a piece of a treasure map and are instructed to bring it with them to the party. As they arrive, their piece of the 'treasure map' is added to the rest – cut into jigsaw shapes helps the reassembly of the map by smaller children – until the whole map is assembled. Time should be taken so that the answer cannot be seen until all of the pieces are assembled – use dummy clues to assist in this.

A good solution is to use a word game 'my first is in xxxxxxxxxxx and not in zzzzzzxxzzzz'. If each guest has a letter then arranging the letters should give the location to the treasure.

Always keep a copy of each clue just in case little Tommy doesn't make to the party. I guess little Tommy will be first to walk the plank…..

These are three great swash-buckling party invitation ideas, now for a couple of tips. These invitations look best on old brown paper with crumpled and torn appearance, charred edges (responsible adults only) and generally aged. An alternative is to use white paper and give it the appearance of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and ro

map is assembled. Time should be taken so that the answer cannot be seen until all of the pieces are assembled – use dummy clues to assist in this.

A good solution is to use a word game 'my first is in xxxxxxxxxxx and not in zzzzzzxxzzzz'. If each guest has a letter then arranging the letters should give the location to the treasure.

Always keep a copy of each clue just in case little Tommy doesn't make to the party. I guess little Tommy will be first to walk the plank…..

These are three great swash-buckling party invitation ideas, now for a couple of tips. These invitations look best on old brown paper with crumpled and torn appearance, charred edges (responsible adults only) and generally aged. An alternative is to use white paper and give it the appearance of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and ro

nce of aging by staining it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots – these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry crumble and tear as required.

However good your invitations are, folding them and giving them out in plain envelopes is not good enough. Red ribbon and sealing was with a seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and then rolled and held with more wax – how smart is that – again responsible adults or well supervised children.

Alternatively, what about a message in a bottle..? Find a suitable small bottle, clean all of the labels off and rinse clean, find some cork stoppers to fit, prepare your invitation making sure that the overall size fits the bottle and roll and tie (allows the invite to fall from the bottle), load the bottle and seal with the cork.

Handing out these invitations should get your party off to a flying start and make you a real Pirate legend…! Have a great time.