Pirate Posters!

Arrr Matey!

In my last post I showed wanted posters that I made for my son's second birthday.  They were so popular with the kids I decided to make a different version of them for my son's pirate party a couple years later.   I used the same technique as in my last post but this time I added a couple extra steps to make them even more "real" looking.

I started off the same way as I did with the cowboy wanted posters.  I chose pirate names for each of the guests and printed them on card stock.  I also included a photo of each kiddo and a small clip art at the bottom of the page.  If I didn't already have a photo of the kids, I had their moms text a picture to me.

Here's where I changed it up a bit...

After printing my paper, I crumbled it up into a tight ball then opened it back up and smoothed it out.  

Next I dipped a paper towel into a mug of strong tea.  I rubbed the tea coated paper towel all over the front of the crumpled up paper.  It stained the paper to look aged and it made it crisp when it was dry. 

I set the wet, tea stained paper outside to dry.  Once they were completely dry I burned the edges with a lighter.  You could also tear the sides instead.

I also used this same technique to make the invitation.  

The guests loved learning their pirate names and were thrilled to have a personalized party favor to take home.  Again...this was a little time consuming but very cheap to make.  It was fun to do and even more fun to see the kids get so excited about them!