Pirate Party: X Marks the Spot!

For Will's pirate-themed eighth birthday party, Matt organized a huge treasure hunt, and I really, really wanted a giant, cartoon-y X to mark the location of the treasure chest. So I laid out an old USPS mailing box, free-handed a giant X--

With my drawing skills, how could the X NOT turn out cartoony?

 --and had Sydney paint it red:

I varnished the front, just so that the cheap tempera paint wouldn't flake off, but since we only needed it for the weekend, I probably could have skipped that bit of overkill.

We really only needed the X for the treasure hunt, but since Matt and another dad were going to sneak off during the cake and ice cream to set it up at the nearby park, before the party I punched holes in the X, tied on some twine, and taped it up to the front door as decoration:

X marks the party spot!

In other news, I just need to tell you that it is, at this point, a six-year-long source of disappointment to me that nobody--NOBODY!--has ever come to my house and noticed that I painted my front door green, just like Bilbo Baggins did.

It's heartbreaking.