My youngest turned 4 last week and we had a little birthday party to celebrate. He is very heavily into two things at the moment: cheetahs and bananas. Deciding between a cheetah party and a banana party was difficult, but bananas won out in the end. There aren’t a whole lot of banana themed party goods out there, so we had to make up our own.

For a craft, we made a bunch of banana phones–you know the banana phone song don’t you? They are just tin can phones that we made with yellow cups and string. I thought they would be a little tricky for 4 year olds to make, so I made one for everyone ahead of time. We put them out with markers and stickers, and the kids decorated their own phones. I have to admit I was surprised they worked–and so well!

For favors we gave out bunches of bananas! What else?! I scratched the message on with a toothpick. I’m kicking myself for not writing “thanks a bunch!” How did I miss such a perfect pun? Oh well.

I was going to write banana jokes on the bananas too, but ended up putting them on the bags for the pinata candy. Here are a few more, because I know you need some bad banana jokes today:

• Q: What kind of  key opens a banana? A: a monkey!
• Q: Why are bananas never lonely? A: Because they hang around in bunches.
• Q: How do monkeys get down the stairs? A: They slide down the banana-ster!
• Q: What did the banana say to the monkey? A: Nothing, bananas can’t talk!

The candy bags were for a banana pinata, of course! And really, the pinata stole the show. The kids helped me make it. It might look super involved, but pinatas are actually super easy and super fun to make. Oh Happy Day has a ton of tutorials on pinatas if you are curious how to make them.

Mine is just cardboard and masking tape. Next time I will double the amount of masking tape because the pinata broke before everyone got a whack at it. The kids are getting bigger and stronger. They were too busy frantically gathering candy to be upset, though.

The birthday boy got a few good hits in and that’s all that matters.

The party was in the afternoon, so we just put out a few snacks. They were all yellow: yellow peppers, yellow watermelon (which the kids were afraid of, but was actually totally delicious), yellow tomatoes, banana chips, and lemonade.

Instead of a birthday cake for dessert we had banana splits! There were bananas (of course), three kinds of ice cream, whipped cream, and real cherries for the top. The birthday boy was in heaven!

And here is the banana birthday party aftermath:

It was a banana blast!

I don’t have any finished clothes to show you today, but I do have a bunch of stencils. I’m not a big fan of Things On Shirts, but my kids are. Freezer paper stencils to the rescue!! I’m worried the ice cream will look weird, but I’m excited for the beetle. Any freezer paper stencils in your plans?

I could have called this post, Sugar Free! Grain Free! Gluten Free! Vegan! All Natural! Possibly Organic! Ice Cream! Because this ice cream is actually all of those things.  If you take all the exclamation points away though this ice cream is frozen bananas in your blender.  And frozen bananas in your blender makes some seriously awesome ice cream! Damn another exclamation point snuck in there.

Banana ice cream is so dead easy, you really don’t need a recipe, but this is how it goes. Peel a banana (or 10), cut it (or don’t), put it in the freezer. Then go about your day. When you remember there are bananas in your freezer, take them out and put them in your food processor (or blender). Push the button. 5 minutes later you will have something very much like ice cream. You can also add a few tablespoons of peanut butter–which is delicious–or a handful of frozen berries, or really anything your little heart desires: chopped nuts, chocolate chips, pretzels, granola.

Every time we make it (and we make it a lot) it’s different. Last night we mixed in almond butter and made some Magic Shell to go on top. Do you remember magic shell? I was crazy for the stuff when I was a kid. I don’t know how I got my mother to buy it–I must have somehow snuck it into our grocery cart. It seems odd and chemically and not at all natural, right? Actually you can make it with two things: chocolate and coconut oil. I melted a bar of dark chocolate, which is about 4 oz, and added 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Mix until everything is smooth and melty. You are now the most awesome mom in the world (until you tell them it’s time for bed).

One more thing: don’t store your magic shell in the fridge or it will magically turn hard as a rock.