10920

Gone Bananas -13yr- Monkey Business (Charades)

April 2005

Jillian in Pompton Plains, NJ, USA

Special Mention

GONE BANANAS 13 YEARS OLD:  Monkeys are my absolute favorite animal, so for my 13th birthday I had a Gone Bananas/Monkey party!!! 

INVITATION:I drew and cut out 3 bananas on yellow paper.  I colored in the shading and the stem, etc. so they looked like real bananas.  I put them in a pile and I put a fastener thing through them so they would swing open.  On the front banana, I wrote (in green), "Join me for a Gone Bananas party!".  On the second banana, I wrote all the information, Why? Where? When? Time? RSVP?  Phone Number:.  On the last banana, I wrote, "Hope to see you there!".  I put it in a manilla envelope (the shape was weird so the envelope had to be big enough to fit it) and I put monkey and banana stickers on the envelope.  I also put a big picture of a monkey on the front of the envelope and had a speech bubble coming from his mouth, stating the address. 

DECORATIONS:  The theme of the party was green and yellow.  Green for a jungle/vines and yellow for bananas.  We set up green streamers around the house and taped yellow bananas to it.  I also had a yellow tablecloth on the buffet table and on the regular table with green tableware. 

FOOD:  We made our own fruit centerpiece.  We took an empty half watermelon and filled it with green grapes (vines) and banana coins (bananas sliced to look like coins).  We also had bananas, mint chocolate ice cream, yellow and green M & Ms, and yellow and green Gummi Bears (the rest were given out in their goody bags).  We also had regular shakes and ice cream for those who like things plain. 

For dinner, we had pizza.  For dessert, we had a round cake with dark brown frosting.  A small circle of lighter brown chocolate frosting (made from vanilla and chocolate frosting) was towards the bottom of the cake.  We made a smile out of that red sort of gel-like frosting and we wrote "HAPPY BIRTHDAY -YOURNAMEHERE-".  We also put two circles of vanilla frosting towards the top of the cake and we dabbed dark brown frosting in the middle of that to make eyes.  We took 2 chocolate chip cookies and attached those to the side of the monkey to make ears.  It look adorable!  For breakfest, we had bananas and donuts with yellow or green frosting (we got the bakery to make special frosting for us!). 

THE PARTY:  When the guests got here, we ate pizza.  Then, we began our first game called "Monkey Business", which is sort of like Charades.  A person had to pick something funny out of a hat to act out, like squirting toothpaste in your eye or stubbing your toe on the refrigorator.  Everyone looked really funny! 

After that, we played "Monkey See, Monkey Do".  We eached picked slips of paper out of a hat.  One had an X on it.  The others were blank.  The girl who picked the X was the monkey.  We had to sit in a circle and the Monkey had to do a move, like snapping her fingers.  The rest of the girls had to follow her.  The last person to join in got a point.  Whoever got 3 points first lost, and we started a new game by picking new slips.  After that, we played "Monkey in the Middle".  We stood in a huge circle and we picked out of a hat who would be the monkey first.  Whoever got an X was the monkey first.  She stood in the circle while the other girls in the circle threw a stuffed monkey to other people, but it could not be to a person next to you.  If the monkey in the middle caught it, then she would pick who would be the monkey next.  To make it harder, you could have the monkey go on her knees to make it harder for her. 

After that, we had cake and opened presents.  After that, we made sock monkeys!  Making a regular sock monkey was too hard, so we used directions from the book "Snooze-A-Palooza" in the American Girl Series.  To make them, you need red-heeled socks, rubbber bands, dried beans, craft glue, and buttons.  First, you turn the sock inside out.  Use a rubber band to close off the toe about one inch from the heel.  Then, turn the sock right side out.  Fill it up to 4 inches with the dried beans.  Then, close off the rest of the sock with another rubberband.  The heel of the sock is now the monkey's muzzle/nose/etc.  Now, pinch a section on either side of the part of the sock with the beans in it to make ears.  Secure the ears with rubberbands.  Glue on buttons for eyes on the gray part of the sock, not the white or red part.  Finally, fold the top of the sock over so the monkey has a hat.  It looks really adorable!  What we did after was decorate the monkey with markers and jewels. 

After that, we were all getting less hyper, so we played regular board games, drew, and watched movies.  In the morning, we ate breakfast and I handed out the goody bags. 

GOODY BAGS:  Goody bags were white bags with a picture of a monkey on it.  There were monkey stickers, monkey tattoos, leftover candy, monkey socks, and anything else with monkeys on it.  THIS WAS A WILD PARTY!  IT IS A GREAT PARTY FOR ANY MONKEY LOVER!

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