More Gender Reveal Party Ideas - At Last!

A VERY long time ago, I believe I said I would post more "gender reveal" party suggestions.  I am here to say - I slacked off.  Or was just too busy.  Or maybe a little of both. 

But every once in a while, my mind starts whirring in that direction again (usually when I see someone else's gender reveal party or someone announces a pregnancy, etc.).  So, today I am going to post some ideas for gender revelation parties because there seem to be so few online. 

Now, I will not have time to go into great detail or creativity like I did with the "What Will it Bee" party or "What's the Scoop?" ice cream reveal, but I will at least get the ball rolling with some themes and if anyone out there wants me to suggest creative ideas to go along with one or two in particular, just leave a comment or send me an email and I will see what I can come up with for you!  :)

I DO ask that if you happen to choose one of these ideas, you would share the love and mention or link back to my blog.

AND if you would like to send me pictures of your own gender reveal or child related party, please do so!  I'm on the hunt for creative suggestions implemented in parties and pretty photography helps too!  :)  I may just feature you with a post and a link to your blog if you have one!  :)  Please understand I may not be able to respond to all requests due to time constraints - but I'll see what I can do!  :)  


Okay, without further ado, I give you....

GENDER REVEALING IDEAS (I may add to this list later on):

**Introducing the Main Attraction!  
   - Theme would be circus related. 
   - Gender revealing moment - decorate a large box in advance to look like an old fashioned circus stand with a large question mark on it.  Fill it with helium balloons in the color of baby gender and maybe write the gender on some with marker.  Seal the box with a big bow or tape.  Choose someone special to untie or open the box at the end of the party and let the balloons tell the rest of the tale!  I believe I saw the balloon gender revealing idea on a forum somewhere and thought it would tie in well with this theme.  :)

**Sugar & Spice or Snips & Snails? 
   -Theme would be sugar/candy/spice and "snips" of different kinds of blue cloth/paper and toy snails, of course. 
   -Gender revealing moment could be when guests receive their favor bags.  Beforehand, make cookies (snails if it is a boy or candy shaped sugar cookies for girls and frost traditional pink or blue).  Place inside simple cloth favor bags with a question mark stamped on the outside.  When guests get ready to leave, pass out the bags, count to three and let everyone open their bags to reveal the gender.

**Vintage Toy Baby Reveal
   - Theme would be vintage style toys.
   -Gender revealing moment - spell the name of the gender with toy blocks  glued to the bottom of an old glass container/jar.  Then fill the container with more blocks or vintage toys or vintage candy and have it be an activity for people to guess the number of items in the container (saw this guessing blocks idea online for a vintage toy baby shower and loved it!).  At the end of the evening, take each item or block out and count altogether as you remove them.  Once they are all gone, the gender will remain and be revealed as well as the number of items in the jar.  The person who guessed the number of items correctly gets to name your baby - just kidding - they get a small prize of some sort.  :)

**"Who is the "Ducky" Winner?" or "I'm So 'Ducky' to be Joining My Family in (month due date)" 
   - Theme would be ducks or rubber ducks. 
   - Gender revealing moment -write the gender of the baby in permanent marker on the bottom of a rubber duck and float the duck in a special jar or bowl as a centerpiece with a large question mark on it.  At the end of the party, choose a person to pick up the duck and reveal the gender.

**Mystery/Puzzle (wording could be something like:  Enjoy a good mystery?  So do we.  Solve the question: what will it be?).  
   -Theme would be mystery of course.  Invitations could be a puzzle that the guests must put together to learn the event time and place and details.  Another invitation idea would be a riddle which, once solved, takes guests to a baby website you have set up and which lets them know the event details.
  - Gender revealing ideas - use lemon juice to write the gender reveal name on paper and let guests have a fun night of mystery and clues (you could have people be on teams according to what they think the gender will be) which lead up to the moment when one team finds the secret envelope (question mark on the front of course) and figures out how to reveal the gender (use a heat source or hold up to the light).

**  Our Little Treasure - Boy or Girl?
  -  Theme would be treasure and treasure hunt.
  - Gender revealing moment - send guests on a treasure hunt or give guests a map when they arrive (could also split people into teams according to what they believe the gender will be).  Have the treasure hunt end when one person or team finds a bag of keys you have hidden.  In advance, amid the other keys, hide a key inside which will unlock a chest (could decorate it to look like a treasure chest) with the name of the gender inside (you could use sparkly rhinestones, etc. glued to the bottom of the chest to form the gender word.).  Hand each guest a key, letting each person try his/her key in the lock until one fits and reveals the surprise.

** "Meet Our Little Monkey" or "Boy or Girl - Not Knowing is Driving Us Bananas!"
- Theme would be monkeys and bananas.
- Gender revealing moment - in advance, write the gender on the outside of a banana with permanent marker. Hide the banana at the bottom of a container full of bananas with a sign that reads "We are going to go bananas if we don't find out soon!". At the end of the party, let each guest take a turn grabbing a banana from the container and searching all over it to see if theirs reveals the gender. Eventually, someone will find the one which tells the surprise!


**  "B" is for Boy and "G" is for Girl - an alphabet gender reveal
   - Theme would be alphabet.
   - Gender revealing moment - see the blocks idea from the vintage toy reveal idea above or make letter cookies according to the gender and hide in favor bags.  Another idea would be to hand each guest an alphabet card in a sealed envelope as they arrive.  At the end of the party have everyone gather together and take turns opening their envelopes one at a time and pulling out the alphabet cards inside.  Depending on the gender - you will need to decorate the "b" or "g" card to make it stand out from all the others.  Eventually someone will open the envelope with the sparkly letter inside revealing the gender.  OR you could just have an envelope ready with the letter inside and when everyone is gathered together, have all assembled sing the alphabet song while passing the sealed envelope from person to person.  When the song is finished, the last person holding the envelope is the lucky one who opens it and reveals the "g" or "b" card.

What will it BEE party "HEADS UP!"

For anyone wanting to throw their own "Bee" party - just wanted to give you a heads up! Lots and lots of bee items/decor now available at Hobby Lobby! :)

Gender Reveal Party Idea: What's the Scoop?

I know, I know...It has been FOREVER since I said I would post other gender revealing party ideas! But fear not, I haven't forgotten - just been busy. Now that I have some breathing room this week, I thought I would go ahead and post one of those ideas. NOTE: that the photograph and craft above were done hastily in an effort to illustrate one of the ideas below (plus I did not have pink playdough like I originally thought - so I substituted pink marshmallows). I am sure there are piles of you crafty crafty's out there who could do a much better job if you were actually going to throw this party (which I did not, thus the scrounging around for materials that were on hand)...

So without further ado, gender revealing idea #2: What's the Scoop?

(Number 1 was the classic "What Will it Bee" theme)

Invitations:

Idea 1: Buy up those small individual containers of ice cream (the really small ones that come in a package of multiples) in advance and let your family chow down! Wash out and keep the containers and when you are ready, fill them with balls of purchased or homemade playdough in blue and pink (both together) so that it looks like a small ice cream container with scoops of pink and blue ice cream inside. Next, get a plastic spoon and stamp or draw with a marker a question mark on the scoop of the spoon and wrap a small slip of written invitation with details around the handle of the spoon and tie with a gender neutral ribbon. Wrap up each small container in cellophane and tie with ribbon, attaching the spoon to the ribbon on the outside and a little tag that reads "What's the Scoop?" You could even have your kids add real sprinkles to the "ice cream" or punch out some pink and blue confetti or confetti that matches the paper on which you wrote the party details. Then pass out to your friends and family! Also, if you want to add more pizzaz - you could always wrap a piece of fun craft paper in pink and blue or gender neutral colors around the outside of your small container and attach a little question mark charm that you purchase or make yourself (I am thinking of bending wire to fashion something like that).

If you can afford even more expense, you could buy those little clear plastic condiment containers (check the kitchen utensil aisle at places like Walmart - I think they are roughly a dollar each). Some of them look a LOT like a miniature bowl you would put an ice cream sunday in (at least they do to me). Or you could purchase an ice cream scoop for each family you plan to invite and wrap your written invitation around the handle, tied with a bow and a tag with the theme on it.

For a cheaper version of the ice cream container idea - whenever you go to Sam's or Walmart and they have a sample day, eat every sample you can that comes in one of those small clear containers and keep the containers. After a while, you will have a nice stash of containers for invites! Or you could just find out where they buy those cups and purchase some yourself.

Idea 2: Need an even cheaper idea? Print out ice cream coupons that you make yourself saying something about: a fun time and free ice cream sunday for each family member or friend. Mail or hand out personally!

Idea 3: Another variation of invitation would be to purchase ice cream cones and roll up your written detailed invite and place inside the cone. Top (or leave it just the way it is) with a roll of pink and blue swirled playdough. Glue a circle of fun print paper to the front of the cone with a question mark on it. Wrap the entire thing in cellophane and tie with gender neutral ribbon and tag with the theme on it.

Decor:

1. Hang colored pom poms from the ceiling. For a fun experiment - try mixing shades of blue and pink together when you are making each pom pom (see my idea on the pom pom bumble bee in an earlier post). Or just hang varying shades of pom poms in those colors around the rooms. You could also try stringing them on a ribbon and hanging them with a brown paper cone attached at the bottom so they look like ice cream cones hanging from the ceiling.

Or you could take extra plates you have and draw or stamp question marks on them and glue them back to back (so if they spin with a breeze - people are not staring at the back of a plate and wondering what it is) and glue those to a ribbon/string with a paper cone on the bottom to look like hanging ice cream cones. You could also do something similar with all the fun patterned craft papers out there. Just don't go too crazy with a huge variety of papers - I would pick maybe one or two patterned pieces (and stick to those for any other decor or background ideas as well) and maybe one or two main solid colors. This might be the least expensive option especially if you pick these papers up when they are on sale - I think the major craft places like Michaels or Hobby Lobby tend to have sales on their papers at least once a month perhaps?

2. Banner - make smaller pompoms and string them along a banner string - attach a brown paper cone (or REAL cone if you can manage it with your hot glue gun or super glue) to each and add a circle to each cone with a letter printed on it to make up whatever you want to say...

Or you can just make paper circles and attach paper cones with your banner's greeting.

3. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE those large ice cream containers and turn them into holders for napkins, utensils, and yes - even flowers!

You can also turn ice cream cones into small vases for flowers to sit in. Just make sure you line the inside first before adding water or floral green foam or else your cones might not remain nice and stiff the whole time.

4. Perhaps keep one container available for baby name (flavor) suggestions...

5. Ice cream scoop babies: wrap some scoops in cut up baby blanket pieces so they look swaddled - place in a bed of ice in the middle of the table and add a rounded scoop of vanilla or chocolate or whatever color for the face in the scooping part. Add features with candy or frosting or other decorations. You could also just use playdough if you don't want to mess with the possible melting situation.

6. Balloon ice cream cones: get some balloons in the colors of your party to be the "ice cream scoops" and then glue them very carefully to paper cones you make yourself from brown construction or butcher paper. Place these around the room!

Food:

If you are going to have an ice cream bar, load it up with different flavors and toppings which allow guests to make their own fun concoction (if expense is a problem, just stick with basic vanilla and purchase several basic toppings - your guests will enjoy the treat!).

Need labels for your party? This person has GENEROUSLY made ice cream labels and offered them for FREE on her blog!! How neat and sweet is that!! They are adorable and decorative...and did I mention FREE!!!

http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/post.cfm/diy-ice-cream-parlour-make-your-own-sundaes-buffet-concept-for-wedding-or-party

So now all you have to do is decide whether you want to keep your labels simple (just list the toppings) or add some amusement to them by coming up with little ideas that tie your theme together with ice cream. For example:

Nuts (how Mommy feels after those first few sleepless nights) or "Diaper Creme" (whipping cream), etc.

The Big Reveal:

Now this could be done before or after guests eat depending on when and how you want to let everyone know about your new baby's gender.

Idea 1: Bring out a container of ice cream that you or a friend has loaded up with the color that lets everyone know what your baby will be. Make sure that the guests cannot tell what the color is from the outside. I suggest a plain white container with a large question mark written or stamped on the outside and decorated according to your color scheme for the evening. Give everyone a blindfold and then scoop out a little taste for each guest. On the count of three, let them eat it and see if anyone can figure out what the color is before actually seeing it (for example: blueberry for a boy and strawberry for a girl. Or something boyish like rocky road with additional blue marshmallows you add yourself or peaches -n - creme - think complexion - for a girl with some pink swirled in).

Idea 2: Borrow a homemade ice cream maker if you do not have one yourself. Before the guests arrive, you or a friend (if you are keeping it a surprise for yourself as well) add the ingredients for vanilla ice cream plus some generous amount of appropriate blue or pink food color. Depending on the ice cream maker - you may need to figure out a way to seal it from sight while the ice cream is being churned to avoid spoiling the surprise. Then have guests spend the evening helping you make the ice cream. When it is time to eat - reveal the color and let guests add their toppings. If they have already eaten ice cream and this is the last event - spoon some ice cream into styrofoam containers and send home with guests for later enjoyment as a party favor.

For this idea, you can also probably find directions online as to how to make your own ice cream maker from scratch using just a tin or container that guests shake up or roll around all evening until the ice cream is ready.

Idea 3: Baked Alaska! Just use the appropriate color of ice cream and cover it with a generous layer of meringue (at least I think that is what it is) and bake according to instructions. When it is done, let the new parents or some honored person in your family (perhaps a great great grandfather or grandmother) cut it open to reveal the color.

Idea 4: I am not sure this would be possible - but perhaps you could order an ice cream cake from a local bakery just as you would with a normal cake and tell them to put the color ice cream or icing of the gender inside the cake. Make sure they know what it is for so they understand the color needs to be hidden so it will remain a surprise until the appropriate moment!

Okay - so there you go! Ideas for a What's the Scoop gender reveal party... And if anyone happens to use this idea - I would love to see pictures of it!

If you want more suggestions for this idea or need help with anything - I can offer free assistance from afar as needed or as possible since some weeks are rather busy for me. Just e-mail me and I will try to respond when I can.

What Will It "Bee" - extras....

Remember those pom pom bees I mentioned in the "What Will It Bee?" party? Well, I thought I would post a picture of one because pictures, as they say, are really "worth a thousand words". I made a few of these and had them hanging above one of the tables, as well as some paper flowers (see here for the Ruche tutorial: http://shopruche.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-wall-decor-from-ruches-lookbook.html) hanging at different levels with the bees.

The "Bee Surprised" drinks were just some Fuzzy Navel drinks, and I made up a quick label in the party colors to cover the original label and to match the theme. Then people could guess at what they were drinking. And at least one person at the party apparently guessed correctly!!
Were the labels done with professional programs, etc. - nope. You too my friend can make these if you have something like Microsoft Word or some word processing tool. Just write up what you want them to say and cut it out. Then add whatever extras you like! I added a small sticker of a bee and a little dashed bee trail with a pen or marker.

So are you getting sick of "bee" stuff already? Don't worry - I am already thinking of another gender party theme idea for someone else to copy and enjoy. I will try to post more on that at a later date...

What Will it "BEE"? Party

Our home was "buzzing" (I just couldn't resist) over the weekend as we threw a gender revealing Bar-"Bee"-Q for a family expecting a new little one. The pictures above will give you some idea of what we did.

And the cost for all the decor, etc. (not including food and drink)? Would you "bee-lieve" (Agh - someone stop me quick!) it was probably only around $15-$30? It is amazing what necessity and a little bit of creativity will accomplish... A lot of these items could probably be easily found or recreated from things you have in your own cabinets at home!!

Starting from the top:
* Ginger Honey: actual recipe should be on http://www.evanwilliams.com/
* Dezzzssert: cupcakes and cake with marshmallow fondant bees. Marshmallow fondant - incredibly easy to make - just basically marshmallows, water, and powdered sugar! Google it or find it on Wilton's website. The bee idea with nuts for wings I believe was on Martha Stewart's website.
* Complementary Crowns: we wanted to recognize the visiting queen bees from other "hives/families" so we made sure to distinguish them by offering complementary crowns at the entrance (made with elastic and a stiff kind of felt - check in your local craft store. I think we made all of ours from just one large sheet that cost around a dollar or less maybe?).
* Beehive Silverware Dispenser: yup - you read that right - my little last minute silverware dispenser. When life hands you an empty large cereal box, you get creative with it! Just paint or paste a picture on it and cut out the bottom front. Then dump your rolled bundles of silverware inside - I wrapped mine up to look "bee-ish" in a yellow napkin tied with black pipe cleaner - the ends curled to resemble little antennae.
* Beehive Pinata: this was how the family let people know what they were having. Found the pinata idea on a forum somewhere and then found instructions for this little pinata gem here - http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.canadianfamily.ca/images/beehive-pinata_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.canadianfamily.ca/articles/slideshow/teddy-bears-picnic-invites-pinata/3/&h=350&w=300&sz=141&tbnid=68oU2NUf8K3boM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeehive%2Bpinata&hl=en&usg=__ARxjf9hVGYQ3KCdvYjmvZ8mkE_I=&ei=_Om_S8SlFMGonQflrqCyCg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBUQ9QEwAw We filled the pinata with different shades of blue paper with the words printed on them"It's a...BOY!!" Other people might want to add candy or small prizes in the same shade of gender that is being revealed.
* Faux Blackboard: this was made using a piece of white foamboard painted black. I think the cost of the foam board was around a dollar or less at my local craft store (after a 40% off coupon).
* Drink Labels and Holders: I don't have fancy label holders but came up with what I thought was a cute and maybe even better idea as it went along with the theme. Take one jar (could be store bought or just a leftover clean jam jar) and add water with about three drops of yellow food coloring. Tie with ribbon and/or raffia around the top and you have a cute label holder that looks an awful lot like a jar of honey! Then add your labels - I made mine with craft paper (purchased when the paper went on sale) and pipe cleaners. And just so you know - we had other drinks which were non-alcoholic as well - like our non-buzzed (non-alcoholic) lemonade! :)
* Baby Picture: if there are other children in the family - why not add to the decor by asking them to draw a picture of their new sibling-to-be and framing it? This was the case here - I had the family's three year old draw a picture of what the baby would look like. Came out cute, don't you think?
* Flowers in "vases": want to know an inexpensive way to decorate a lot of areas but for very little? Wildflowers in cans - we are talking the kind of cans you probably open at dinnertime every night and then toss out without a thought to the metal treasures they are! I think these were cans of tomatoes and beans at one point. I just removed the labels, washed them out, and painted them white. Want to add a little more of a color punch - just add ribbon or craft paper or both.
* Banner: this simple banner was easily made using some craft paper (again purchased when it went on sale), computer, and craft scissors.

MORE IDEAS...
** We had a name suggestion jar for those simply "buzz-sting" at the seams to let the parents know what they thought the baby should be named.
** We had little tissue paper pom pom bees floating above the table. For directions on making these pom poms - try Martha Stewart's website. I just alternated back and yellow for a striped effect and then glued on small pipe cleaner antennae and paper wings.
** A fun idea that did not come to fruition due to time constraints - favor bags for each family with honeycomb candy (recipe here: http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodscienceprojects/a/honeycombcandy.htm) inside or a kind of trail mix bar with items set out where each family can decide what kind of mix to make and take home (suggestions for bar: honey nut cheerios, honey grahams, honey graham cereal, honeycomb candy or other type of honey candy, etc.).

What Will it "Bee"?

I am about to throw a gender reveal party for a family. I wanted to come up with something a bit different and creative - alas, I was also taken by the cuteness of a bee theme that I noticed at least one other person using. Original or cute, original...or...cute.... Cute won out. :) Not that something original isn't cute - this bee idea just captured my mind and I began to "buzz" with ideas. :) Perhaps next week, I will try to post some of the other fun concepts I came up with for a gender reveal party theme because there just do not seem to be a lot of ideas out there that are non-traditional...

The picture attached is the invitation to the party. I also used "Paperless Post" invitations for some people.