It was the classic scene from Steel Magnolias – a Sunday afternoon in the hair salon and a group of women gossiping. One of the women was pregnant with her first. The once cohesive group quickly became divided at the topic of how the baby’s gender should be revealed. It was now 3 against 1. The three of us became exactly what every first time pregnant woman needs – a peanut gallery.
The mother-to-be had an appointment in a few weeks to find out the gender. The plan was for her and her husband to be go to the appointment and find out the gender together and then tell the family. Of course the 3 of us felt this should be handled differently – with a party!
Gender Reveal Cake
The grandmother-to-be offered to take a sealed envelope with the results to a specialty bakery and have a cake made to reveal the gender. I loved the idea! I pictured cutting the cake after a dinner party filled with anticipation. To add excitement, I would add a few touches. For one, I would set up a boy and a girl table. The guests would show which gender they guess by where they sat. I’d also have a box of It’s a Boy and another of It’s a Girl gum cigars to hand out as a favor for sharing in the exciting news! The challenge is the cake takes 3 days to make. The mother to be didn’t want to add additional wait time. Hey, I hear her! I personally couldn’t wait another second after knowing the information was available. All three members of the peanut gallery had kids and we all found out our own way. I had 2 kids and found out in the middle of an ultrasound with both. I still remember my daughter crying when they told her she was going to have a brother. Unfortunately, they weren’t tears of happiness, she was sad it wasn’t a cat. Bottom line – you can’t please everyone.
If her only hold up was the additional 3 day wait, there had to be a solution! I thought about having a bakery put together two boxes of cake pops. One boy and one girl. Take both to the appointment with a post it note on top labeling the boxes. Give the boxes to the ultrasound tech to take out of the room and bring back the correct box without the post it. The hospital staff could keep the other box as a treat for all of they special care.
Balloons
Balloons don’t need much advanced notice. Ask the ultrasound tech to write the gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Take a fun box that is ready to be filled with balloons to a local party store. Tell them what you are doing and ask when to be back?
It then occurred to me that maybe the mother to be just wanted to find out in the moment like the rest of us. I think we were all excited about the notion of a gender reveal party because it is something different. Gender reveal parties weren’t as big of thing when I had my kids and my youngest is only 3. It’s definitely a trending area. Being a Libra I’m always looking for harmony and balance, so I thought there must be a compromise. I had it – the parents could find out and have a gender reveal for their loved ones. Not only does this appease everyone, it also opens up more options for the party!
Paint Party
If you were planning on doing the nursery in the traditional blue or pink, you could invite friends and family over to help you paint the nursery. The bonus for them is they get to see the color, the bonus for you is helpers! I actually got this idea from Laura of http://anurseandanerd.blogspot.com/. She does absolutely inspiring projects. Visit http://anurseandanerd.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-great-scoutdoorsman-nursery-revealed.html to check out her finished nursery! Spoiler alert – it’s adorable!
Pinata
Who doesn’t love a good pinata? I definitely think the pinata is under-used! Imagine a pinata filled with candy in the corresponding color. Enough said.
Pictures
Sometimes it’s not always easy to get everyone together for an announcement or a party. Sending a picture announcement could be just as fun. It would be fun as a shower invite as well! Get creative.
- A pair of every family members shoes, including either boy or girl baby shoes
- Blowing a bubble with pink or blue gum
- Holding an outfit on the belly
- Glitter, silly string, whatever…
In the end it’s up to the mom to be. We are all just excited for this little bundle to get here! XOXO
the pARTy planning 
I love the idea of the cake pops!!! I will share that one for sure!!!!
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Thank you for visiting!
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I can’t wait to see how this all ends up 🙂
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We did a gender reveal and it was great! We found out she was a girl and then did the cake and had the two grandmothers cut into it for everyone to see. I couldn’t have handled having to wait to find out with everyone else!
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I love the idea of the Grandma’s cutting the cake! I’ll have to pass it along to the mother-to-be!
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They were thrilled that they were included!
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I love this idea! I wouldn’t mind letting the grandmothers and everyone else find out this way, but I’m with you — there is no way I could have waited with them! 😊
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I give credit to anyone who can wait. I’m just such a planner it would have drove me crazy not knowing. Thanks for visiting!
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So many decisions! These are all cute ideas. We did the pinata. We found out at the appointment and then let everyone know at the party. That way it was our little secret to keep for a day or two (which was also a lot of fun to tease people!) and then everyone else found out at once.
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Looking back I WISH I would have done one!
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Wow so many amazing gender reveal ideas! I have never seen the paint can reveal, I love that! Definitely pinning to reference later! Thanks for joining the Link-It To Me Link Up Party, hope to party with you again next week!
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Always excited for a party – especially a Link-It To Me Link Up Party!
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Interesting party ideas. Thanks Heidi!
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Never seen the paint party before…that’s a really cute idea!
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I’ll do anything for help painting 🙂
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These are some awesomely fun ideas! People are getting more and more creative with gender reveals. I love the cake idea, and the paint can plan is so good, too. How fun!
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Thanks for visiting!!
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really adorable ideas! My sister did the cake one and it was so cute 🙂 thanks for sharing your ideas ♥ No baby for me, but love these ideas!
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Thanks so much for visiting!
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I love these ideas ! So cute! Congrats !
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Thanks so much for visiting!
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I love all of these ideas! My son is 3 also and so this thing wasn’t really done then, One reveal that I saw on What’s up Moms was very messy- they asked the Mum and Dad to stand under a balcony. Two people who knew, prepared and dumped a bucket of pink or blue pudding on their heads with a massive crowd of family and friends watching!
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Oh my gosh – no way would I let that happen to me 🙂 Thanks for visiting!
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Wow the imagination went wild here! My daughter and husband decided not to know the gender until the baby was born. It was a lovely surprise – a boy!
Some great ideas though if you want to announce. My favorite is the cake pops.
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My mind did go wild while writing this post. Thanks for visiting!
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What a great collection of fun ideas! I wanted to be surprised with the gender of my babies, but mother was dying to know, so the ultrasound tech told her and then she had fun keeping her little secret. 🙂 Please come share your blog posts over at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’d love to have you for a visit. The Door is OPEN. http://lifewithlorelai.com/2015/05/21/home-matters-linky-party-38/ 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
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That is so cool that you let your mother find out!
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Great ideas! I’ll have to pass them on to my daughter who is expecting! Very creative!
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Thanks for visiting! Best of luck to your daughter!
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These are such cute ideas! There’s no way I could have waited…we even got an early ultrasound to find out sooner! lol. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty 🙂
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I don’t blame you!! Thanks for visiting the pARTy planning!
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I never thought about doing a gender reveal. That would have been a great idea to do with my last child. I brought every one with me to the ultrasound to find out what I was having. That was fun but I think a gender reveal would of been tons of fun. Thanks for sharing on Feature Fridays! I hope you will come party with us again!
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We brought our daughter to the ultrasound for what turned out to be our son. I was expecting some magical moment. When we told her it was a boy, she cried because she wanted it to be a cat 🙂 You win some and you lose some, right?
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Fab ideas here. I made cupcakes for my gender reveal and filled the middles with blue butter icing so when everyone took a bite they would see the blue! xx #toddlerapprovedtuesday
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That’s a cool idea!!!
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Great ideas! Too bad I’m out of the baby market 😉
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HA – me too! Would of, should of, could of 🙂
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Gender reveal parties have definitely become popular these days. I’ve seen both the cake and balloon reveals, but the paint is a new one. Clever! I found out with both of my kids in the delivery room. During my pregnancies I felt like such a minority, but the heat-of-the-moment announcements of “It’s a boy!” the first time around and “It’s a girl!” the second time around were pretty special.
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I’m sure it was special! I give you credit for using your willpower and waiting!!
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I loved reading this post, seeing how your mind worked through all kinds of possibilities. I have absolutely no party planning genes.
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Thank you so much for visiting! I’m sure you do have some party planning genes. If you truly feel like you don’t, feel free to hit me up for inspiration anytime!
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