Gender reveals are all over the internet. You can hardly scroll through Facebook or Twitter without seeing one. It seems like every reveal party tries to top the one before. But rather than getting bigger, what about just making it better. Or, if not “better” than at least more unique. You don’t have to settle for another box of balloons or cutting into a cake. There are a wide range of ideas to fit any couple’s range of interest.
For most of these, you will need a trusted friend or two to actually put the gender reveal item together. That is, if you want to be surprised. In some cases, you may already know the gender, and want to have a reveal that surprises your family and friends. Then, go crazy and make the items yourself.
Gender Dough
You can put the gender of your baby in the palm of your guest’s hands. Let them find out on their own. As they manipulate your play dough, they will see the gender of your baby. And it’s simple to make your own non-toxic dough.
Before you begin to cook, purchase enough small plastic sealable containers for each of your guests and a couple of extra. Also, purchase vegetable oil, cream of tartar, salt, flour and the food coloring of your choice, either ink or blue. To make a simple, non-toxic dough, mix a tablespoon of vegetable oil, ½ cup salt, a tablespoon of cream of tartar and a teaspoon of food coloring in a saucepan and heat the pan until the contents are warm, but not too hot to touch. Remove the pan from the heat and add a cup of flour, mixing until the dough is smooth. This will make the color very rich and intense.
Make several batches. In 2/3 of the batches, leave the food coloring out so that the dough remains white. To pack the gender reveal balls, make a small ball out of the colored dough. Make a thick pancake out of the white dough and cover the colored ball on all sides, then place the dough in the small sealable container. As long as they are away from the air, the dough will remain fresh for several weeks.
At the party, ask your guests to open their containers. As they stretch, tear and squish their dough, the colored section will come through, letting each guest see the gender of the baby.
Sweet Reveal
If you decide to reveal the gender with a lot of other families or at least around other children, consider a candy reveal. Simply make a simple pinata and fill it with either pink or blue candy.
To make the pinata, start with a large balloon, old newspapers, paper bags, white tissue paper, string, flour and water. Blow up the balloon and tie it off. Cut the paper into strips. Mix flour and water to make a paste a little bit thinner than pancake batter. Dip the paper strips into the flour mixture and squeegee it off by pulling the strip through your fingers. Place the strip over the balloon, making it lie as flat and smooth as possible. Repeat until the balloon is almost completely covered, leaving only a small hole around the knot of the balloon. When the balloon is completely covered with newspaper, let it dry. Cover it with a second layer of newspaper and let it dry. Tie the string around the balloon from top to bottom, leaving a small loop near the knot. Cover the string with another layer of newspaper. Finally cover the newspaper with a couple layers of tissue paper so that the newspaper is hidden. After the pinata is completely dry, pop the balloon and pull it out of the hole. You will still have a loop of string over the hole.
You can use this to hang your pinata. Either fill or ask your friend to fill the pinata with either pink or blue wrapped candies. There are several easy options. You can order the candy online, or simply purchase from your local party store. Most of your candy favorites come in pink or blue wrappers, so that makes it easy and fun. After the pinata is about half full of candy, make sure to place a piece of paper over the opening, so that no one can get an early peek. Paint the pinata and put a giant question mark on it.
At the gender reveal party, hang the pinata from a tree branch or swing set. You want to make sure that it is low enough to reach, but high enough to make it easy to hit. Keeping the children back, choose one child at a time and blindfold them and let them swing at the pinata. When it breaks, the colored candy will announce the gender of your child.
A Hole in One
Are the parents interested in golf? You can help them get to the green with either pink or blue. All you need is a couple of eggs, bleach, duct tape, powdered tempera paint in either pink or blue, white spray paint, and a golf club.
Start by blowing the eggs. It’s a good idea to blow five or six. They are fragile, and it’s good to have a backup. Clean the inside of the eggs with mixture of bleach and water and let them dry completely.
Once dry, place a tiny piece of duct tape over the smaller of the two hole you used to blow the egg. Fill the egg with powdered tempera paint of your choice. If you don’t have a funnel tiny enough to fit in the hole in the egg, consider using a marinade injector, available at any grocery store. Fill the egg as much as you can with the powder. When filled, place another piece of tape over the larger hole. Wipe any excess paint off the outside of the egg. Spray the egg with white paint to hide any color that might bleed through.
At the party, place the egg on a tee and let the parents take their best swing. As the egg breaks, powder sprays across the grass. This can be especially fun if the parents are expecting twins. Both parents can tee off at the same time.