Gender Reveal Housewarming Party

With our families so far away and not having a chance to have all of our friends over to see our new house, we decided that a party was in order. While we love to plan parties, I don't do so well with hosting. I am a perfectionist and stress case which makes for an interesting combo when it comes to parties. However, Josh encouraged me to go through with a housewarming gender reveal party and I am so glad that he did. It was so fun to have our families and a few of our friends there to see the house as well as learn what the baby's gender was as well as the name. So, here are a few pictures so you can all feel like you were there!

The Decor

I wanted the decor to be very simple. I did not want the party to feel overdecorated or have a dramatic theme. We went with red and aqua as our color theme. I love those two colors together, I think it gives such a happy vibe and really what else matters besides making me happy? I made the bunting banner above out of scrapbook paper. It was such a simple project, anyone could do it! I hot glued each triangle to a long white ribbon and attached it with a few tacks to the mantle. I am totally someone who believes that candy makes the best decor. Honestly if you want a cheap way to decorate and want something that everyone can truly enjoy consider using candy. It is a miracle worker! I also knew I wanted some tissue paper pom-poms, but I have to admit that I didn't end up making them. I had every intention of putting them together, but the stress had overtaken me and so the lovely Maggie stepped in and saved the day. Didn't she do an amazing job!? I am in LOVE with them!

The Food

For the food I knew I wanted something easy and something I could prepare ahead of time. Josh and I have a pretty deep love for Mexican food so that part was a very easy decision for us. With all of my food allergies, I also knew I wanted foods that anyone could eat. I ended up making baked beef and chicken taquitos and had taco salad as a vegetarian option. For toppings we had sour cream, salsa, black beans, sliced olives, cheese, and of course guacamole. I have an unhealthy obsession with guac and feel that everyone should share that. I also made up a batch of Luscious Slush Punch (only using 1 cup sugar...trust me on this one) and it was a total hit. Honestly I recommend it to anyone who is having a party. You make it up ahead of time so the day of the party you can just throw it together. Easy as pie. Although I don't think pie is easy, I am intimated by the thought of making one. I will do my best to give recipes soon for the taquitos because I love them and I think you should too.

Boy or Girl?

 

I put together these boy and girl clips for everyone to choose from. I could have made everyone wear pink or blue to correspond with their guess, but I figure I don't like people telling me what to wear so I didn't want to tell everyone else what to wear. It's just not how I roll. Besides, are these not the cutest things you've seen? I do have to admit, these were not my idea. I knew I wanted to do some sort of pin or clip, but I actually found it on another blog (which I cannot find right now, but will post the link when I do!).

Team Boy

Team Girl

I think you can see the clear majority going into the reveal...

The Reveal

I made cake pops to use for the reveal. I chose red velvet cake so that I could use either red or blue food coloring. One bite in and everyone would know if the baby was a boy or girl. If you want to make cake pops of your own I recommend checking out this site. Bakerella is who taught me how to make cake balls and even taught me how to make cake from scratch to use for cake balls. However, after making my first batch of cake pops without using a box, I will say I definitely recommend using a box mix and store bought frosting. Honestly it just works better and I NEVER advocate using pre-made anything. 

The Result (as seen here)

IT'S A GIRL!!!! 

The Reaction

(Mom please don't hate me for this picture)

The Name Game

Answer: Eden Rae

The Still Smiling Hosts

Wow...not only did this party exhaust me, but this post exhausted me as well. Thanks to any of you who stuck around for the whole thing! Honestly this party was so much fun and I am so thankful for wonderful family and friends who love and support us. We wish we could have invited everyone over, but with 830 sq. ft. we figured it might get a little crowded. 

I'll try to post my 20 week ultrasound and appointment details this week! There was one moment of nervousness, but we feel so calm knowing that God is in control even when things seem a little scary. We'll share those details soon!


**Want to see the invite? We posted it here.