Science Theme Gender Reveal Party

20th October 2013

 

Originally posted on www.the1sthundred.com, but it’s still me, y’all!

Move over balloon boxes and gender reveal cakes!  I came up with the idea for a science themed gender reveal when I wanted something off beat and creative and started to think about what sorts of things change colors. I thought, “Experiments change colors!”,  and from there, my science theme gender reveal was born.  Read the captions for what I did and how I did it.  Please share and pin and, enjoy my unique and affordable scientific reveal!

Thank you to JoelHamPhotography, as always, for making my stuff here on my blog look good since I take all of my own photos with a phone, haha.  Be sure to check them out! These party pictures were awesome. Thanks, you guys!

1-20131219ParrottRevealParty-552

COME SEE OUR SECRET CONCOCTION!

 I had these children’s science invitations customized into a gender reveal party with a: Come See Our Secret Concoction headline.  The beakers of blue and coral set the color scheme and I adore how it looks like doodles in a school notebook.  You MUST check out the Etsy seller, Dee Dub Desgins who designed my party package.  She has excellent products and she knew I was crunched for time and got it to me all within 24 hours!

Atom cupcake toppers on top of Gigi’s mini cupcakes:  chocolate chip, Reese’s cup, wedding cake, & blackberry cobbler

To feed 25 on a budget, we used good ole’ hot and ready pizzas from Little Ceasars for 5 bucks a pop.

Coordinating notebook-esk water bottle labels I had printed with : Baby Potion Drink With Caution.  They have coral color vials on them as well, not seen in this picture.

Party Favors:  Color change bath fizzers for the kids.  This favor compliments with the reveal experiment later.  I bought a pack of black tags at Hobby Lobby and used foam scrapbook letters to spell experiment phrases (aka the best ways to avoid ugly handwriting).  Elmo fizzes:  1 dollar a bag!  Ribbon:  1 dollar at dollar store  Tags and Letters: with coupons, 4 dollars for both.

I saw a board like this on Pinterest for a children’s party where they made words look like they were made up of elements from the periodic table.  The numbers across “Reveal Laboratory”  make up my due date.  I borrowed the beakers from a friend who is science teacher:  Free 99 Dry Ice: 8.50 for 5 pounds

Everything was science themed including the wording to my pre-reveal voting game:

“Cast Your Hypothesis”

 

 

Dee Dubs Design made me a sheet of blank beakers and everyone wrote their name on one and put it in the beaker that had the sex they thought we were having.  Here instead of boy/girl, to go with the theme, we used chromosome gender:  XX girl, XY boy.

 

 

The prize won by the name we drew from the winning beaker:

Make Your Own Potion: a 10 dollar gift card to a create your own frozen yogurt shop.  I made this tag with scrapbook paper, scrapbook sticker letters I already had, a plain white extra Hobby Lobby gift tag I had, and by cutting up an extra invite and gluing the beakers on the front.

 

Name Tags:  We each wore a DNA contributor (#1 and #2) name tag on our lab coats which I thought was a fun themed idea.  We borrowed lab coats from a friend who is a professor at our local college:  Free 99.  Name Tags:  1 dollar for 25 at the dollar store   Our glasses were also from the dollar store for a dollar each with the lens popped out.

Tag:  Big Sister Prototype

Tag:  Big Sister Latest Model

THE BABY BOMB!!!!  This is the “experiment” piece itself.  Most experiments that change color involve toxic chemicals or too much work.  I took three layers of black panty hose from Walmart that come in those little plastic snap containers and wrapped a colored bath bomb fizzer inside.  The panty hose concealed the color and I added a tie and a question mark and fashioned it into a bomb. So fun!  I untied the top, dropped it in a huge vase with bubbling dry ice and stirred and……

IT’S A GIRL!  

 

BEAKER HANGMAN! 

Name That (baby)  Concoction.  Come on, I had to do a name reveal, too! Everyone gathered round for a good old science version of hangman.  I guess if they filled up the beaker before guessing the name, I could never tell them my child’s name and they would just have to refer to her in pictures and symbols like Prince.  These black foam boards came from Walmart for 2 dollars each and the white opaque pen, from Michael’s for 1.79.

AND THE NAME IS……

 

About the Name:

Mendel (men-dull):  Mendel, like my other girl’s names, is Hebrew.  It means “one who comforts”  and “wise”.  Probably one of my greatest strengths is comforting and giving advice to those I love.  I even did it as a career before staying at home with my girls.  Also, my spiritual gift is wisdom/discernment.  In a special way, this is like naming her after me in a different way  than just giving her my name.  It’s unique with a rich personal meaning, all while being old and uncommon. Naming my daughter this is dear to me. Months ago I wrote it on our shower walls with bath crayons to see it everyday and to give Lance subtle messages about names I liked.  It’s true.

Covington:  This name comes from a place in our hometown that is significant to Lance and I’s love story.  For those of you who don’t know, I told my mom I would marry Lance in 6th grade, finally dated him in 9th grade, fell in love, and in true 15 year old fashion, broke up with him 9 months later.  For almost 4 years while I with another guy, Lance loved me, pursued me, and yes, tried to kiss me any chance he could even though I had a boyfriend.  It was on this street, Covington, that after almost four years of being apart, he kissed me again and I knew that I would marry him.  2 years later, we did.  I think it’s neat to pass down a piece of our love story to our children.  One day my grand-kids will ask, “Where does the name Covington come from?”, and they will hear the love story of their grandparents. History with a name is wonderful.

So without further adieu, and definitely last but not least, the final name tag:

Thank you so much for stopping by and looking at my party.  Creativity excites me and so does the occupation of my uterus so it was the perfect storm for me to celebrate our last child.  If you enjoyed this post, pin and share away!  Follow me here on herpartypants.com and all of my social media outlets!

22 thoughts on “Science Theme Gender Reveal Party

  1. Kristie

    Love the gender reveal party idea, love the meaning of her name, love that she’s another girl, love her already, and I love you and your sweet family! Can’t wait to meet baby Mendel!

    Reply
  2. Facebook Firsters

    MJ-Loved your blog, you’re so creative!!! Congratulations & totally loving the name!!!!

    Courtney- Wow!! Makes me want to rename my kids!! (Notice I said rename my current kids not produce more) lol. Very cool reveal and love the name. Congrats!

    Emily A- LOVE LOVE LOVED your blog!!!! Congratulations on your sweet angel! LOVE the name… I think I might let you name my future child!

    Jayna French -Read the blog!! Woohoo!!

    Andrea S- You’re so creative! I love how much care you put into this stuff So cute and so excited for y’all!

    Niki – Love it all Becca! Congrats and what a beautiful name!

    Reply
    1. thefirsthundred Post author

      whattt?????? it should be in the top right corner when you hover. it worked for me so maybe try again? have you used it before?

      Reply
  3. Bridget C

    Too awesome. I don’t think I could have come up with anything more awesome. Makes me wonder what was going through my aunt’s mind when she named me. All my kids, other than Micah, were named by their elder sibling. My name means strength.

    Reply
  4. Paige Salmons

    cutest family award goes to…… YOU ALL! Love this so much. Y’all are so cool. AND we love the name. Cannot wait to meet Mendel Covington! Woo hoo–girl power!!

    Reply
  5. Memama

    So proud of my very creative, smart, talented daughter in law! Only Rebecca! I am so excited about my 3rd granddaughter and I love her name. I think names with meaning are wonderful.
    And let’s not forget my precious son. Without him there would be no Mendel Covington and without Memama there would be no Lance……….and on it goes!

    Reply
  6. Mendell

    I saw this gender reveal idea on Pinterest and clicked on it because it was so unique. My mother named me Mendell (pronounced like dell computer) I hope your daughter loves her name!!! It’s really cool that you named her after you by what the meaning if the name is. What are your other girls’ names? I enjoyed reading about this. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    1. thefirsthundred Post author

      That’s so funny! Even though her name will be pronounced men-dull, I actually have wondered if people will call her men-dell like you! =0) I bet we will hear that. Where did your name come from? I love unique and I love the stories behind them.
      Thanks so much for reading and enjoying….that’s definitely pretty crucial to enjoy it and I’m so glad people read the captions ! =0)
      My first daughter’s name is Eden Elizabeth. My husband is a pastor so we wanted bible type names that were different and not straight forward names with meaning and Eden, while yes, is a place in the bible means paradise or beautiful garden but can also mean “the fall”. While we picked it for it’s biblical meaning and it’s uniqueness at the time we picked it, but because of it’s meanings, it’s neat paired with Elizabeth for two reasons: 1- My mother had a sister born named Elizabeth who lived only three days. The name was handed to me via my middle name and while my grandmother never talked about the loss, I wanted to give it to my daughter to pass on the life of the name that the baby Elizabeth could not. 2- From a bible standpoint, if you take the name Eden as meaning “the fall” where Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and had the fall of man, Elizabeth means “God’s promise” and/or “the hope of heaven. So, Eden Elizabeth as it in it’s meaning together is sort of like the gospel itself: There was a fall but there is the hope of heaven in God’s promise. So it has family meaning and the religious meaning for us which is perfect for a minister’s child. Plus, I just think it’s pretty.

      My second child is Salem Adair. Salem is a Hebrew name like Eden and Mendel and it’s also a place in the bible. Most people don’t know but before Jerusalem was named Jerusalem, it was called Salem. You’ll notice how Salem is the last five letters of the word Jerusalem. Salem was ruled by King Malchezidek (spelled wrong) and it was under his leadership that Jesus became the high priest. Obviously, Salem is unique as a name but under the name Jerusalem is one of the holy cities and significant Biblically. On a personal note, Salem itself means “perfect” “sound” “peace” and “complete”. We had infertility in conceiving Eden and were able to conceive Salem without any intervention and quickly. I had a peace and a sense of completeness and contentment in being pregnant with her…a sense of gratitude for the simplicity and surprising gift so it fit her =0) Adair is my great great great grandmother’s maiden name. She immigrated here from Ireland so it’s how my family came to be planted in American and generations later, how I became a Kentucky born and raised lassie =0) So it’s a surname, my favorite, and from my family’s Irish heritage. As you can see, I like to blend unique bible with family names.

      Then, of course, mendel covington and you know why. So that was a novel! Probably my longest ever in five years of blogging. I’d love to hear from you again! Thanks for stopping by and thanks for commenting!

      Reply
    2. Megan Wall

      Your link to the secret concoction for the blue or pink science mixture does not take us to the site. Could you send me the link directly? Love the ideas!

      Reply
      1. thefirsthundred Post author

        hey, thanks! hmmm i’m a little confused on which link you mean so i clicked on each pink “link” word within the blog and they all took me to the right site so now i’m more confused cause i’m not sure which to give BUT if you mean the girl who i had make my invites, who is now offering my idea as a package (lucky you!), it’s this: https://www.etsy.com/shop/deedubdesigns If you mean how I did the “experiment”, that is all in the descriptions under the pic captions using panty hose and bath bombers. Let me know if that doesn’t help and I’ll make sure to get you to the info you want. Thanks for looking! I put tons of stuff on my blog but do 2-3 parties a year which I am now starting to pin so you can follow me on pinterest with the pinterest social media button on my page or follow me here so you always get the goods! i have 2 people that may use me to create a unique gender reveal for them but i’m sure your baby will be out by then =0) thanks again!

        Reply
  7. Melissa

    Such a great idea! I love it! Might have to borrow this idea…may finally convince my nerdy husband to do a “baby celebration” – don’t want to call it a shower if we’re hosting it ourselves. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂

    Reply
    1. thefirsthundred Post author

      thanks and you’re welcome! i’m not sure if the blog on my reveal says this or not but the girl who did my party pack custom for me, now sells it on etsy! dee dub designs. she’s linked in the blog =0) i’m getting ready to post another party i’m throwing saturday on here in the next week or two. hope to see you back! enjoy and congrats on the baby =0)

      Reply
  8. Shilpa Gandhi

    How much dry ice did you use? Are there any issues or complications I should look out for? Should I only use a glass jar for this or would clear plastic work? How long does the beaker “foam”?

    Planning on doing a test run this weekend and could use some advice!

    Reply
    1. herpartypants@gmail.com Post author

      Hey! Thanks for looking 🙂 I used about a pound or maybe pound and a half. Dry ice WILL burn your skin if it touches you so use gloves and tongs and don’t let any little ones around. I broke mine up into chunks with a hammer and even the flecks that hit me would sting a little so word to the wise on that. It will smoke longer the bigger the piece of dry ice. That will depend on the size of beaker but not crazy long. 10 minutes each approx. I added ice as needed throughout, saving enough for the reveal. I also kept it smoking as people arrived. I would assume glass would be needed because dry ice is such an extreme temperature. One spot at Target has glass beakers this year! At least at our Target. Sooo cute! Lastly, I had my beakers on a wooden table and rings were left in the wood where the beakers sat. I would either not set them on wood or cut a protective surface to fit the bottom of each beaker like a foam sheet found in craft aisles, typically with felts. Or you lay washcloths etc under each with a tablecloth over that. Whatever works for you and your look! I loved the effect and will def do it again! Hope you have a great party!

      Reply
  9. Trish

    For some reason none of my devices want to load pictures or instructions 😣. I’m trying to do the fizzy bomb gender reveal idea.. the fizzy bomb is white and when added the clear liquid the color reveals itself. Heeeeeelp! trishakeahey06@hotmail.com is one way to contact me unless a message to my Pinterest is easier. Thank you!

    Reply
    1. herpartypants@gmail.com Post author

      Hey! I sent you an email! So sorry of you didn’t get it! I used a large colored bath bomb and double wrapped it in black panty hose to make it look like a bomb and conceal the color of the bomb. I filled a glass vase with hot water and dry ice for effect. Drop in the bomb and stir and the color will start to come through and change the water. I hope that helps! Let me know if you need more help! 😃 Thanks for looking!

      Reply

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