Problems With Normalcy: Gender Reveal Party: Baby Oda

My very dear childhood friend Tamra, and her husband Matt are expecting a baby and today was the big reveal!! The last two weeks have been torture! I've had the responsibility and the honor of knowing the gender of Baby Oda and I couldn't wait to finally share my knowledge with the world!! Tamra's mom, Kim, and I were brainstorming reveal ideas and a scene from Princess Diaries popped into my head, (Mia and her mother throwing darts at paint filled balloons on a canvas)

I was beyond pleased with how everything turned out, but more importantly than that, the Oda's will have a special momento to put up in Jaxon Christopher Oda's nursery from this special day!

If you would like to know how I put this reveal together....read on!! It was super easy!

Supplies you will need:

-A sheet of wood

(mine was about 3/4 of an inch thick, 16" wide and 24" long)

-1 package of black party balloons (I used 8 balloons)

-1 bottle of white craft paint

-4 bottles of colored craft paint (water based)

-1 sponge paint brush

-1 bottle of water

-4 plastic cups

-throwing darts

-1 disposable tarp/plastic painting sheet

Since the wood I used was from scraps in my garage, I cut it down to the size I wanted, not too big, no too small, and not too heavy that it couldn't be mounted on the wall.

I figured I could use the second board as a sign so I painted both of them white. I practiced with the size of the balloons and how much paint I should put in them. found that the perfect ratio was 3 tablespoons of paint mixed with two teaspoons of water, you want the paint to be watery enough to go through the funnel but still thick enough to splatter and stick to the board.

After I poured the paint in, I blew the balloon up to about 7 or 8 inches tall, you need enough pressure or the balloon won't pop and splatter the paint.

I didn't fill the balloons with paint until the morning of the reveal to keep it from deflating and losing pressure. I did paint a sign on the other piece of wood though!

To pop the balloons, stand about 10 feet away from the board. Fortunately, Matt and Tamra are a pretty good aim and they popped a balloon on the first throw! You can use throwing darts, I brought them a blow gun too because I stink at throwing darts.