Party: Coral Chevron Dot Birthday for Tess

Seems like we just celebrated Tess's first birthday, but here we are: she is two already! And quite the advanced two at that. I think she is trying to keep up with her sisters so our days involve a lot of acrobatics!

To celebrate, we had family over for a summer evening dinner, which I set up with a Chevron Dot theme. This was the feminine version of the theme I put together for a baby boy shower last year and it was so much fun to indulge a new palette of coral, pink, orange, grey, yellow and white.

Along with some new colors, I added a few new ideas, such as the yarn pom pom bouquets on the dining tables and felted wool bead bracelets as party favors.

I redid the chevron paper-covered mini composition books as party favors too because I think they are too cute and work for any guest! Found coordinating mechanical pencils at Target. I love lining trays and wrapping vessels with the chevron patterned paper. It's such an easy way to add some extra color.

Speaking of color, that is really the point of large vases filled with gumballs though my nephews and nieces enjoyed filling their cheeks with them too.

Tess wore a wool bead necklace to match the polka dot bunting I stitched on her Dirndl Skirt apron. It turned out to be a great and practical party outfit. The apron stayed tied (because it is integrated), the necklace was comfortable and fun for her to wear, and I didn't mind if she stained the basic white t-shirt! I love this super-full skirt on her short little legs!

For dinner we served a romaine salad with yellow and red cherry tomatoes, feta and a lemon-garlic dressing; chicken tenderloins marinated in coconut milk, peanut butter and jalapeno; couscous; grilled asparagus; peaches, raspberries and blueberries; Izze sodas (mostly because they are so fun to look at!), and water.

Oh, and of course: birthday cake! I wasn't sure what kind I was making until a day or two before, but I fell back to one of my favorite lemon buttermilk cake recipes but made the buttercream frosting vanilla flavored. I had been thinking about some ways to use the Chevron Dot theme on the cake but decided to let those go instead of trying to learn some new skills. So I piped dots of sorts using a pastry tube with no tip.

It was a perfect evening despite a summer storm, which drove us indoors. The storm was a nice little finale for our celebration. There is nothing better than a party with family and friends and a good reason to celebrate! I think it's important to enjoy these high points, store them up, so I tried to soak it all up.

Happy birthday to Tess!

(If you are interested in some party printables with this theme you can find them here in my Etsy shop. I've included materials for a baby shower or a birthday with multiple versions of the edit-able invitation.)