Birthday Celebration With a Bright & Festive Theme!

Last Sunday morning, Jerry and I were up bright and early preparing for a lunch for eleven people. Six people in my immediate family have birthdays within 39 days of each other, so Jerry and I decided to roll the celebration into one big event.

To make the day fun and festive, I decided to go with a bright color scheme. A great table scape gives the impression the food is going to be incredible. Just in case you're wondering, yes the food turned out great too. The menu consisted of baked chicken with gravy, baked potatoes, green beans with fresh garlic, fresh spinach, fried apples, Sister Shubert yeast rolls and blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert.


The day was warm and sunny and the temperature was a comfortable 64 degrees. Once I decided on the fun and festive theme, the first color that popped into my head was Citrus Green. Citrus Green invokes a happy energetic feeling in almost everyone. The weather and the napkins were my inspiration and the simplicity of my white plates made the perfect backdrop. I have lots of white linens and white dishes, which made the rest of the decorating come together easily. Looking back, I realize that I have had so many different colored dishes, but I think the Apilco white dishes from Williams-Sonoma are my favorite. The Apilco dinnerware is so versitle, it's easy to dress a table up or down. Fresh flowers always add the crowning touch to any table. A few yellow tulips added a touch of color and hinted that spring is just around the corner. I pulled out some of my milk glass pieces and found the two vases and a fruited bowl. The fruited bowl filled with lemons was exactly what I needed to complete the centerpiece.

I have a huge collection of vases, which includes those two milk glass vases that I received flowers in as a gift when my sons, Owen and Lee, were born. Wow, those vases are old! Two of the birthdays were celebrating were for my sons; Owen will be 35, and Lee just turned 31. I love using dishes that have been in the family for years. We celebrated a wide age range of birthdays, from 5 - 81 years old. My dad won the prize for the oldest and Morgan, my granddaughter, was the youngest. Family is such a blessing, they are always there when you need them the most.

What a great day. I love entertaining, I should do it more!