For my 32nd birthday, I hosted a Barbie theme party for adults. I wanted to share a complete rundown of my DIY Barbie Party Ideas, because I genuinely loved hosting a party with this theme! From Barbie Birthday Party accessories and decor, to a Barbie-inspired food menu, it was such a fun way to celebrate! Keep reading for a Barbie-themed cocktail recipe as well.
For my birthday, I wore a Tulle Ellie Nap Dress from Hill House Home which was so comfortable to wear during the party, but felt like something Barbie would wear in her dream house! Madeline was also celebrating her gotcha day, and wore an adorable pink crocheted sweater made by my sister.
I’ve linked to some of the Barbie birthday party accessories below:
Barbie Birthday Party Invitations
I created some fun Barbie Birthday Party Invitations with the help of Canva. I simply selected a template for a poster, and added an adorable photo of Barbie, with her dog, a yorkshire terrier named Honey! Because my yorkie mix, Madeline, was adopted a few days before my birthday, I decided to do a joint birthday party and gotcha day celebration.
The Barbie Birthday Party invitations I created were perfect for sharing on social media or to invite friends via iMessage. I love that these virtual invitations have a personal touch and will be memorable in the recipient’s inbox!
Barbie Birthday Party Food Ideas
Of course, food is a HUGE part of hosting guests and I was so excited to come up with Barbie Birthday Party Food Ideas with lots of pink and barbie inspired move. We created a cheeseboard with pink-inspired items including prosciutto and cheese that had red wine infused into it to look more “pink”. Specifically, we included the Bellavitano Bartori Merlo Cheese from Costco along with some brie. We also provided burgundy (I mean it’s nearly pink!) crackers from Raincoast Crisps, in addition to gluten free beet crackers that were also pink-adjacent. Popcorn, veggies, and dip also rounded out food options.
For dessert, Daniel made a lovely gluten free and buttercream cake, decorated with raspberries and strawberries for a simple, timeless look! We also served gluten free macarons on a vintage pink cake stand.
We definitely stayed on theme when it came to our Barbie birthday party food ideas! For cocktails, we served rose wine, Partake Blonde alcohol free beer (get it, blonde!), and Daniel whipped up some Barbie-inspired cocktails, for which the recipe is below:
- 1 ounce of lavender simple syup (purchase ready made, or create by boiling edible lavender with water and sugar)
- ½ a lemon, juiced
- 1.5 ounces of vodka or gin
- sparkling water to taste
Juice half a lemon, and then put all ingredients into a shaker and stir it with ice, strain, and serve in a coupe with a lemon twist.
This Barbie themed cocktail was super bubbly, refreshing and a lovely shade of light pink. I also loved these flower coupe glasses from Anthropologie which are perfect for serving cocktails and sparkling wine.
Barbie Theme Party for Adults
While it may feel silly to host a Barbie theme party for adults, I feel like it’s such an easy jumping off point to create a cohesive tablescape and dress code! All of my guests wore different shades of pink, and my sister even wore Birkenstocks with her pink dress to be “Barbie in the real world”. I’ve also seen other barbie theme parties where everyone dresses up as their favourite type of Barbie, either from the recent Greta Gerwig Barbie movie, or from their childhood! Even Daniel dressed up for the part in a Ken-inspired matching linen tropical beach set.
For entertainment, we played songs from the Barbie movie and my favourite new albums from Jungle and Olivia Rodrigo to keep the party vibes up. I also opted to play on mute older Barbie animated movies from YouTube in the background! You can also host a Barbie movie viewing party, or play Life in the Dreamhouse series on Netflix. The background music and video definitely set the tone!
If I had a little more space in my condo, I would have also created a photo opportunity with a Barbie doll box, which can easily be rented locally. I saw many listings on Facebook Marketplace for about $100-300 for the evening.
I also wanted to keep the playfulness alive, and even though this was a Barbie theme party for adults, I created an easy loot bag consisting of a DIY candy bar, where guests could fill up their bag with candy, and Yorkshire Terrier claw clips for all of my guests! These gift bags are also so adorable! Since this was Madeline’s party too, I wanted to give my guests something playful but also useable… a grown up loot bag if you will!
DIY Barbie Party Ideas – Decorations
While I didn’t opt for renting a Barbie box, I definitely went all out with the decoration ideas for a Barbie Birthday Party! I created a DIY balloon arch featuring hot Barbie pink balloons and metallic balloons with confetti – I always use this kit from Target as a base. I also took out my Barbie Movie dolls and placed them around the apartment. Judge Barbie also made a prime appearance! I also set out to find a Barbie doll that felt like “me” in this current moment in time, and found a cute Barbie that came with a pink suitcase, digital camera and dog just like mine!
Florals were a HUGE part of my decor for the party, and I opted to create a DIY Barbie floral arrangement in a thrifted Barbie convertible car! This floral arrangement was so easy to create with the help of a flower frog, and was definitely a hit with guests. I shared a how to in the TikTok below:
I really enjoyed hosting this Barbie themed Birthday party, and was so happy all my friends joined in the fun and dressed the part in pink! I hope you enjoyed these DIY Barbie Party ideas to host an incredible Barbieland event.