Barbie Party -18yr- Barbie's Dream House

For my 18th birthday, I decided to go back to childhood for the night and have a Barbie themed party!

INVITATIONS: I made the invitations on the computer and printed them on white cardstock and put them in pink envelopes. They were more elegant than childish; the wording was, You are cordially invited to Nicole's 18th Birthday Party at Barbie's Dream House on the twenty-fifth of April from 7 o'clock in the evening until midnight. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served." To the left of the information was a picture of one of the classic Barbies in the iconic black and white striped swim suit.

DECORATIONS: When guests first walked in there was a large sign saying "Welcome to Barbie's Dream House." I hung tons of hot pink and purple streamers down from the balcony above my family room to create a curtain to the party room. My friend and I got cardboard boxes from local stores pink spray paint and pink poster board and made a life-size Barbie box for everyone to take pictures in! White Christmas lights were strung from the balcony to the opposite wall to make the room feel more intimate and glamorous (since it was a 2 story family room).

I moved the kitchen table to the entrance of the kitchen to block it off and put damask wrapping paper behind the table hung up on PVC pipe to make a wall. I put a pink table cloth on the table and used whatever glass jars we had including some apothecary jars (the crazy-shaped glass containers) to put all-pink candy in. I used pink marshmallows pink rock candy pink MnM's pink meringues and pink cupcakes at the dessert bar. And I placed my old Barbie Dream House on a smaller table and everyone put presents inside of it.

GAMES: We did a cutesy Barbie scavenger hunt to keep with the theme. I got old Barbie shoes outfits and purses and put them in pink and purple Easter eggs (so they wouldn't get lost). Some eggs were empty and some had fake worms and stuff in them. Everyone was on a team each team was given a naked Barbie (ha) and we had to search for the eggs find everything needed to dress Barbie and the first team to fully dress their Barbie won.

Later on we had a fashion show! Everyone got a partner and some newspapers masking tape and scissors. One person would be the Barbie and the other person would make an outfit out of the newspaper on them. (The guys who were very adamant about not participating became the judges for this game) Each model started the fashion show by striking a pose inside the life-size Barbie box and then walked the "catwalk." Everyone seemed to really like it!!

COSTUMES: No one was required to dress like Barbie but quite a few of my girl friends showed up in pink and heels ha.

FOOD: I decided to go with a hors d'oeuvres menu rather than a sit-down dinner because there wasn't enough room at my dining room table ha. There were party classics like chips and salsa pigs in a blanket shrimp cocktail and spinach and artichoke dip and my mom and I also made some heavier appetizers like mini meatballs and a fancy cheese spread. We had virgin margaritas and daquiris along with sodas. And then everyone could eat from the dessert bar or take some candy home with them.

FAVORS: To be fancy haha we all drank mocktails soda and lemonade out of glow-in-the-dark cocktail glasses. Everyone got to keep theirs and they also got pictures from posing in the Barbie box and any leftovers from the dessert bar. It was definitely a different 18th birthday party idea but we had a lot of fun! :)"