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For many, some of the fondest memories of childhood involve their very own Barbie doll. Ken and Barbie and all their friends have helped generations of children fill hours of creative play. National Barbie Day celebrates all the strides this doll has made in the over sixty years of bringing joy to the world. Did you have a Barbie doll growing up?

History of National Barbie Day

The history of National Barbie Day is the history of Barbie herself as the day marks her official birthday. Barbie debuted on March 9, 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in New York. She was a labor of love from Ruth Handler who was the wife of the co-founder of the toy giant Mattel, Inc. After watching children playing with baby dolls and paper dolls, she thought that the toy market needed something more.

After a trip to Germany where she saw a doll that was in line with what she wanted, she convinced her husband and the company to make the first-ever mass-produced doll with adult features. While there have been small changes through the years, Barbie came off the production line much as we know her today. There were some who objected to her figure, but as you can see with her success, those thoughts were in the minority.

Do you know the background story for Barbie? Her parents, George and Margaret Roberts, named her Barbara Millicent Roberts. Her nickname is the famous Barbie. What about Ken you ask? His mother, Edna Carson, named him after her father, Kenneth. After a time, Barbie gets a host of siblings, cousins and friends! To learn more, you can head over to your handy search engine and find all the details. It is very interesting to see which dolls are no longer produced and who is newest to the group!

How to celebrate National Barbie Day

To celebrate Barbie day, let your inner child run free! Do you have a collection of dolls gathering dust in your attic? Head on up there and bring them into the light of day. You may find that more than just memories, your collection may be worth preserving or handing down to your own children. You can show them all the joys of paying dress up with all the designer fashions that have been offered through the last sixty-plus years.

A National Barbie Day Party Dinner

Some people like to take their celebrations into the culinary arena. A quick search on the internet will reward you with ideas for Barbie cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more! Are you skilled in the kitchen? Why not make the day one spent making something sweet and playing with your Barbie collection? It can be a wonderfully bonding time with your children!

You can throw a Barbie picnic at home that will keep the kids entertained. You will find plenty of recipes to incorporate Barbie to cake designs, but there’s more to a Barbie-inspired party meal than a Barbie cake. You can dress the table with a fun pink tablecloth, for instance, which is easy to make. Remember the napkins too!

You can also add a little pink food coloring to your ice cubes to create perfectly Barbie drinks. Alternatively, you can also replace the food coloring with a raspberry into an ice cube for a pop of color and freshness. Children will also love cut sandwiches, using heart shape cutters, for example.

A Perfect National Barbie Day Display

Another way to celebrate is to make the day extra special by heading to the Barbie aisle with your favorite collection and add friends and fashion to the family! You can never have too many fashion options or friends, right? Most important on National Barbie Day is to remind young and old alike that there should always be a little time to play and enjoy the company of friends.

You can use the day as an excuse to get your old dolls out of the attic and share the fun with your children. Why not organize an official meeting for the old and new Barbie dolls? The dolls are a work of art that showcases diversity, fashion, and style, so it seems unfair to keep them in the toy box. If you’re a confident DIY-crafter, you could build a small house for your Barbie dolls.

It’s the perfect occasion to use the remaining cutouts from your curtains or fabric samples for your sofa cover; you can decorate your Barbie house to look just like your home. After all, there’s nothing wrong with making Barbie’s world feel real for the day. Besides, Barbie exists to be seen, so you can be sure that your homemade house will be the perfect display.

Everybody Dresses Up On National Barbie Day

The best part of playing with Barbie is to dress her up and create new outfits. There’s a child in each of us who just wants to dress up. So why not make it happen on National Barbie Day and create your life-size Barbie costume? If you enjoy craft projects, sewing your Barbie-inspired dress or Ken costume is a child’s play. Following the brand’s color, you can focus on simple pinks and blues hues to create your outfit.

If you’ve got a hair straightener at hand, you can even create the iconic Barbie hairstyle. You can also find temporary hair dyes to turn your hair pink if you want to add a playful reminder to Barbie’s favorite color. You can turn the dial up and go full Barbie mode, but you can also use simple accessories that embrace the personality of the doll.

Everybody For Barbie Day

Our favorite dolls, Barbie dolls, are becoming more inclusive. The latest collection embraces disabilities, with a doll in a wheelchair and even a doll wearing a prosthetic leg. For anybody who remembers the Barbie of their childhood, things have moved a lot since then! Barbie embraces new body shapes, skin colors, hair textures, and much more!

The latest Barbie collections are a celebration of inclusion, feminism, positivity, and sisterhood in all shapes and colors. And that’s great! With this in mind, you are ready to throw a Barbie-inspired party for everyone to enjoy at home.

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