Red White and Blue Cocktail Cart Ideas + DIY Patriotic Banner

Create the perfect summer get together with our red white and blue cocktail cart ideas. Whether it’s Memorial day or the 4th of July, use our ideas and free patriotic banner for any fun summer gathering.   

We love finding small and inexpensive ways to stay connected with our friends and family.

That’s what life’s all about, our relationships. Have a friend stop over or invite other couples to celebrate whether it is something small or a bigger life event.

So give your friends a call and enjoy a cocktail or two! 

Red White and Blue Cocktail Cart Ideas

Having a cocktail cart or bar cart makes entertaining easy. We love the idea of having themes for your cocktail cart. 

You can be very creative and decorate your cart with fun items, foods and cocktails. 

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Our red white and blue cocktail cart is designed with many items that you may have lying  around your house or apartment. 

Try hanging paper lanterns behind your cocktail cart for a festive backdrop.

We added red white and blue balloons and our DIY patriotic banner to the cart. You can tie the balloons and banner together with string, ribbon or twine. Use whatever you happen to have handy.

Using flag napkins and red white and blue paper dessert plates add to the festive theme. Check in your garden or a local florist for any red white and blue flowers, if you would like to add to your cocktail cart.  We found some white peonies, blue trilliums and red roses to add to our theme.

A variety of bar glasses and cake plates are cocktail cart staples that will be used again and again.

Once you get some of these staples you will be ready to have friends over without much effort. Having a specific entertaining area already set up, makes entertaining family and friends easy. 

Give some needed attention to the friends that we may not have seen enough of recently.

Some other red white and blue cocktail options

Our focus with the cocktail cart  was on red white and blue desserts. Such as our prosecco gummies, cocktail popsicles, star shaped watermelon and blueberries, red velvet minis and cake truffles. 

Another option for the cocktail cart would be to add some Smirnoff red white and berry vodka to the mix. 

You can also add some grenadine and blue curacao to make a layered drink. The grenadine will be the first color in the red white and blue layered cocktail at the bottom of the glass followed by vodka lemonade and finally the blue curacao.

The trick with layering (I was a bartender in a past life) is to gently pour over the back of a spoon.

The other is that each layer has a specific “weight” and “sugar content” so knowing each will help determine how each flavor will be layered.

Red White and Blue Cocktail Popsicles

These are essentially Margarita popsicles with blueberries, strawberries and coconut and are absolutely delicious! This recipe will be slightly slushy because of the amount of tequila.

You can adjust the amount of tequila in our red white and blue cocktail popsicle recipe if desired. I like to taste the tequila in my popsicles!

Makes 6 popsicles

½ cup blueberries

½ cup strawberries

½ cup flaked coconut

3 oz. tequila

4 ½ tbsp.  water

3 oz lime juice

3 oz sugar 

Instructions

Use three bowls to separate the flavors.

In the first bowl, cut and muddle ½ cup strawberries, add 1 ½ tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. Tequila, 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. lime.

In the second bowl add ½ cup blueberries and muddle. Add 1 ½ tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. Tequila, 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. lime.

In the third bowl add ½ cup coconut, 1 ½ tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. Tequila, 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tbsp. lime juice.

We used these popsicle molds so that we could add the three flavors at the same time.

Add a tablespoon of the strawberries followed by the coconut and finally the blueberries. Use more fruit and liquid to fill up the mold as needed.

If using the upright popsicle mold, you will need to add each fruit separately and freeze for 25 minutes before adding the next flavor. Starting with the strawberries then the coconut and finally the blueberries.

Try your own with these rules of thumb

½ cup alcohol to 2 cups fruit juice or mixer – 4 popsicles

1 cup alcohol to 4 cups mixer – 8 popsicles

2 ½ cup fruit, ½ cup simple syrup, ½ cup prosecco, juice of one lemon or lime- 8 popsicles

Red White and Blue Prosecco Gummies

Set the red white and blue gummies in a bowl and cover the gummies with prosecco. Cover, soak and refrigerate overnight. Use the same process to create other alcohol flavored gummies. 

Red Velvet Cake Minis w/ Sprinkles

This red velvet cake minis recipe is a variation of our intense chocolate cake recipe. It includes coffee which makes the cocoa taste richer.

Makes 36 Minis

Preheat oven 350 and use the middle rack

1 cup flour

1 tbsp. cocoa (preferably Hershey’s special dark)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

½ cup veg. Oil

1 egg

½ cup buttermilk2 oz. red food coloring

¼ cup hot strong coffee or espresso

1 tsp. white vinegar

Instructions

Add the sugar, oil, egg, buttermilk, food coloring and vinegar together in a bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Add the hot coffee and mix.

Fill the mini liners in the baking pan, 1/2 full with the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cool before removing from the pan. Finish with the cream cheese frosting and add sprinkles.

Red Velvet Cake Truffles

We also used some of the batter to make cake truffles. Use a square 8×8 pan and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out of the center, clean. Approx. 21-23 mins.

Remove the cooled cake and crumble into a bowl. Add a small amount of frosting and mix, use only enough frosting until the cake holds together in a ball.

Roll balls and put on a baking sheet and put into the freezer to chill for an hour. (chilling makes it easier to coat)

White chocolate is better tasting than the candy melts, which is what we used. Melt the chocolate according to the bag directions in a glass measuring cup or other deep bowl. 

Use a spoon to coat and set on a cooling rack. I was going for an “ice cream scoop” look, so I waited until the chocolate started to set and added more to give the look of ice cream balls. Add the sprinkles before the chocolate coating sets.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4oz cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

½ tsp. pure vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Cream together the cream cheese and butter, add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix on high until fluffy. Add to a pastry bag with a star tip and frost. Add the sprinkles and when your guests arrive you can light the sparklers.

DIY Patriotic Banner

free download

We created a hand painted flag painting that we used to create our patriotic banner.

(This design is from an original painting and is copyrighted by Kimberly Petruska. This artwork may only be used for personal use. It may NOT be used for any other purpose.)

This red white and blue banner is perfect to decorate your cocktail cart, fireplace or to hang on the wall.

Instructions

1. Download our free Patriotic banner  
2. Trim any white edges
3. Print 2 or more. You will get four banners per 8.5 x 11 sheet (we printed two in the photos)
4. Fold paper according to the photo (fold paper in half first, then fold both sides over to make an accordion)
5. Draw a line from the tip of the folded edge  to the top outer edge (open side) with a ruler as the photo shows
6. Cut along the line (you will get 3 pennants per sheet)
7. Use hot glue or tape to attach twine, string or ribbon to the pennants. Alternate the designs if using more than one sheet, per photo)
8. Hang 

We used this paper for banner since it is thicker and matte. By using the thicker paper you can reuse it for any holiday where you would like to decorate with a flag patriotic banner.

We use the printer setting for high quality or matte photos, depending upon your printer settings. 

Red White and Blue Cocktail Cart Ideas

+ DIY Patriotic Banner

The best part of having a cocktail cart is that it is so versatile. Use your cocktail cart for a candy bar, a coffee bar or ice cream bar. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a small theme party. A little creativity goes a long way!

Many times you want to have friends over and you don’t need to have a full size bar, you can use your bar cart to create a fun and festive party in a compact area.