How to Style a Patriotic Bar Cart with Your Small Drinks Trolley

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It’s that time! Red, white, and blue abound and the patriotism in the air – along with the smell of hamburgers and hot dogs! Whether you like to decorate for July 4th early in June or you prefer to go all in the first week of July, this festive July 4th bar cart is for you! In this post, we will show you how to style a festive patriotic bar cart with your small drinks trolley with just a few touches that you may even already have around the house.

a styled patriotic bar car under at July 4th letter board sign

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I am determined to not buy any seasonal decor this year. In the past couple years, I went a little haywire with overbuying. So now I’m on a seasonal decor sabbatical. For my patriotic bar cart, I am using a few things that were already purchased in past years.

The big thing is to not go overboard with the decorations – particularly if you have a small cart like mine. I am using my small round bar cart that I bought last year at Tuesday Morning. By the way, if you are on the lookout for a small gold bar cart, I am in love with this small vintage round gold bar cart at Amazon! If it weren’t for the fact of me already having mine, this one would be my go to! Target also carries some cute little gold bar trolleys.

Steps for Styling a Patriotic Bar Cart with Your Small Drinks Trolley

Fill Your Liquor Bottles in First

Those bottles of rum and vodka are going to take first priority in the real estate space because…a bar cart with no liquor is a sad excuse for a bar cart, correct? So fill in the liquor bottles first. If you find you are getting too cramped on space, you might remove duplicate bottles or just stick with your top favorites. Heavy bottles definitely should be at the bottom – unless it is a bottle you reach for regularly. If so, you might try to find a snug spot for it at the back of the top tray.

Add Glasses

Next, add your glasses to the bottom tray. At our house with a wild little running dog, I find it find it best to put fragile glasses on the bottom tier along with the heavy bottles. Don’t feel you need to shove all your glasses onto the small round bar trolley. Only put out maybe four or so – maybe two different styles if you think each style of glass will get proper use. You can always keep your extra glasses in a cabinet. I like to keep out my stemless iridescent wine glasses that can also be used for wine or cocktails and my Moscow mule mugs.

Add Plates, Napkins, and Straws

Add small patriotic or color themed melamine plates (or patriotic paper plates) and patriotic napkins for quick appetizers or for placing cocktail fruits on while making a drink. Places like Target, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Home Goods carry cute seasonal melamine plates, napkins, and straws. The prices vary, but you can often find a good sale at Hobby Lobby on the seasonal items.

Notice my napkins are dinner-sized and not cocktail. Again, that is only because I am using what I already had at home. Cocktail sized would work better with a small drinks trolley!

July 4th bar cart top shelf with 4th of July napkins

Add a Few July 4th Embellishments for a Patriotic Bar Cart

Now, it’s time for the fun! Adding a few festive touches will make your patriotic bar cart party ready! Just be sure to not overdo it as you don’t want the bar cart to look so overstuffed that people are scared to touch it for fear things fall over. I usually add one to three non-essential yet festive items to mine – one or two on the top tier and one larger decorative piece at the bottom.

In this case, I propped a large metal star against some of the larger bottles on the bottom shelf. For now, I don’t see us using the bottles behind the star for a while. And when we do, I will move the star and prob it against the wall next to the cart.

bottom shelf of a patriotic bar cart with July 4th decorations

Use an Empty Liquor Bottle to Hold Festive July 4th Decorative Picks

I used one of our now empty Rock Town Vodka bottles (from our local Little Rock distillery) to hold some festive July 4th decorative picks. I found my picks at Hobby Lobby last year. Personally, I think this little touch really makes the hold patriotic bar cart!

a top down view of a small round patriotic bar cart with red, white, and blue decor

July 4th bar cart decorations with red, white, and blue picks coming up from a Rock Town Vodka bottle

Add a Fun Sign with a July 4th Pun or Saying to Your Patriotic Bar Cart

You can find a whole collection of fun July 4th quotes here on our site linked at the end of this post under “Summer Letter Board Quotes.” We love a good seasonal pun! If you don’t have a large sign to hang over the bar cart, you may can squeeze a smaller letter board or sign on the bar cart or hang a festive style artwork above the cart.

My letter board sign came from Pretties and Grace in Benton, Arkansas. I absolutely love the sign and how I can change out the large letters whenever I want. The style of the sign is a bit casual for the small round bar cart in my opinion. But as I said…I am determined to not spend money on decorating this summer!

a red, white, and boom sign hanging on wall

Here is another fun version I played around with. Ultimately, I left up the “red, white, and boom” version. But it’s definitely a perfect patriotic bar quote!