Wednesday, July 2, 2014

DIY Party: 4th of July

For the past three years, Kelly and Adam have hosted a 4th of July party at their house.


What? People don't sing the National Anthem at your 4th of July parties? You must be doing something wrong.

Anyway, Kel and Adam have the perfect setup because you can see the fireworks happening down on the river from their deck. Their deck also happens to be large enough to fit a beer pong/flip cup table... which is always very important for 4th of July parties, I'm sure you agree.

Here's a quick rundown of our 4th of July basics, just in case you want to replicate what has become the biggest party of the year in our little circle.

Drinks
For us, 4th of July means margaritas. Not sure how that got started, but we're keeping it going. Here are some of our favorite margarita recipes:

Corona Margaritas- These are super simple and the ingredients are cheap, which makes them great for large crowds. Haters gonna hate, but you try these and see if you don't get rave reviews.

Three Citrus Margaritas- Based off the margs at Elephants, these margs are a great little twist on a classic margarita. And you can make them in bulk pretty easily too.

Blood Orange Margaritas- This is the recipe we're trying out this year. We'll let you know how it goes, but they sound good, don't they?

Games
Our 4th of July party starts at 3pm and continues throughout the night, so games are a great way to keep everyone occupied.

Beer pong and flip cup are obvious choices.

  
We also have a lot of fun playing a drinking version of Twenty Questions. Before our guests arrive, we write down different "America" things on sticker labels. These can range from historical references (Paul Revere, The Liberty Bell, The Civil Rights Movement) to pop culture references (a bald eagle, apple pie, Tim Howard). As guests arrive, we stick a label on their back.


Then throughout the night, guests have to ask yes or no questions to try to figure out what they have on their backs. We make it a drinking game by making players take a sip of their drink every time they ask a question but aren't ready to guess what's on their backs. The fun really starts when a player makes an incorrect guess and then has to take a jello shot as a penalty. Last year we ran out of shots. We won't make that mistake this year.

Food
BBQ anything and ask guests to bring a snack or dessert. Super easy!

Happy 4th!