DIY Holiday Cocktail Bar + Delicious Candy Cane Martini Recipe

Candy Cane Martini

Have you ever had a Candy Cane Martini? No?! There’s a recipe, blow, for one. Where do you go when you need party cocktail inspiration? Well, I go to Pinterest, of course. I also go to the Van Gogh Vodka pinterest boards because they have tons of great ideas for my cocktail and Holiday parties! And I needed ideas for an at home Holiday Cocktail Bar.

Disclosure: We received complimentary samples to facilitate our post. All opinions are strictly our own and were formed through personal testing.  Individual results may vary.

Van Gogh Vodka Decor bar

One idea includes setting up your own at-home décor bar. Here’s what you’ll need.

Festive Holiday Cocktail Bar featuring Van Gogh Vodka:

  • 6-10 flavors of Van Gogh Vodka. (We have Van Gogh Pomegranate and Van Gogh Blue Tripe Wheat)
  • Add to the bar mixers like seltzer, juices and sodas
  • Remember garnishes like pomegranates, lemons, limes and other fruit slices and wedges as well as  a citrus zester
  • Bucket of ice
  • Assorted glasses and cocktail stirrers
  • Put table signage on mini chalk boards with ideas and inspiration you can get from Van Gogh
  • Cocktail recipes
  • Use Holiday decorations around your bar
  • Add some munchies

Ok, if you’re creating your boozy décor bar for a Holiday party, you’re going to want it to look festive, am I right? Head to your local Dollar Tree or $1 store and stock up on Holiday decorations. They are typically $1 each so for $10 bucks you can get some really cute decorations. Christmas ball ornaments, garland, lights, etc.


Van Gogh Vodka Cocktail Bar

If you’re having an Ugly Sweater party, use an old Christmas sweater for your table cover or make place mats out of it and buy decorations that look like they’ve been in the attic since the 1960’s. The cheaper they are, the better they’ll fit in! Better yet, grab grandma’s old ornaments from the attic and use those.

You know the ones I’m talking about. They haven’t seen the light of day in a million years because they’re too tacky precious to display. Foil Rudolph heads with gold foil tinsel around the edges and giant red bulb for the nose. Yeah. Those ornaments. (Tacky ornaments = PERFECT Ugly Sweater party décor!) *NOTE: If you absolutely adore those types of ornaments then  – oops, we really did not mean to offend Please accept our sincerest apologies  😀  )

Now, if you’re going the more classy route and want something pretty but festive, then glass ornaments, colored balls, garlands, lights, etc. will be gorgeous. And you can still find those things at your local $1 store if you want to save money on decorations.

Stock up on different types of drink glasses. Margarita glasses, Martini glasses, wine glasses, champagne flutes, highball glasses, shot glasses, beer mugs Mason jars etc. Mix and match for a fun, festive look. We found some super cute martini glasses with green curvy stems at the $1 Tree! These were perfect for a Holiday Cocktail Party!

Van Gogh Vodka

Set out your assorted selection of Van Gogh Vodka and liquors in a neat line. Add a few cocktail recipes to your bar so guests can experiment with new drinks. We found some darling ornament shaped chalkboards at the $1 Tree and wrote up a quick and easy martini recipe on one and a Screwdriver recipe on the other.  I have a recipe for a Candy Cane Martini for you down below that would be great displayed on your Holiday cocktail bar.

Add the garnishes, mixers and buckets of ice, etc. and let your guests do the rest! Don’t forget to get a variety of mixers so guests can create the flavors like like the best! During the Holidays, especially, you can find all sorts of inexpensive variety packs of mixers. Any big liquor store should have variety packs. We found ours (shown below) at Walmart in the Holiday gifts section! They can mix their own favorite drinks at their convenience and all you have to do is keep the bar stocked with fresh garnishes that you’ve cut ahead of time. Add a few munchies like honey roasted peanuts, pretzels and chips and you’re all set. Easy!

Holiday Cocktail Bar Mixers

Holiday Cocktail Bar Peanuts

If cost isn’t a major issue, you can even have multiple bars or stations. You can set up one for the wine drinkers and a small selection of wines and glasses, a rustic bar with mason jars and flavored moonshine or even group them by types of liquor like a bourbon bar, vodka bar, beer bar, etc. The possibilities really are endless when it comes to setting up your own fun and festive Holiday cocktail bar at home.

Candy Cane Martini
Candy Cane Martini

Candy Cane Martini

Author: Crystal Martin
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Ingredients  

  • 2 oz Peppermint Martini Mixer
  • 1 TBSP Grenadine
  • 2 oz Van Gogh Blue Triple Wheat vodka
  • 1/2 TBSP lime juice
  • Candy canes for garnish and rimming
  • Sugar for rimming
  • Ice

Instructions

Rimming Sugar:

  • Crush candy canes and mix with white sugar. Optionally you can purchase pre-made rimming sugar.
  • Rub half of a lime around edge of martini glass or mason jar and dip in rimming sugar to coat edges of glass.

Candy Cane Martini

  • Fill a cocktail shaker with ice
  • Add Grenadine, vodka , peppermint schnapps and lime juice
  • Cover and shake until well blended
  • Strain into rimmed glass
  • Garnish with a candy cane (*See note)
  • Serve immediately

Notes

We also garnish our Candy Cane Martini’s with a cocktail stirrer with three Ole Smoky Moonshine Cherries. When soaked in the finished martini, this adds an additional layer of flavor.
Nutrition Note:These nutrition facts were calculated automatically by our recipe card and do not include sugar alcohols or net carbs. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of these nutrition facts but I believe the macros are actually lower than shown here.

Nutrition

Serving: 1grams
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Holiday Cocktail Bar featuring van Gogh Vodka

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