Effortless 4th of July Barbeque ideas | Recipes, Decor How To and More (2024)

What do you think of when you hear 4th of July party? I think of outdoor barbeques, sparklers, watermelon, lemonade and cool desserts! I wanted to share some my favorite 4th of July barbeque ideas that are both easy and quick.

Easy 4th of July Barbeque Ideas

Starting with the nighttime photo, however, it looked very different when the party started in the early evening as you scroll you can see how everything changed. As it got later and the sun had set we moved the different “stations” closer to the string lights in the tree.

Who wants to spend all day cooking for a party? I sure don’t and I guess you don’t either, so I wanted to share my quick and easy 4th of July barbeque ideas with you so you can get back to enjoying your day with you family and friends. Did I mention it is budget friendly too?

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Bar cart for self-serve drinks and desserts

My hardest working piece of furniture for entertaining is my vintage bar cart. I use it for every holiday because its so versatile and easy to decorate. In minutes I can replace the bunting and its ready for the next event.

This vintage bar cart would not be complete without my favorite vintage ice bucket.

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The lemonade (see my friend’s recipe HERE) looks so festive served in the clear glass pitcher with the large square ice cubes. I was amazed at how easy these new ice cube trays were to empty (I remember the old metal ones with the lever) so I am going to order them in every size.

Self-serve canned drinks

How about a vintage rolling laundry basket for a canned drink station? Its perfect since the condensation looks so refreshing and it drips right off. I bet you guessed by now that I adore bunting. You can see the cute red, white and blue bunting my daughter made a couple of years ago.

Grab your own sparklers

I wanted the guests to help themselves to the over-sized sparklers, so I displayed a sign with them. The sign I whipped up on my computer and added stars I cut out with my Cricut Maker then I strung fairy lights around the sign.

Jar flower arrangements

The flower arrangements I made in jars with wire lid inserts which make arranging flowers a dream.

Message board with menu lets my guests know what will be served.

A galvanized pail holds the bandanna’s that I am using for napkin silverware rolls tied up with tassel napkin rings (see how I made the tassels HERE).

Grilled sausage could not be easier to cook and everyone loves them. I made my friends recipe for grilled zucchini with cheese and it was a hit!

Desserts

Keto-friendly red white and blue dessert jars are a breeze to serve. You can find the recipe in an earlier post HERE!

Light and moist vanilla cake garnished with red and blue fruit for the 4th of July.

For the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches I made the Nestle Toll House recipe from the back of the chocolate chip bag. I used vanilla ice cream between the cooled cookies and added sprinkles. Note: serve them fast!

These delicious infused waters were made by a friend, Jamielyn from I heart Nap-time. I wanted to share how she makes them HERE. These healthy and super hydrating drinks are served up in jars with fun lids and straws.

These easy block signs I DIY’ed in minutes you can see the how I made them in an earlier post HERE.

Those empty almond butter jars that I have been saving came in handy for mood-lighting for the party I just dropped in tealights and lit them right before my guests arrived. I used pretty paper plates and added a red star that I cut with my Cricut Maker to each place setting.

Every place setting had a jar tealight that added a wee bit of something special and a little more light. I used silk eucalyptus and real lemons as my table-runner and the center piece were my DIY block signs and jar flower arrangements.

I used wire to hang some of the jar lights in the trees.

Nighttime at the 4th of July barbeque

The fairy lights add some fun to the signs I made. After it was totally dark out I moved everything closer to the string lights in the trees and lit some sparklers that I pushed into the ground. You can see my one-board-bench is holding the menu flags and jar with filled with fairy lights

You might also enjoy these posts:

DIY 4th of July Decorations.

How to make tassels.

My Amazon Picks:

I would love to hear about your 4th of July plans please let me know what you are planning in the comments below.

Happy 4th of July,

Kippi