Tag Archives: 4th of July

Patriotic layered drinks

I’ve seen these non-alcoholic patriotic layered drinks in red, white, and blue floating around Pinterest.  They look so fun and festive for celebrating the 4th of July!

Red, White, and Blue patriotic non-alcoholic layered drinks - amerrymom.com

I sooo wanted to try them with my kids.  Unfortunately, some of those ingredients for the layers were flavors that my picky kids won’t actually drink.

I love the look of the layered drinks I saw on the blog In Katrina’s Kitchen.  It uses Sobe Pina Colada for the white layer, cran-apple juice for the red layer, and a blue Gatorade for the blue layer.  The only one of those ingredients that my kids like is the Gatorade.

So I set out to come up with a version that would appeal to my kids.  I understand that the layers are created due to different densities of the liquids – caused by the amount of sugar.  Thus, I looked for alternative ingredients in the red, white, and blue colors.

I came up with a few options.  Gatorade or Hawaiian Punch for the red layer, Gatorade or Mountain Dew Voltage for the blue layer, and Gatorade or lemonade Vitamin Water for the white layer.  I also considered Sprite/7Up/Sierra Mist, which are obviously clear, but I thought that could work in place of the white.

Keeping in mind that the sugar content is key, I experimented with different combinations to create the red, white, and blue layered drinks.

The combination of ingredients that worked best for me was:

  • Blue bottom layer:  Mountain Dew Voltage (46g of sugar per 12 ounces)
  • Red middle layer:  Hawaiian Punch (21g of sugar per 12 ounces)
  • White top layer:  Lemonade Vitamin Water Zero ( 0g of sugar)

Patriotic layered drinks - ingredients - amerrymom.comThe important aspect of layering the liquids was to add plenty of ice to the glass and pour directly onto an ice cube to prevent the liquids from mixing.  I don’t know how it works, but it does – mostly.

I found it most difficult to keep the white/clear layer separate.  I didn’t have any luck with the lemon-lime soda.  It mixed right into the next layer for me.  The lemonade Vitamin Water Zero worked better, but still didn’t stay as separate as I would have liked.

We decided it was close enough to red, white, and blue!Non-alcoholic red, white, blue layered drinks - amerrymom.com

 Since I was making these for my kids to try, I kept the blue layer fairly small due to the sugar and caffeine content in the Mountain Dew Voltage.  I didn’t want to amp them up too much!

We had fun experimenting with the drinks and watching the layers form.  These layered drinks are pretty and festive – and my family enjoyed trying them!

Have fun creating your own layered drinks!

Patriotic red, white, and blue tie dye shirts for Independence Day

With Independence Day coming up soon, I’m on a red, white, and blue crafting kick.  Today’s project was tie dye shirts.  Tie dye designs often remind me of fireworks, so it’s the perfect project to help us celebrate the 4th of July.

Patriotic tie dye shirts - amerrymom.comI recently realized that through all of the kids’ activities my children have attended, they’ve never done any tie dye projects.  How did that happen!?  Since I loved tie dying when I was a kid, I decided that for today’s Try It Tuesday, it was time for my kids to learn how to tie dye shirts.

I bought the three white shirts and two colors of spray-on fabric dye from Hobby Lobby for just $14.10.  With their everyday 30% off pricing for t-shirts, I got each shirt for just $2.44, and I chose two-ounce bottles of red and blue SEI Tumble Dye for $2.99 each.  We finished three kid-size tie dye shirts with plenty of dye left over for other projects.

Tie dye shirt - before - amerrymom.com

We dampened each shirt with water and put them flat on a table to get started on the designs.

We created two designs for these patriotic tie dye shirts.

Swirl Tie Dye Shirt

My oldest son wanted a swirl pattern on his shirt, so we pinched it in the middle and twisted the whole shirt into a large, flat swirl.  Then we added rubber bands to resemble pie slices.  Tie dye shirt - prepared for swirl pattern - amerrymom.comWe took the shirt outside and placed it on cardboard to catch excess dye as my son sprayed the colors onto the shirt.

He sprayed the dye onto each segment, alternating colors.  The red bottle was harder to spray and was leaking dye onto his hand.  (We should have worn gloves – but the color washed off our hands well.)  He liked using the blue better and got some extra blue in a red segment, but that’s OK.  Since tie dying shirts is not a perfect process, a mistake in the pattern is fine.Tie dye shirt swirl pattern in progressWe let the dye air dry outside for a while, keeping the bundled shirt flat and in the shade.  When we unwrapped the shirt, my son was very happy with his design!  It just needed a tumble in the dryer for 20 minutes to heat set the color, in accordance with the dye instructions.Patriotic swirl tie dye shirt - amerrymom.com

This shirt has a great look for Independence Day!

Firework Tie Dye Shirt

We also created a fireworks-patterned shirt.  This is my favorite design for our patriotic tie dye shirts.

We made two small swirl patterns in opposite areas of the shirt by pinching in the middle of the area and swirling it in a flat circle.  We applied rubber bands to hold it in place.  Then we used small bullesye patterns for the remaining two corners by pulling those areas of the shirt straight up and wrapping rubber bands around them in two layers.Tie dye shirt fireworks pattern - in progress - amerrymom.comMy son applied the spray-on fabric dye in alternating red and blue.  With the red bottle leaking dye onto his hand, he used more blue for his design.

Tie dye shirts - applying fireworks pattern - amerrymom.com

Again, we let the dye air dry outside for a while, with the shirt flat and out of the sun.  After we removed the rubber bands, the shirt needed to go into the dryer for 20 minutes to heat set the color, in accordance with the dye instructions.

Patriotic tie dye shirt fireworks pattern - amerrymom.com

When we unwrapped the shirt, it had a great fireworks pattern that is perfect for the 4th of July!

The kids all enjoyed creating their own tie dye shirts.  It’s a great summer activity and a fun way to display patriotic red, white, and blue!

Looking for more summer fun?  Check out this great list of over 30 free or inexpensive summer activities for kids!

If you like these patriotic tie dye shirts, see more red, white, and blue on my summer Pinterest board.  Come on over and pin along with me!

Follow Lisa {A Merry Mom}’s board Celebrate – Summer on Pinterest.