This Simple Ice Cube Hack Instantly Elevates Your Holiday Drink Display

Bottled drinks are a huge timesaver for holiday parties, but what if you want to make them more festive? Whether you’re serving up your favorite bottle of champagne or just letting everyone choose their own bottle of Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Brew, it’s always best to have your drinks out and easily accessible in an ice bucket. Transform your drinks station setup for the holidays with an easy ice cube hack that will give all your bottled drinks a little festive cheer. All you need to get started are some balloons and a few small holiday decorations of your choice. Alternatively, you can use an ice tray to save time.

How to Make Festive Ice Cubes

First, pick the decorations you want to use for your ice bucket. You’re going to be freezing your decor into an ice cube, so make sure it can withstand the cold (and a little bit of melting later on). Since you’re not going to be putting these cubes in your drinks, they don’t need to be edible. We love the look of small bauble ornaments frozen in ice; use itty-bitty ornaments and freeze multiple of them together, or opt for a small bauble that freezes on its own.

Fresh cranberries, pine branches, flowers (real or faux), and even miniature disco balls are just a few of the other ice decorations that are catching on quickly online. 

Feel free to choose decorations that are larger than an average ice cube tray; you won’t need to use one for this hack. That’s where the balloon comes in. You’ll push your decor into a latex balloon that hasn’t been inflated, then fill the entire thing with water. Stick it in the freezer until it’s frozen, then cut the balloon away to reveal your perfectly-shaped ice sphere.

To help keep your decor centered inside the balloon, you can flip while it’s freezing, so that your ornaments or flowers will make their way to the center. Opting for lightweight decorations that float will help you here. 

If you prefer, you can always use a spherical ice tray to shape your ice bucket decor instead. A spherical tray will come in two sections, so fill the bottom part with water first, position your decorations inside, and let it freeze completely before you add water to the top part of the tray. This will ensure that your decoration stays perfectly centered instead of floating around. 

Choosing What to Freeze

One tip to keep in mind is to only freeze decor items that guests won’t mind accidentally bumping into, just in case your ice cubes melt earlier than planned. Keep your glittery ornaments or decorations with sharp edges far away from this hack for the sake of your guests. 

You should also rely on filling your ice cubes with things that won’t pop, squish, or break easily when pressed against a bottled drink. Cranberries and plastic ornaments will hold up just fine once your ice melts, but soft items like grapes, raspberries, and thin glass ornaments could make a mess.

Before you add your water to your balloon, boil it and let it cool first. This will make your water freeze clear instead of cloudy, so you can see all of your decorations inside. You can also use distilled water to achieve this effect.

Once your ice cubes are fully frozen, they’re ready to use at your next holiday party. Pop your favorite bottled drinks into an ice bucket, serving dish, or even your kitchen sink—then fill it up with your homemade ice cubes.