It is that time of year where most of us have no gaps in our diaries and are busy going from Christmas Party to Christmas party.

I personally am not booked out yet, however had an amazing Christmas party this Thursday from work. My next event is pre Christmas Dinner at our lovely neighbours’ place tonight. I was told to bring ‘nothing’ and don’t just want to bring an unpersonalised box of chocolates.

So I came up with the idea that you can bring to any Christmas party when you are advised to bring just yourself. What is it? DRINKS! No, not just a bottle of booz, but yummy home made drinks such as lemonade, iced tea, easy summer cocktails or mocktails.

They are very easy to make and all you have to do is bring your jug to the party and everyone will be happy! Here is some inspiration:

Passion Fruit Summer Drink

Serves 4

1/2 cup mint leaves
2 limes, cut into 0,5-inch-pieces
3 inches fresh ginger (cut into thin sticks)
8 passion fruits
4 oranges, juice
ice cubes
1 cup sparkling soda

Muddle mint leaves, the lime pieces and half of the ginger sticks in a bowl, then pour it into a pitcher. Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the flesh into the pitcher. Add juice from the oranges and ice cubes and stir around. Top it with sparkling soda, a couple of ginger sticks and a mint leaf. Enjoy! The original recipe can be found on this blog.

Cool Summer Lime Drink

In a jug, combine lime, mint and water and leave in the fridge overnight. On the day of the party, add some fresh mint leaves and slices of lime and also bring some to garnish the glasses like above on the photo. Enjoy!

Watermelon Lemonade

Combine homemade lemon syrup with watermelon juice and serve with fun Kiwi Cubes or Watermelon Cubes (or with regular ice cubes). You can also use the watermelon-lemonade mix as the base for a Watermelon Martini. Find the original recipe here.

Rainbow Drink

Here’s a very creative beautiful drink that can be alcoholic or non alcoholic. Just Freeze different fruit juices in ice cube trays . To serve, just fill glass with cubes and add 7up. Summer drink! If you wish to have a beautiful alcoholic drink, instead of fruit juices, use yummy Blue Curacao,  Midori or other colourful mixes.

Make any jug of water look fancy

Just freeze your choice of fruit in an ice cube tray and add to a jug of water when ready to sever. This will not only look fancy but also gives the water a fruity flavour. Easy as!