How I Pulled Off a Soda Bar for 80 Teachers (on a $125 Budget!)
Guess who got assigned the soda bar for Teacher Appreciation Week? 🙋🏻♀️🤣 My soda game is strong, so I happily accepted the challenge!
This setup was fun, easy, and surprisingly affordable—and the teachers loved it. If you’re in charge of a staff event or classroom celebration, here’s how I made it work for about $125 total for 80 people, plus a free Canva drink sign template so you can recreate it yourself!
Teacher-Inspired Drinks
I made custom soda combinations and gave them fun names inspired by our teachers.
Like “The Smith” or “The Carson”—just a mix of soda, syrup, fruit, and creamer depending on the combo.
And yes—we actually had the ingredients on hand to make the drinks I printed.
But if you want to simplify, just pick a few syrups and fruit and reuse the signs. It still feels festive and personalized.
The Setup
Here’s exactly what I used:
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20 two-liter sodas (grabbed on sale!)
— Fresca, lemonade, and Dr Pepper were favorites—Diet Coke shockingly didn’t win 😅 -
3 bags of pebble ice in a cooler with a scoop
-
Clear cups with lids and straws for easy grab-and-go
👉 Amazon link -
Torani syrups from home
— Coconut, vanilla, and a couple fruity ones are a great base if you’re buying.
— Cream of coconut and flavored coffee creamer were crowd favorites too. -
Cut fruit mix-ins
— Strawberries, limes, lemons, oranges, blackberries, cherries, mangoes
— A handheld citrus juicer was a fun touch → Amazon link -
Plastic serving bowls + tongs
— Grabbed fancy small ones at the dollar store and had these on hand:
• Plastic bowls
• Mini tongs -
Drink menu signs using Canva
— I made fun drink combos named after teachers and added lemonade + water options too.
— Want the free template? See below!👇 -
Cute decorations
— Got mine on clearance from My Mind’s Eye (local pickup) and used my favorite party banners. -
Inflatable cooler tubs
— Instead of borrowing ice tables this year, I used these → Amazon link
— They sat on regular tables and kept everything cold and contained.
What I Used
A quick roundup of my favorite finds and supplies:
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Inflatable cooler tubs or if you want to buy the tables I borrowed
- Cream of Coconut
Wanna Try It Too?
This was one of the easiest and most fun teacher appreciation setups I’ve done—and it got so many compliments. If you’re putting together a staff lunch or end-of-year celebration, this is such a fun, low-stress way to make it special.
Grab the Free Drink Menu Template
Want the Canva template I used to create the custom drink signs? It's totally free—just drop your email below and I’ll send it straight to your inbox!
