E-Mail This Article to a Friend Swizzle this Kick back with a cool drink accessory BY GENEVIEVE RAJEWSKI

Last month, I went to a wedding shower bearing the margarita set that had been listed on the couple’s registry. They liked the glasses and the pitcher. But it was an impulsively purchased add-on costing less than $2 that got all the oohs and aahs. Blame it on collective memories of piña coladas past: it seems nothing is as well received as a pack of paper drink umbrellas.

While you can pick up parasol picks ($1.69) at Kitchen Etc. and local grocery stores, there are plenty of other ways to add a dash of frivolity to summer cocktails. Start by finding other colorful toys to hang from the rim of your glass. Otro Lado has black plastic cats ($7/25), plastic monkeys ($6/100), and plastic squid ($3/25). Meanwhile, the Shop at the Union offers cocktail mermaids ($7.50/100).

Next, add a little swizzle. The Shop at the Union’s Pink Elephant Cocktail Set ($4.50) includes four swizzle sticks and eight " cocktail elephants " for decorating glasses. The store also offers plastic pink-poodle swizzle sticks ($3.50/six) and glass-olive swizzle sticks ($15/six), for those who take their martinis stirred.

At Buckaroo’s Mercantile, you’ll find a set of vintage Playboy swizzle sticks ($20), an assortment of 100 vintage swizzle sticks ($18), and fez-wearing-monkey and hula-girl swizzle sticks ($2/six). Finally, Archie McPhee offers plastic tiki, palm-tree, and flamingo swizzle sticks ($2/six), and Holidays Hallmark has glass cocktail stirrers ($2.95) topped with tiny Bloody Marys, margaritas, martinis, and the like.

Childlike charms help with the very adult business of keeping people’s drinks straight. Williams-Sonoma’s margarita charms ($18/six) include a pewter tequila bottle, chili peppers, a cactus, a sun, a margarita, and a sombrero. And Guy Buffet’s surly waiters appear far more accommodating when included in a Les Garçons charms set ($20).

You can also inject the spirit of games such as " Go Fish " into your next cocktail party. Putting the Shop at the Union’s Cocktail Hour deck of 50 cocktail recipes ($13.95) out with a selection of liquor will encourage guests to mix their own drinks. Archie McPhee’s poker cocktail shaker ($7.95) fleshes out the theme. Meanwhile, Winky bowling coasters ($5.95/four) give the impression of movement and depth when viewed from different angles.

If you’re a guest rather than a host, you can still bring a touch of whimsy to the party. At the Shop at the Union, pick up Le Petit Martini ($23), a silver martini-shaped votive holder that comes in a silver, ribbon-topped box. For toting a gift of wine or spirits, turn to Archie McPhee’s pink-elephant and salude! booze bags ($5.95).

Where to find it:

• Archie McPhee; www.mcphee.com.

• Buckaroo’s Mercantile, 1297 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, (617) 492-4792; www.buckmerc.com.

• Holidays Hallmark, Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, Boston, (617) 247-3900.

• Kitchen Etc., various locations; www.kitchenetc.com.

• Otro Lado, 5 Brookline Street, Cambridge, (617) 354-1475; www.otro-lado.com.

• The Shop at the Union, 356 Boylston Street, Boston, (617) 536-5651, ext. 175; www.weiu.org/index.php?page=86.

• Williams-Sonoma, Copley Place, 100 Huntington Avenue, Boston, (617) 262-3080; the Mall at Chestnut Hill, 300 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, (877) 812-6235; www.williamssonoma.com.