Hello my dear friends! For the last two years, I have been drooling over the gorgeous hot cocoa bars pinned to Pinterest! Like literally, I look at them and dream of the warm flavors of peppermint, chocolate, and sweet marshmallows… yummy!! Well I am dreaming no more! Today I am going to show you how to create a hot cocoa bar for the holidays!
Disclaimer: For your convenience, I have included some affiliate links. This simply means if you click on one of the links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, but do not worry… you will not pay a dime more.
How to Create a Hot Cocoa Bar for the Holidays
First, you need to find a space perfect for your hot cocoa bar. If your home is like mine, this is easier said than done! Knowing I will have an eight foot tree coming into my family room space in a couple of weeks, I have to consider how I can maximize my space without it feeling cluttered. My tree goes into a space that has an accent table, and each year I move the accent table upstairs to accommodate the tree. I decided this table would work great for my hot cocoa bar! No moving it upstairs this year!
I moved the table into the nook area of my kitchen. It fit perfect in the space I decided to make my cocoa bar! Yes! I think having the hot cocoa bar off to the side and out of the high traffic area will make it more practical.
Here is my empty table, settling in to it’s new space in my breakfast nook.
This is the Addison table purchased from Kirkland’s. I swear it has been in nearly every room in my home! It is super versatile. I bought it for our foyer, but it has been in our upstairs hallway, family room, and now breakfast nook. It gets around, I guess. 🙂 It used to be solid black! See how I painted it here.
Decorating Your Hot Cocoa Bar for the Holidays
Next, I add the signs that will frame my hot cocoa bar. While envisioning my hot cocoa bar, I wanted a whimsical feel with lots of red and white.
The small signs I purchased at Hobby Lobby. The “Baby Its Cold Outside” sign I made myself! See the tutorial for how I made this holiday sign with a Cricut by clicking here.
The red and white striped wooden decoration I also made myself. I made it last year, and sorry, I did not make a blog post about it! It was super easy though. I purchased an 8ft wooden post from Home Depot and had them cut it into three pieces. I sanded it a bit, then painted the whole thing red. Once dry, I used painters tape to make the stripes. Once I had the tape in place, I painted the whole post white. After removing the tape, I lightly sanded the post to give it a rustic look. I added a couple of embellishments and it was done!
Get Your Supplies Ready!
At this point, I made a trip to my local Dollar Tree. Yes, Dollar Tree because they have some awesome holiday items on the cheap! I went in search of mason jars, but look at this haul:
All for $21! Can you believe it? Sweet score! I know I will be frequenting this Dollar Tree many times over the next couple of weeks. What can I say- I am addicted to holiday decorating! Do you think there is help for this?!
I love how this sign turned out! See the full tutorial here- and make your own sign!
Reflection time: do you find yourself in a frantic frenzy during the holiday season? Do you rush constantly to get things done, and then feel disappointment that you did not have time to actually enjoy the season? Well, let’s get your holiday organized, and I promise you will feel like a ROCK STAR this season!
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Setting Up the Main Items for Your Hot Cocoa Bar
Next, I washed and cleaned my new mason jars. I kept the lids handy, thinking they would be necessary to seal up the jars when people are not using the hot cocoa bar.
Once dry, the mason jars were ready for their sweet treats! I used four jars. One to hold cocoa, one to hold marshmallows, another to hold the candy canes, and the last one to hold candy pieces. Today it is Butterfinger bits, but I see using M and Ms, Heath bar, etc, throughout the season! Is it wrong that I am already dreaming of the yummy goodness I can place in these jars? Asking for a friend!
Here is a close-up of the jars filled with sweet treats.
I added a little ribbon and a couple of embellishments to the jars- just to make them extra festive! Who can resist a sweet Santa embellishment?
In this shot, you can see I placed the jars on a small silver serving tray. By doing this, I hoped to make cleaning up dripped ingredients easier! The silver looks decorative but the tray serves a purpose in terms of clean-up. Win win!
Here is a better view of the tray! I added some sparkly ornaments too. You can never have too many bright Christmas ornaments!
Preparing Your Hot Cocoa Bar for the Holidays
This side of the hot cocoa bar houses the spoons and mugs. I like that some items are elevated. Gives the space dimension!
Here is how my hot cocoa bar works:
- grab a festive mug
- fill it with water
- heat in the microwave
- visit the hot cocoa bar, adding your favorites to the mug
- sip and ENJOY!
Always remember, you can set up your hot cocoa bar the way YOU want it! Make it fun, and make it something that is truly special for you and your family!
Ready for Yummy Cocoa?
To add to the festive feel, I twisted some red deco mesh through the garland I purchased at Family Dollar. I am a recovering deco mesh addict, I am not even kidding! Deco mesh makes my heart soar, and for the last 4 Christmases my home was nearly taken over by this stuff. This year, I vow a more natural look with my holiday décor. I plan to use more ribbon and less of the big deco mesh. But, a little on my hot cocoa bar won’t hurt, right? Ba ha ha…
Also, I purchased the super cute “Baby It’s Cold Outside” mitten ornaments from Hobby Lobby- aren’t they adorable?! The ceramic milk carton with Believe written on it and the striped wooden stirring spoons were also purchased at Hobby Lobby. Friends, Hobby Lobby has one half of an entire aisle devoted to décor for hot cocoa and coffee bars- almost like they KNEW this would be the year I finally create one!
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Your Turn- Tell Us About Your Hot Cocoa Bar for the Holidays!
Do you find the holidays to be magical? What is your favorite thing to do during the holiday season? This season, I finally created a hot cocoa bar for the holidays- something I have been wanting to do for years! So let’s make it our goal this season to all do something we have been wanting to do but have not. Let’s make this holiday season the best one yet!
Be sure to share in the comments what makes your holiday special- and if you create a hot cocoa bar, tell us all about it!
Are you looking for other awesome holiday ideas? Be sure to check out this tutorial on making cute holiday cards! And these posts:
How to Make a Holiday Sign with a Cricut
I made this sign for less than $6!
And look for future posts on how to decorate your mailbox for Christmas, how to make wooden ornaments for your tree, how to flock your Christmas tree, and how to decorate your Christmas tree like a pro! Subscribe to Home on Arbor Pointe for weekly updates!
See you soon!
