Oh, Christmas. You and your warm twinkly glow that makes the house come alive at night, your music playlist that makes every car ride a karaoke session, your fireside snuggles that make the end of every hard day completely worth it. I big puffy heart love you.
I think people knew what they were doing centuries ago when everyone decided, as soon as the days got colder and shorter, to bust out the candlelight and cocoa.
It seemed like the perfect time to share a tradition we do every year in our house for Christmas- a hot cocoa bar with alllll the fixins!
My waistline may not be happy by the end of the season, but my sweet tooth is more than thrilled.
For as many nights as we can in December, Robert, Olivia, and I push furniture together, build a fort, and have Christmas movie camp outs in the living room to binge The Grinch,Rudolph,Elf,A Christmas Story or whatever other holiday flick is the must-see that night. Footie pajamas optional.
None of it is ever complete without a piping hot cup of cocoa, so our coffee bar gets traded out for chocolate. (The only thing that could eversemi-replace coffee, am I right?)
This year, I found these hocking jars and salt & pepper shakers at the dollar store, and they were perfect for holding all of our toppings to keep them accessible all season long – toffee and marshmallows and candy cane stirs and caramels and cinnamon and sprinkles and sea salt and chili powder (for spicy chocolate). I was temped to have more mix-ins, but I ran out of jars. Sigh…
(That was probably a good thing. Save me from myself.)
I whipped up these little antique style labels like I did for our pantry cabinet, tied them on with some twine, and they added the cutest little touch that we’ll leave on for when we host Christmas Eve with our extended family this year.
I made a huge printable set with every single cocoa bar topping I could think of in the history of mankind.
If you are planning to set up a hot cocoa bar at your house too, you can snag the printable label set by subscribing to my email list to get access to my printable library here:
If you’re already a subscriber, the email with the direct download should already be in your inbox along with the password to the Printable Library. 🙂
For a fun little craft one day, Olivia and I frosted and hung up these gingerbread cookies like garland on the plate rack (and okay, maybe ate a few).
This cedar garland is fake but doesn’t it look so real?! Even in person, I can’t even tell unless I touch it. (When I ordered it, I actually thought it would be much bigger than this, but it all worked out in this spot. #OnlineShoppingProblems)
As for all of the silver, it belonged to my grandmother who passed away when I was 12. I still miss her bubbly laugh and the way she would croon Christmas carols at her piano every morning and night. But keeping these silver pieces around is a way for me to remember her this time of year.
But it helps that they’re pretty and sparkly too. 😉
Do you have any Christmas decorating traditions that are must-haves in your house? Or cocoa toppings that make it 1000% more magical? I’m a salted caramel cocoa with whip and toffee bits girl over here. Mmmmmm
If you want to know about any of the sources on our hot cocoa bar, you can find them all here: (Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)
- Marble top buffet (thrift store find- might be changing it up later… to be continued 😉 )
- Plate rack – IKEA
- Faux cedar garland – Amazon
- Silver platters- handed down from my grandmother (but you can find lots on Etsy and in thrift stores)
- Silver cocoa/coffee service – handed down too (similar linked)
- Wooden cutting board – World Market
- Scalloped cake stand – World Market
- Metal Tray – Kirkland’s
- Red striped tea towel – Target
- Hocking Jars – Dollar Tree
- Shakers – Dollar Tree
- Tall hocking jar – IKEA
- Mini Christmas tree – Michael’s
- Gray mugs – Target
- White china – wedding gift (similar linked)
- Red/white stripe ribbon for gingerbread garland
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