Good morning! I don’t know if anyone noticed or not but I’m back from a little blogging break! Yay! :) I had most of my post prescheduled over the Christmas break, & it was nice to have a little break from all things blog & spend some fun times with my little family! We had a nice quiet Christmas at home, made a quick trip to Branson for the day, had a couple of snow days, stayed up late on New Years, watched Frozen (Have you seen it?) & just had a blast being together. Now everyone is back in school, & things are returning to normal around our house. I’m working on a few projects that I can’t wait to share!
Over the Christmas break we had a hot chocolate bar with a few friends. It was so easy to put together, so I thought I’d share a few tips & ideas on how to host an easy hot chocolate bar. It was so much fun & yummy, too! ;) So keep reading to see my top 5 tips & some fun topping ideas. :)
1. When you are hosting a hot chocolate bar (or any party!) use what you have! I used this frame & easel that I already had to make a cute hot chocolate bar sign. The sign is just made with a piece of black cardstock, my Silhouette & a silver sketch pen. Super easy. The table cloth is just some material from Hobby Lobby that I already had. I didn’t even hem the edges! ;)
2. Spread out your purchases, so you don’t have to spend a ton of money all at once!
I knew I was going to be a hosting a hot chocolate bar about a month before. So I began to collect toppings on my regular shopping trips. A few bags of marshmallows here, some crushed Andes mints there & over time I had quite the collection. ;) I also hit the stores up after Christmas. I snagged some great deals on some clearance candy canes & candy cane Hersey Kisses. Yay!
3. To keep it simple & easy I just used the prepackaged hot chocolate mixes. You can get a pretty good deal when you buy a huge box of 30 packets. If you do want to make your own hot chocolate I do have a yummy homemade hot chocolate recipe you can use. :)
4. Use mason jars to hold your toppings. I did this for two reasons. One ~ it looks so cute! ha! ;) I love the little hang tags I made with my Silhouette, too. I just used some black cardstock, sketch pen, a paper punch & then tied them on with twine. The other reason I used mason jars is that you can dish all your toppings out the day before, tie on the tags & put on the lids. Everything will stay nice & fresh until it’s time for your party. It makes for a very easy set up. :) Just set out your jars, & you are ready to go.
5. Use disposable insulated cups! Your kiddos will think they are fancy, and the clean up is super easy. I also love the lids….less mess that way, too!
Bonus Tip: To warm up our hot chocolate I used a crockpot. Ours is a big one, & it holds a gallon of milk. So I put it on low about 2 to 3 hours before the party started.
topping ideas:
vanilla & cream marshmallows
mini marshmallows
peppermint marshmallows
gingerbread marshmallows
pumpkin spice marshmallows
regular Hershey Kisses
candy cane Hershey Kisses
mint truffle Hershey Kisses
whip topping
chocolate syrup
CoffeeMate Creamers
Andes Mints, crushed
Heath Bar, crushed
coconut
stirrers:
candy canes
pirouette sticks
Do you have any favorite hot chocolate toppings? I’d love to hear your ideas. :)
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This project & post were created for Ginger Snap Crafts by Ginger Bowie.
