Nothing says winter like a big old cup of hot cocoa! At our recent Cozy Christmas Dinner Party we wanted to create a DIY Hot Cocoa Bar for guests to mix up their own unique flavors and toppings for a truly custom cup of hot cocoa. You can easily set up the perfect hot cocoa bar with our simple tips and the right products!
The Decor: Setting the scene for the perfect hot cocoa bar can seem a bit nerve-racking, but it doesn't have to be! Every hot cocoa bar should have a few helpful elements to make sure guests can start sipping away on a delicious cup of cocoa. Every cocoa table should, of course, have wintry themed decor! We created this tasty bar as an alternative to a dessert bar at our recent Cozy Christmas Dinner Party, so we opted to style our decor to compliment the theme! We included some rustic details including a Fadeless Weathered Wood Paper Roll runner for a chic lodge look. A custom Baby It's Cold Outside wood sign hung above the bar to inspire guests to get warm and cozy with a cup of hot cocoa. To play up the lodge feel of the dinner party, we added in some antler details and plenty of pine greens and charming wooden trees. The Cocoa and Toppings: These are probably the two most important reasons anyone wants to head on over to any cocoa bar! We whipped up an Irish Peppermint Hot Cocoa Recipe for guests to sip on. This recipe is great because even though it's homemade, it takes less than 5 minutes to mix up! We kept our cocoa warm in a ceramic carafe so guests could keep coming back for more. 
The best part about hot cocoa is the endless amount of topping options! We displayed our topping choices in the most adorable Mini Mason Jar Favors and served them up on petite vintage style sleds. We even dressed up our can of store-bought whipped cream with some coordinating wrapping paper for a whimsical look! 
The Servingware: We wanted to use big, oversized mugs to serve our cocoa, because the more cocoa, the better! These adorable Merry & Bright Christmas Mugs were not only a colorful addition to the bar, but were also the perfect size to accommodate our cocoa plus a mountain of toppings too. Each mug had a Stir Stick placed in it, so as guests sipped, they could stir in their toppings and keep their cocoa mixed and fresh. We loved how these coordinated with our lodge feel. 
We also displayed a Silver Paper Straw Assortment in vintage milk glass for guests who might like to sip their cocoa more slowly. This is a simple addition that not only looks nice on the bar but is so useful too! 
Cheers to a yummy cocoa bar and great holiday memories!
