Hot Cocoa Bar

Also check out 2013's updated Cocoa Bar:

This year while decorating for Christmas/Winter we decided that it would be fun to have a Hot Cocoa Bar.  

Jonathan and I have used to several times throughout this season already, but I really love the idea of Eliana growing up with a Cocoa Bar.  What a treat!  

How fun to have friends over and make a personalized Hot Cocoa as a child?!  Or as an adult :-)

 We had this small chalkboard laying around the house - we used it so that everyone knew the toppings/candies/chips were to be mixed into the cocoa.

Mix-Ins:

Chocolate Chips

White Chocolate Chips

Vanilla

Crushed Andies Mints

Cinnamon Sticks

Bob's Soft Peppermint Candies

Bob's Soft Peppermint Sticks

White Chocolate M&Ms

Hershey Kisses

Adult Only Mix-Ins:

Bailey's

Whiskey

The pinecones were spray painted a metallic gold so that they would shimmer a bit. 

I made the sign above using an old board and spraying it with chalkboard paint.  I then scripted "Hot Cocoa Bar" in chalk.

The cinnamon sticks add flavor and act as stir sticks.

Along with the peppermint sticks - another flavored stir stick.

The peppermint stir sticks and hershey kisses are held in my diy hurricane vases

The cocoa is held in a glass container (below).  You can make your cocoa as weak or rich as you like.

Adult versions are available. 

The bar is decorated with stiff silver ribbons (found at JoAnn Fabrics)

 and white "snow" (found at Target) along with some jingle bells we already had in the house and some white christmas lights (on a white cord so that it blended in to the other silver and whites on the bar.

I found the below "Cocomotion" online.  All you do is pour in milk and add the cocoa powder (in the glass container) and push "on".  It heats and froths the cocoa.  Our Christmas mugs saucers and some spoons are located on the shelves below it.

I think it could evolve over the years and we could add recipes for specific types of Cocoa.  For example, maybe we will have recipe cards with an "Eliana Cocoa" a "Daddy's Favorite" and "Mommy's Favorite" as starting points.