Hot Chocolate Bar

Today is Polar Express Day at school for these two cuties....

 

All cozied up in their jammies about to have pretty chillaxed day at school.  They've been listening to their Christmas playlist and switching back & forth between watching Home Alone &  Rudolph more times than I can count.  I feel like life has finally come full circle :)

 

Currently these are their Top 10 Christmas songs...in no particular order.  Bless.

As they were all cozied up in their jammies on the way to school this morning, they were singing at the top of their lungs (and you can bet I was belting out the tunes right along with them) and exclaiming their excitement for a morning full of movies, popcorn, and hot chocolate.  Oh, to be a kid again..sigh....

Speaking of hot chocolate, today's post is all about our little hot chocolate bar.  

I originally set up this little space for my sister-in-law's bridal shower, but we loved it so much we decided it should stay put during these next couple of winter months.  The boys absolutely LOVED that idea and ask for hot chocolate treats often.  I only oblige if I can indulge, too ;)

The Keurig is on display for hot water purposes.  We keep disposable traveling cups with lids in the bottom portion of the buffet as well as coffee mugs.  The top right drawer holds all of our coffee K cups and I have a little Christmas dish full of creamers set out next to the Keurig, too.  Coffee & hot chocolate = dreamy.

We have 4 jars full of different flavored hot chocolate...salted caramel, milk chocolate, peppermint, and hazelnut.  I found all of the hot chocolate mixes at Marshall's. The boys' favorite mix is the tried and true milk chocolate.  I'm a sucker for the salted caramel and the peppermint runs a close second.  Hazelnut is pretty darn good, too.  Heck...I like 'em all!!!  HA!

All of the jars were found at Wal Mart (about $4 per jar).  The vinyl chalkboard labels were also a fun Wal Mart find.  They came in a pack of 24 for about $3 and all I had to do was use a chalk marker to add the edging and label.  I found them hanging next to the large jars.  Score!

The red containers are full of toppings and fixin's.  Caramels, chocolate chips, crushed peppermint, and marshmallows.  I don't leave these out on the reg because I don't want them getting stale, sticky, and gross.  I keep them in baggies inside those drawers on the buffet and pull them out when we have company.  If it's just us and the boys, we pick straight from the bags. #lessmess  

I found the chalkboard labels on clothespins at Michaels...they came in a pack of 2 for $1.50.

The red containers were a fun find in the baking/holiday section at Michaels ($1 each) and the spoons are from Amazon (pack of 10 for $8.50)

I personally love adding caramel candy to my salted caramel hot chocolate and then topping it all off with the Reddi Whip I love so much.  When I reach for the peppermint hot chocolate, I toss in a few chocolate chips, a handful of marshmallows, a little crushed peppermint, and of course, my beloved Reddi Whip.  Don't forget the candy cane stirrer, too!  #straightupsinful

I also have a few little things set up in mason jars.  Candy cane stirrers, pirouettes, peppermint marshmallows, and straws.  I found those fun and festive Christmas straws at Michaels and no one ever uses them.  But they look cute, so they stay :)

As if you didn't know what this display was all about, I decided a little chalk art was necessary to tell you ;)  #captainobvious

When the adults come over to play, I make sure to set out a few mixers in case they want to partake in the hot chocolate, too.  Our favorite hot chocolate "spirits" are Rum Chata, Baileys, Peppermint Schnapps, & Butterscotch Schnapps.  You can find some rather delicious hot chocolate drink recipes HERE.

I fancied up the jars with some fun and festive ribbon (totally unnecessary and excessive...just the way I like it).  This has become the most visited little spot in the house.  We decided that we're going to do this every winter starting during the Christmas holidays.  Not only is it fun to look at, but it's functional, too :)  I'm sure I'm missing a few things I could've added to the mix, like butterscotch chips and gingerbread marshmallows, but we were running out of space :)  

This really is the most wonderful, fattening, indulgent time of the year :)