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For our church Christmas party I was asked to be in charge of the Hot Chocolate bar. We were having more of spiritual and reverent agenda where we focused on the story of Christ’s birth, so I wanted the refreshments to reflect that. At first it seemed like a challenging task, how do I make Hot Chocolate reverent? But I will share what I came up with, I hope it is helpful to you! If you are looking for a more fun and cheery feel check out my Whoville Hot Cocoa Bar here.
I started with the idea of using the lyrics to “O Come, All Ye Faithful” in my Hot Chocolate sign. I was in the shower one day when it hit me, “Come ye o Come ye to warm up here” or “warm up at the hot chocolate bar.” I ended up ordering an 18X24 canvas and using my cricut to add the words to the canvas. I have created a printable version, however, that I have included with my printable bundle party pack. There is an 8X10 and 16X20 available. You could use the 8X10s to put in a few frames on either end of your display. Or you could print one large 16X20 poster from Walmart or Costco and display it in the middle.
I felt like that instantly brought your attention to Christ by using that wording. I added some cotton to the top of the sign to give it some texture and give it the feeling of having snow that settled on the sign. (I also lost a few snowflakes during transit). Below is the printable version I have made and included in my bundle:
For the table I had in my mind black tablecloths with a bunch of small tabletop Christmas trees and bunched up burlap. I tried my best to give those rustic, simple, humble, reverent vibes with my decor. I added some simple white Christmas lights, since everything is better with Christmas lights. Me and a few other ladies just brought all the small Christmas trees we had and I mixed them in along the table. I had to leave room for all the cookies the ward members were asked to bring!
The Hot Cocoa Bar was in the middle with these trees and burlap on either side. The best way to get the full effect is probably to check out my instagram reel (by the way, give me a follow while you’re over there!).
For the centerpiece I had the hot cocoa bar itself, in all its nativity glory. I have this amazing stable my father in law made me out of real barn wood that houses my nativity figures. I was not brave enough to bring my nativity figures, but I did bring my stable. And since my father in law made one for my mother in law as well, I had two matching ones to use! I would have loved to have little nativity figures as well among the display. Perhaps if you have durable ones you might want to include those.
Inside the stable I put some Spanish moss (because I was hoping it would be less messy than actual hay, but still give it the same effect) and the glass jars that had all of the hot cocoa toppings. I used some wood rounds that my husband cut for me from some logs to elevate some of them to give some height interest. For the glass jars I just used mason jars. I love this size ball jar, it’s my favorite. I use them for parties all the time.
For the hot chocolate topping tags I ordered these wooden tags and added the word with my cricut. Then tied them on the jars with twine. I’ve also made some printable versions for you that are available in the party bundle.
Here’s an idea of how the whole center display looked once I had everything laid out (a member of the ward had that awesome hot water pot! It was enough for our whole ward!).
I got the plain white cups and lids from smart and final and set out some sharpies hoping people would reuse their cup if they wanted seconds. I was surprised to see a lot of people actually put their name on there! I think that helped minimize waste too as people didn’t set their cup down and then get a new one when they realized they didn’t know which one was theirs.
Behind the table we set up a few more (naked) Christmas trees. I wanted to keep everything simple and rustic. And then from the basketball hoop above we hung these star lights. They were my favorite part. When the lights were turned out it all looked so magical.
Here’s a better view of how we hung the lights from the basketball hoop:
When I was all done I set out gold chargers and white platters for the cookies (so the table wouldn’t get filled up with paper plates!). I asked people to bring their cookies to the kitchen and then a few of us worked to fill and refill cookie platters throughout the party.
Nativity Hot Cocoa Bar Printable Bundle
I’ve bundled all my printables together to help you with your Hot Cocoa bar! The pack includes 10 pages of jpg printables. There are seven 8X10 hot cocoa graphic prints, one 16X20, one page of hot cocoa toppings tags and a page of blank tags to write in your own toppings. The 8X10s would make great centerpieces for the individual tables along with some burlap and a little christmas tree, or use them on your buffet table! You can purchase the bundle by adding to cart below. Thank you so much for your support!
