Throwing a Hot Chocolate Bar Party + free printables

If you’re planning a hot chocolate bar party, this guide has everything you need—from decorating your cocoa bar to choosing toppings and grabbing free printables to make it all come together beautifully.

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Ah, the holidays! The Christmas trimmings, the yuletide carols, sipping eggnog by the fire, the festive lights, the brotherly kindness towards all. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

One tradition that my family looks forward to during this time of year is caroling. Growing up, both my husband and I, would venture out in the cold with our large families to share the good news of Christmas through song.

My family sounded alright, we sang in tune at least but nothing fancy. We upscaled one year with matching scarfs. Hoping to look the part more.

My husband’s family, on the other hand, split up into parts and had matching outfits! His mom, would pile the 9 of them (yes you read that correctly) into the car to sing at friends homes and retirement homes as well.

The first year we were married, my family facetimed us to Christmas carol – we were spending the holidays with his family- and then his family sang to mine. Oh, yeah… there really wasn’t any comparison.

Anyways…

We love caroling!

So that’s why every year we enjoy hosting our Caroling & Hot Chocolate Bar Party. We invite a few friends to join us caroling to our neighbors and then lead them all to our home afterwards to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa. It has become a fun tradition that our friends and neighbors look forward to as well.

But hey if you aren’t into caroling, no worries! A hot chocolate bar is perfect to match up with an ugly sweater party, a white elephant party, basically any holiday party, because hot chocolate it always a good idea!

-> Looking for more inspiration? Check out my winter themed cocoa bar!

Hot Chocolate Bar Party Supplies (What You Need)

• Hot chocolate (mix or homemade)
• Mugs or cups
• Toppings (marshmallows, candy, sauces)
• Serving jars + scoops
• Decor + signage
• Table or station setup

How to Set Up a Hot Chocolate Bar Party

Recreate the look:

All you really need to focus on is assembling your hot chocolate bar display since your home is already decked out for the holidays. Oh yes, and clean your house! Don’t forget that!

–> see pics from our last hot chocolate bar!

1. Choose a Theme

I like to pick some type of theme and gather items that correlate with it. Then I have a brainstorming session where I put things on, take things off, move things over, until everything looks just right. Don’t be too hard on yourself, sometimes it can take awhile!

This year to add to my rustic theme, I really wanted to incorporate a little buffalo plaid because it just sings of ski lodge and cold weather. Thankfully I stumbled upon these adorable paper goods in the clearance section of the craft store. Perfect, right!?

2. How to Decorate your Hot Chocolate Bar

Now that I decided on a theme, it was time to decorate! I gathered items around my house and in my Christmas stash of decor that would fit within my rustic winter theme. Evergreen, snowflakes, lanterns, pinecones, burlap, wood pieces all made it on my hot chocolate bar and helped promote the look and feel I was going for.

For the table covering, I easily stayed below budget because it was from a roll of wrapping paper! Wrapping paper can be used for a fun backdrop, a table covering, really there are so many options with it besides just wrapping pretty presents!

Recreate the look:

3. Prepare the Hot Chocolate

For the hot chocolate, we like to keep it simple so I can focus on hosting. We grab our crock pot and throw in a can of Swiss Miss and stir in milk (so much better than just using water).

I like to keep the hot chocolate in a central spot (like a crockpot), with cups nearby and toppings grouped together so guests can easily move down the table and build their drink.

Isn’t this just the cutest little mug you have ever seen!!! It added the perfect touch! And now it’s my official eggnog mug. Small, I know, so that I don’t drink too much! Or rather that I can have a few glasses without feeling too guilty.  😉

4. Choose your Hot Chocolate Bar Toppings

We like to get fancy when it comes to the toppings!

Here are the hot cocoa toppings we had:

–  peppermint chips
–  Andes mints
–  mini chocolate chips
–   toffee bits
–  white chocolate chips
–  coarse sea salt
–  chocolate sprinkles
–  festive sprinkles
–   Pirouette Cookies
–   marshmallows
–   soft peppermint sticks
–   peppermint patties
–  whipped cream
–   caramel sauce

Recreate the look:

See, I told you we like our toppings! With lots of items to choose from, our guests could create whatever their taste buds were hankering for! Obviously this many toppings is not needed but it sure makes it look pretty!!!!

5. Display the Toppings

The toppings were displayed in mismatched sized jars (like these and these) I had around the house. We used these tiny wooden spoons to scoop out each topping, although, just fyi, the spoons weren’t the best option when it came to getting the sprinkles out! I organized the jars onto a wooden serving tray I had and grouped the the whipped cream, caramel, and straws on a cake stand which helped add some nice height to the table.

I designed printable chalkboard hot cocoa bar labels (just click on the link to get them for FREE!) to label all the toppings and tied them to the jar with a piece of red twine.

>> Need more labels? I have a bundle of 48 prefilled hot cocoa labels for instant download in my shop!

Recreate the look:

6. Add Something a little Extra

If you want to make your hot chocolate bar feel a little more special, include one unique element. This year I branched out to make these hot chocolate stir spoons. They are super easy to make. All you do is melt the chocolate (or caramel or whatever you want), dip a spoon in, sprinkle a little something for flavor (and appearance) and let it harden. I made three different flavors:

• melted white chocolate with crushed candy canes
• milk chocolate sprinkled with mint bits
• caramel with coarse sea salt

These spoons were a bit of a novelty to some people, they were clueless to how to use them!  A demonstration might help or just a simple explanation to dispel any confusion.

And let us not forget about the tasty pastries that always come with this season!

We were up all night baking goodies for the party… thankfully not! Although we did bake a few festive confections, we lightened our load by asking guests to bring a plate of their favorite holiday treats to share.

See I told you this was a more stress free party. I even send out evites to save on time and money. 🙂

7. Have fun!

What’s the point of putting everything together if you don’t enjoy it? After setting up your hot chocolate bar, sit back and relax with a cup of hot cocoa while you mingle with your friends and family.

Free Hot Chocolate Bar Printables

To make your setup even easier, I’ve created free printable labels and a coordinating sign you can use for your hot chocolate bar.

>> Download the chalkboard hot cocoa sign for FREE here

(This design is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. You may not forward, share, sell or re-distribute the file. Ownership and copyright over all designs & graphics contained in the files are property of AspenJay.)

A hot chocolate bar party is one of the simplest ways to create a cozy and memorable holiday gathering. With just a little preparation, you can put together something your guests will love—and look forward to year after year.

Don’t forget to grab your free hot chocolate bar printables to make your setup even easier—and save this post so you can come back to it when planning your next holiday party!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!