DIY Hot Chocolate Bar

While it’s a pain that it’s freezing, there’s something so magical about the first couple of snow falls, am I right?  We’ve had so much snow this year already, and a week or two ago, ended up building a snowman with our daughter for the first time. She loved it and definitely thought it was her friend! Seeing how much fun she had makes me want to buy her ginormous snow pants and take her sledding, but I’m honestly nervous about how she’s going to act.

Here’s how I think it will go down… she’ll be super pumped to go outside in the snow (but won’t want to touch it because what is that stuff anyway?). We’ll take her up the hill and she’ll flail her legs in excitement and then we’ll go down the hill on the sled. She’ll laugh and squeal and after it’s over continue pointing to the top of the hill because she’s going to want to do it again (exactly what she does with the slide at the park). We’ll grow very tired from carrying a 20+ pound little girl up and down in the snow and will tell her it’s time to go. She’ll now flail her arms in the air, screaming and trying to escape our arms because she can’t imagine ever being inside ever again. Our clothes will be soaked, we’ll be sweaty from trying to keep her in our arms, gloves will be flying everywhere and our hair will be disheveled. It’s a pretty picture isn’t it?

But, my friends, there’s light at the end of this scary tunnel because sledding at our house will always end with hot chocolate. Not just any hot chocolate, but a hot chocolate bar. The kind that puts you in a good mood after taking off the thousands of layers of clothes you have on.

The other day I mocked up my ideal hot chocolate bar and I wanted to share it with all of you in case you foresee sledding with your family in the future. Here are a couple of tips and tricks for creating one:

• Surround your hot chocolate bar with a wintry atmosphere. Purchase a chalkboard sign and write a winter saying, or surround your hot cocoa bar with winter/Christmas decor.
• Get creative with toppings/mix-ins, or keep things simple. There are so many toppings you can use: whip cream, chocolate chips, peppermint, marshmallows, coconut, etc, but it’s okay to stick with a couple of popular options too.
• Make sure your hot chocolate options pair with your toppings. When I was creating my hot chocolate bar, I started thinking about the different variety of hot cocoa I could choose from, but then decided I wanted to stick with a basic cocoa so I could use a couple of different toppings.
• Give the kiddos little hot cocoa packs to take home. Kids will love being able to create their own hot cocoa at home.

I hope you have many cups of sweet, hot cocoa in the next few weeks. If you end up making a hot chocolate bar of your own and get inspiration from this post, don’t forget to tag #marinamakesdiy. Stay warm, friends!