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scattered thoughts of a crafty mom logo

Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom by Jamie Sanders

Inspiring you to sew, cook and create.

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Home / crafts / How to Make an Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar

How to Make an Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar

crafts, family activities, Home Projects, Lifestyle, party ideas

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

How to make an Outdoor Hot Chocolate Bar: This DIY Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar is perfect for serving hot cocoa, coffee and other warm beverages to party guests.
How to make an Outdoor Hot Chocolate Bar: This DIY Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar is perfect for serving hot cocoa, coffee and other warm beverages to party guests.

How to make an outdoor Hot Chocolate Bar:  Hosting an outdoor gathering, but it’s still cool out?  This DIY Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar is perfect for serving hot cocoa, coffee and other warm beverages to all your guests.  (Or, as in our case, I just wanted a hot chocolate bar as a backdrop to our family photo session.)

How to set up an Outdoor Hot Cocoa Bar

Do you remember my post a few weeks back about our family photos/cold shoulder top sewing tutorial?  Our Outdoor Hot Chocolate Bar themed photos turned out amazing and I actually got several emails asking questions about our set up, so I thought I would do a follow-up post and share a few more details!

outdoor hot chocolate bar

DIY outdoor hot cocoa bar

I set up this hot cocoa bar as a backdrop for our family photo session this year, but it was a real Hot Chocolate Bar- with hot cocoa in the slow cooker and all sorts of toppings and goodies to go along with and top off our drinks. (I even let the kids set the hot cocoa bar back up the following day to “sell” hot chocolate to the neighborhood kids.  (They even had cookies and gave out the goodies for “tips only.”  Kept them out of the house and busy all day! )

[irp posts=”27356″ name=”Tips for Creating the Best DIY Popcorn Bar”]

In the photo below you can see a bit better how we set up the table/stand…

hot cocoa bar ideas

I used my entryway table as the bar, but almost any table with some sort of tablecloth could work.  In our lemonade stand, I did a few years back, I used an ikea sheet to make a ruffled tablecloth to cover our outdoor coffee table.

To make the holders for the banner, I bought long wood 1 by 2’s and quickly gave them a light coat of stain to match the table.  We then zip-tied the 1 by 2’s to the tables back legs.  I wanted to be able to hang a banner, so we drilled holes at the top of the 1 by 2’s and strung the banner through the holes.  (Hubby did the work for me.)  I do recommend trimming your zip ties and using a color that blends so they won’t be as noticeable or will at least be easier to photoshop them out.

IMO, that banner really made a world of difference in the final look.  It’s a smidge extra work – but don’t skip it!

hot chocolate bar ideas

To decorate the Hot Cocoa Bar, I used various knick-knacks that I already had, plus a few more items from Hobby Lobby, Joann’s and Amazon.

Links to items used (or recommended):

  • Great quality paper cups 
  • Paper straws
  • Mason jars
  • Mini Marshmallows (THESE ARE SO GREAT!!!)
  • Various Pennant Banners, Blank wood banner, American Crafts banners, (my banner came from Hobby Lobby)
  • Chalkboard Signs
  • My slow cooker

hot cocoa bar

Hot Cocoa…  Only 100 cents!

serve hot chocolate outside

We also had a lovely tiered platter of cookies and brownies that was supposed to be where the cake stand was, but they were accidentally dropped by an unnamed munchkin, while we were setting up, lol.

[irp posts=”12514″ name=”DIY Lemonade Stand”]

I just love how the hot cocoa bar turned out!

What do you think, is this something you would do?

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January 29 · 4 Comments

Previous Post: « Low Carb / Sugar free Crustless Cheesecake (in the pressure cooker!)
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Comments

  1. Neah says

    December 2 at 1:34 pm

    How long for did the slow cooker keep the cocoa warm? Do you have a secret outlet behind that table?

    Reply
    • Jamie Sanders says

      December 2 at 2:21 pm

      It kept it warm for quite a while, but anything more than 45 minutes you will probly want to plug it in.

      Reply
  2. Kenneth says

    December 21 at 8:29 am

    To keep the hot chocolate warm, do you put the slow cooker on low or warm?

    Reply
    • Jamie Sanders says

      December 21 at 9:34 am

      Warm if your slow cooker has it. Otherwise I would use low and just cycle it off and on.

      Reply

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