Create a Fun Hot Cocoa Bar on a Kitchen Island

Recently, a design client and I were brainstorming ways to dress up her large island. The challenge with decorating kitchen islands is appropriately scaling the items, and putting something on them that doesn’t take up too much space, or that has to be constantly moved to use the island top. We decided a fun hot cocoa bar on a kitchen island in the middle would be a great way to fill the area with something cute and functional. I mean, who doesn’t love jars full of chocolate and marshmallows?

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We started with a shopping trip to pick up various jars and containers. We found the super cute Santa plates at Homegoods. To make everything look like it belonged there, we placed the bulk of it on a tray to tie it together, and built around that.

Filling a jar with a lid full of hot cocoa covered in mini-marshmallows, we found that these cute wooden measuring cups we perfect to use as scoopers.

We added some pre-packaged sprinkles in a cute mug, and a bottle of peppermint crunch to sprinkle on top of whipped cream.

We also picked up a few bags of these cute pink and white marshmallows. I almost hate to eat them because they are so cute, but sacrifices must be made sometimes. I used these cute snowman marshmallows a few years ago on the kid’s hot chocolate at they were a big hit!

The red mugs were the perfect look for what we were going for. We put them on a stool to give the entire display some height and visual interest.

Of course anytime you fill a jar full of chocolate it draws attention! I know her kids were waiting until I left to dive in, and I don’t blame them at all! This is such an easy thing to do visually, and of course, everyone loves to sneak a piece or two. We bought extra bags so refilling was easy.

The cake stand in back has a few pretty, pink meringue cookies, and a few faux pine greenery and a fun wooden house on the kitchen island add to the charm of the display. It was fun to play with something ordinary and make it a little extra- ordinary. Everyone loves a visual treat along with an edible one!

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