Hot Cocoa Party for Phoebe's 8th Birthday!

COVID birthdays are no joke but with my party loving baby girl, we were not going to let it get in the way! We decided to do a COVID friendly hot cocoa party for our neighbor friends (and special guest - my niece!!). It ended up being the MOST fun and I’m excited to share the details with you guys! It warmed my heart to create some holiday magic for these kids that have navigated so much this year!

We set up a really cute cocoa bar outside for the kids so that they could spend time outside without masks and just have some normal, kid fun! We don’t have a big yard or lots of space and it did not matter. Kids make everything fun! Here are some of the details…

For party favors we scooped up some of the cutest Christmas mugs I’ve ever seen! The kids flipped when we told them they got to keep them. Best $5 ever spent. You can find them HERE. I also grabbed this cute mini tree collar to hold these Candy Cane lollipops that the kids got to take home right here!

Phoebe is gluten and dairy free so the whole spread was just for her! Nothing off limits. :) I grabbed Goodie Girl Mint Chocolate cookies and Double Chocolate cookies, SkinnyPop White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn, and then the YUMMIEST Hot Cocoa for a Crowd that we made allergy friendly and toppings galore.

HOT COCOA PARTY STYLE
modified from this recipe

You will need:

1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Mini Marshmallows
1/2 cup semi-sweet Enjoy Life chocolate chips
10 cups Almond Milk (unsweetened)

To make:

In a large sauce pan combine everything except for the almond milk.
Over medium heat, bring to a low boil, stirring constantly
Put mixture in a 6 quart crockpot
Add the almond milk and stir
Heat on high for 2 hours or until hot

We served with a ladle from the porch! It was HOT so tell the kiddos to blow before drinking. We had older kids for the most part but you could always add cold almond milk to cool it off in each mug.

Toppings included whipped cream (everyone’s fave and the only dairy thing I had), Enjoy Life mini chips, Peppermint oil, Candy Cane “Snow” (aka crushed candy canes), Candy Canes, Sprinkles, and mini marshmallows!

To decorate, I used garlands , Hot Cocoa sign, tiered stand, toppings jars, and snow blanket from Hobby Lobby. The little houses were from the Dollar Spot last year, vintage coke crate, wine chiller, gold spoons, chalk board signs, pillows from here.

One of my favorite parts of the party was this simple photo op area that was totally not planned. Originally we were going to have the cocoa bar set up here but the folding table was too wide so we made this little moment with our porch bench and two simple elements: two of these that I would recommend adding some 3M tape to for durability and five snowy pom pom garland strands from Hobby Lobby that we hung with clear 3M hooks. It was so simple and really beautiful. My fave pillows here.