~Holiday Home 2016~Hot Chocolate Bar

Holiday Home Tour

Hot Chocolate Bar & the Whimsical Kitchen

On the holiday home tour last week, we looked at our living room and dining room decorations. The "Winter Wonderland" theme was carried over into the kitchen and eating nook, where we set up a hot chocolate bar. Baking is one of my favorite things to do, especially for the holidays! We got in the kitchen this week and made some gingerbread to help decorate the spaces.

Is there anything more cozy than a warm beverage and cookies by the fire when it's cold outside?

Our galley kitchen is on the small side, so we used a limited amount of decorations. I decided to decorate the mantle over the stove with some evergreens, a chalkboard sign, some bottle brush trees and birds. I found these birds at Target last week and my daughter and I named them Ferdinand and Morti. I love the character and whimsical nature of them. The birds were made to be ornaments but I cut the strings off and used them atop the mantle to add some woodland creatures to the design. We also used birds in the dining room last week, so it all coordinates together. If you want to check out last week's home tour you can see that here.

Next, I found this free printable from "The Everyday Home" on Pinterest. I printed it out and did the chalk transfer method onto a chalkboard canvas that I had in stock. I changed it a little to fit the bigger size of my canvas.

I love how it looks with the birds!

I also found these bottle brush trees at Target. When the light hits the trees in different spots, they sparkle. Since we had added all the snow in the decor to the other parts of the house, the snowy trees were perfect to bring that element into the kitchen.

We couldn't use our snow sprayed branches or fine powder fake snow in the kitchen because it would get in the food. I know this because.....well, I tried it, it didn't work, I made a big mess and had to start over! Let's just say that you shouldn't use decor that when the air vent over the stove kicks in, it spreads fine powdery fake snow into your pasta! Good times!

One snowflake you can use in the kitchen though, is a cookie one. I found a snowflake cookie cutter that we used to make these gingerbread cookies. We used a piping bag to ice the cookies with white snowflake designs. Gingerbread cookies and houses are such a fun way to decorate in eating spaces.

For our hot chocolate bar, we decorated using more gingerbread cookies, pirouette cookies, sugared stir sticks, mini candy canes, mini chocolate chips, marshmallows and hot chocolate mix.

We found the mugs at HomeGoods and I like the black and white pattern with the copper handles. The copper glass jar for the cocoa mix matched perfectly with our mugs.

Using various glass jars, cloches, and apothecary jars in different heights create interest to any serving area. We spruced up our wreath by adding glittery white sprigs and a chalkboard sign that reads "Hot Chocolate Bar".

I had left over cookie dough from the gingerbread cookies so I decided to make an impromptu gingerbread house. It was a good learning experience for our next big one we want to make with the kids this weekend. Where I messed up in putting the house together, I just threw on more icing! Icing makes everything better and don't let anyone tell you different! :)

This weekend we will be starting a big gingerbread house project from scratch for a Christmas cake we are making. I'm hopeful that it won't end in complete disaster. I'm bringing in the baking expert for this project, my daughter Emily. We also have two engineers, my son and his girlfriend helping out, so surely we can make a gingerbread house cake! Right?

We will let you know how it turns out! Even if it doesn't turn out how I envisioned it in my head (oh and I made a sketch too), I know we will have a great time together. After all, isn't that what the holiday's are all about? Sometimes, I find myself forgetting this very thought in my rush to get things done and make everything perfect. My goal this next few weeks is to slow down, enjoy every precious moment and spend time with the family and friends that hold my heart.

My wish for you is to be able to do the same and to enjoy all the best of the holiday season!