Image by: Meaghan O’Malley
Every Christmas party needs to have a bar – and no, I’m not talking about the stack of alcohol on your kitchen counter. It’s a nostalgic bar I’m talking about that would that would be greeted with screams of excitement from the little ones and even make the adults feel like they’re in for a special treat. Here are three festive ideas for your Christmas Party bar.
Hot Chocolate Bar
Treat your guests to an amazing hot chocolate station complete with more toppings then they could dream of. Having DIY toppings mean people will keep going back for more just to try each one, and it works great as an after dinner treat – or if you’re not serving food.
Make up at least two litres of hot chocolate to your favourite recipe, and decant into a few insulated jugs to keep warm. Pop the jugs in your bar area, along with a selection of mugs – Christmas mugs are great if you have them – and some spoons in a festive jar. Fill up small bowls with mini marshmallows, chocolate drops, crushed candy cane and sprinkles, and make sure you have plenty of cans of spray cream to hand.
It’s not just toppings you can do, there are some amazing things you can add in to hot chocolate to give it a special touch. Seedless, smooth jam gives a fruity edge (try raspberry or cherry), maple or butterscotch sauce is great for sweeter tooths, and a few drops of Tabasco makes tastebud-tingling chilli hot chocolate. If you want a more adult edge, leave some serving-size bottles of liquors like Baileys and dark rum. Why not offer recipe ideas on cards too?
Cookie Bar
One can ever get too old to enjoy decorating cookies – there will be just as many adults as kids around this cookie bar!
Simply bake some Christmas shaped sugar cookies, and lots of them, and then offer icings and toppings to spoon on. You could even have a ‘Most Creative Cookie’ prize for the best design. Mix up some glace icing in white, red and green, and scatter around some writing icing tubes, silver balls, sprinkles and edible glitter. Yum!
S’mores Bar
S’mores may be a traditional campfire treat, but the warmth of them and oozing marshmallow somehow seems pretty Christmassy too! These are a great addition to any Christmas party, and the indoor terracotta pot burners are an amazing spectacle for your guests.
Lay out plates and bowls of Graham Crackers, marshmallows, blocks of white, milk and dark chocolate and extras such as peanut butter and After Eight mints. Now for the fun part – the fire!
Make sure your bar area isn’t near overhead cabinets or dangly Christmas decorations, and open windows to release gasses expelled by the charcoal. Line medium size, clean terracotta pots with heavy duty foil, and fill with charcoal – do one, or one between two of these per guest. Pop down a good insulator beneath the pots such as a few cork tiles to avoid scorching your cheap dining sets! When you’re ready to start toasting marshmallows, light the charcoal and away you go.
What bar will you be including in your Christmas party?
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License: Creative Commons image source
Estelle Page is an interior designer and crafter who’s highlight of the year is her annual Christmas party! She writes in her spare time for Great Furniture Trading
