Make these DIY Hot Cocoa Hostess Gifts to make the season merry & bright!
I don’t like to show up empty handed when I’m invited to someone’s holiday party. I know and appreciate how much work is involved with getting the house or venue ready, the decorating (if it’s a holiday party or celebration), making the food and drinks to be consumed, and the general busy-ness of readying for an event. So. Much. Work. A small gift of appreciation is thoughtful and appropriate. And, because I’m crafty, something handmade seems extra special. Even if you aren’t crafty, this project is easily put together! It’s semi-handmade, in fact!
** Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.See my full disclosure here. **
I love all the fun holiday themed mugs this time of year and I love to recieve fun hot cocoa gifts so I’m sure my friends do, too. Let’s make them!
DIY Hot Cocoa Hostess Gifts
My favorite place to pick up fun holiday themed coffee mugs for these DIY Hot Cocoa Hostess Gifts is TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Marshalls. (Disclosure: I’ve worked there for 20+ years so I’m a tad bit bias about our awesome merchandise) But, really, you can pick up cute mugs just about anywhere.
I have to confess, I’m a little bit obsessed with gnomes this year and when I saw this gnome coffee mug sitting on a shelf just outside my office door (totally NOT where it was supposed to be displayed) I knew that it was meant to come home with me. I also knew I had a holiday ornament party coming up and it would make a cute hostess gift.
As a crafter, I’m also known to hoard things, like, old spice jars. They are perfect for repurposing into DIY hot cocoa hostess gifts. If you don’t have a few empty jars laying around, are you really even a crafter? Ha! No worries, though, you can pick up appropriate jars online or at your local craft store, too.
Supplies:
- Empty Spice Jars
- Craft Felt
- Wooden Bead
- Craft fur
- White embroidery thread & needle
- Coffee mug
- Hot glue gun & glue
- Pencil
- Scissor
- Razor knife
- Hot Cocoa Mix and toppings: marshmallows and peppermint crunch candies.
- For the Polar Bear: White felt, gray embroidery thread, black felt, red ribbon
How-to:
- For the gnome hat: cut a rounded-bottom triangle out of red felt.
- Fold the triangle in half so that the sides meet to form a cone. Use the white embroidery thread & needle to sew the sides together using any stitch you like. (Note that I started with one stitch and switched to another. No worries! I think it adds to the handmade charm)
- Cut off a square of craft fur and flip over. With the pencil, draw two lines to form a square topped triangle. (See the process photo) Use the razor knife to cut your lines. Make sure you’re cutting the back fabric of the fur and not the fur iteself.
- Hot glue the fur to the spice jar cap . The cap gets really hot when you apply the hot glue, so be careful.
- Hot glue the gnome hat to the metal cap, positioning it over the fur beard.
- Hot glue the wooden bead just under the hat so that it looks like it’s peeking out from under the hat.
- Add hot cocoa to the spice jar. The gnome jar held enough for 2 servings according to the package instructions.
- Add marshmallows and push down with a skewer.
- Add peppermint crunch candies and then place the gnome cap and twist until it is tightly secured. (Note: You can add any toppings you’d like. Customize is for your recipient! Here are some yummy ideas for toppings!
- Place in mugs with tissue paper.
- Optional: add a cute pom pom and punched tag with the hot cocoa instructions.
Polar Bear Hot Cocoa Hostess Gift
For the Polar bear cap, I just freehand drew a bear head (after Googling polar bear pattern images) onto two pieces of white felt and sewed them together with dark grey embroidery thread. I left the bottom open in order to glue it to the top of the spice jar cap. I hot glued a stiff red ribbon around the cap.
There are so many ways to customize these DIY Hot Cocoa Hostess Gifts. Use colors your recipients will love! Fill them with just toppings and skip the the hot cocoa all together.
How would you fill your DIY Hot Cocoa Hostess Gifts?
Need more hot cocoa inspiration? Check out my Mint Cocoa Pin It & Spin it, or my hot cocoa bar ideas!
Don’t forget to PIN THIS FOR LATER!
