Weddingbee Blog

I, very similarly to Miss Honey, decided to take a break from all-things wedding, and I turned my attention to creating gifts for my coworkers. I wanted to gift them something homemade. I considered cookies among other baked goods, but quickly decided on hot cocoa mix since I already had the perfect containers: those extra mason jars from my failed DIY.

I started by researching recipes and read great reviews on one from Alton Brown on the Food Network. I noted the reviewers’ suggestions and ended up with my revised recipe:

• 2 cups Dutch Cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 5 cups whole powdered milk (I used Nido. [Found at Walmart in the Hispanic Foods section])
• 2 TBS salt
• 4 TBS cornstarch
• 1 bag mini marshmallows

I combined all of the ingredients (minus the marshmallows) in a large bowl and slowly stirred with a wooden spatula. (Be prepared to make a big mess!) I then spooned the mix into my jars.

I filled them to about the curve of the jar and filled the rest of the jar with marshmallows. I attempted to create a parfait effect with the first jar and layer marshmallows, but it was unsuccessful. No matter how many marshmallows I put in the layer, the next layer of cocoa would nearly completely cover them. I found they looked best on top of the mix.

(FYI - my mix yielded over 4 full quarts.)

Evidence of my mess

I wanted some sort of label on the jars, but did not have any labels around the house. I ended up printing round paper labels and it worked just fine.

To create them, I used Microsoft Publisher. First I created a 2 by 2 inch circle:

Then I searched for the perfect label background and cropped it to match the 2 by 2 in. circle. I inserted a rectangle in the center to create a background for my text and inserted a text box.

I grouped all of the elements together (photo circle, red band and text), copied and pasted until I had my desired amount of labels. Once printed, I cut out the circles and lightly glued them using Elmer’s craft glue. (If I had planned better, I would have invested in Sticker Paper like this to eliminate the glue.) Lastly I decorated with some ribbon and holiday tags from Walmart.

The final product

I was so pleased with the end result, and I couldn’t help but think that with a few tweaks, these would make the most adorable wedding favor! Obviously with a May wedding myself, hot cocoa wouldn’t make much sense for us, but it would be so fitting for a winter affair. Switching to a half-pint or pint glass would certainly make the mix go farther and creating a wedding monogram lid label would be incredibly simple!

Are you creating homemade goodies as your wedding favor? Where did you find your inspiration?

All photos personal