DIY Hot Cocoa Body Butter + Marshmallow Creme Body Butter

I'm very excited today, because it's actually in the 50s outside, y'all! And when it gets pretty much below 69 degrees, I want scarves and sweaters and all things cozy, like hot cocoa. I've talked about this before, but I annually host a holiday hot chocolate get together thing. Official title. And I usually give my guests a little gift--this year, you guessed it, I'm giving them hot cocoa body butter! Looks cute, doesn't it? It's so dang easy to make--here's what you'll need:

1 c cocoa butter (shea butter or coconut oil work too)
2 tsp. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-2 drops of Vitamin E
microwavable bowl
spoons
hand mixer
container for storing
optional: mini cups for presentation
optional: marshmallow fragrance oil
optional: chocolate fragrance oil (if not using cocoa)

Measure your cocoa butter and melt it in the microwave. This takes about two minutes to melt, depending on what base you use. Be sure to watch that it doesn't burn or boil over.

Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave and place it in the freezer to harden.

Once the oil has hardened, take a hand mixer and mix it to a body butter consistency. It will look like icing, as pictured above.

Add the Vitamin E and the cocoa powder to the butter and mix thoroughly with a spoon or the mixer. You can also use a chocolate essential oil in addition or instead of the cocoa powder but the end result won't look like chocolate.

That's it! The cocoa butter is moisturizing, which is so needed in the winter months. The Vitamin E serves as an antioxidant for the body butter and helps it last longer. The body butter will keep for a couple of months. Place the body butter into the container of your choice. I used these tiny little cups that I found at Walmart to display them.

See how little it is? So cute! For the marshmallow creme body butter, repeat the steps, but leave out

the cocoa powder and be sure to mix in the marshmallow flavoring. To make it all cute and fancy, I put mine into a piping bag with a decorative tip. I dusted a little cocoa on top for decoration. Obviously these will dry out if left uncovered.

Now to make the little marshmallows, I actually used my recipe for solid lotion--see it here. I cut them into marshmallow squares, but they were so tiny, they melted a little, as you can see above. I've also made the tiny marshmallows using a meringue recipe and using a solid sugar scrub recipe.

Bonus: If you already have unscented or vanilla body butter, all you will need to do is add the cocoa powder and mix thoroughly.

Note: If you are allergic or sensitive to chocolate, do not add it. If you are allergic to nuts, read the packaging to see if your cocoa powder was processed in the same facility as nuts before using. Due to the richness of the body butter, avoid using on the face. No, this isn't sticky!!

Do you call it hot cocoa or hot chocolate?

Extra Elle:
Happy December 1st! I can't believe the year is almost over.