Hello! How are you doing today? I hope your doing amazing, and guys: guess what?! It’s officially socially acceptable to start celebrating Christmas!! I may or may not have been celebrating Christmas since the beginning of November, I’ll let you decide what to believe 😉 In my opinion, Christmas only comes once a year and its the best holiday so why not go all out?

Today I’m back with a super fun and exciting post, and it’s also special because its my first Christmas post of 2020! I know your reader is probably full of Christmas posts so if you’re reading this, thank you very much, I appreciate it ❤
The wonderful Shellea from shelleaandscout over on Etsy kindly agreed to send me a mug in exchange for a blog post and man am I excited for this post! I chose a Christmas mug with this post in mind and the mug Shellea sent me was PERFECT! She sent me the Merry Christmas mug, which is one of my favorites from her shop. Check it out here!
The mug is the perfect size in my opinion and is so fun to drink hot cocoa out of. It’s this really festive red color and says Merry Christmas with some cute little stars around it. The design is made of permanent vinyl so it is completely dishwasher safe although Shellea recommends hand washing so it holds up longer. My mug was put in the dishwasher (unknown to me) on the top rack and held up wonderfully, without any of the vinyl starting to peel or anything!
Next, let’s move on to the cocoa recipe! This cocoa recipe is my family favorite, with it being passed around from one of my cousins and now its a family tradition to make for Christmas movie nights! This recipe originally comes from a Taste of Home magazine, published in 2008 but it’s been altered a little by my family and cousins 🙂
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup baking cocoa
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 cups milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 tsp almond extract
- marshmallows and whipped cream (optional)

The recipe:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup baking cocoa
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 cups milk
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- marshmallows and whipped cream (optional)
Heat milk, water, and vanilla and almond extracts in a medium sized pot. Add in other ingredients, mix it up, and let warm until your desired heat! Top with whipped cream and marshmallows and enjoy!


Next, I poured my hot cocoa into my lovely mug and I took some adorable Christmas photos that I’m quite happy with 🥰 Here are my favorites!


Ahhh I love those photos! So Christmas-y and they definitely help me get into the spirit ❤ Overall, I give this mug a 10/10. I don’t have any complaints and I adore it for drinking my cocoa out of! It also works really well for taking super cute Christmas photos! A huge thank you to Shellea for sending me this mug, I appreciate it so much! Make sure to check out her shop, her mugs are priced super reasonably and I highly recommend.
Thats all for today! I hope you enjoyed this post, I sure enjoyed writing it for y’all! How are you preparing for Christmas if you celebrate it? If you don’t celebrate Christmas what are some fun things happening in your life soon? Do you call it hot cocoa or hot chocolate? Do you have a Christmas mug? I recommend buying one from Shellea if you don’t 😉
xx, Jasmin
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Mmmmm looks so good! That cocoa recipe looks GOOD. and sugary. 😛 I like sugar tho. But does it actually have TWELVE tsps of almond extract?? That seems like a lot so I was wondering if you did a typo or something maybe? Like 😳 sounds really…. uh… nutty🤔
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 it’s prolly rly good tho. That reminds me of my grma- she literally is obsessed with almond extract rn, (she goes thru phases of what she is obsessed with, at one point it was goop,( a kind of glue) And she gave us all like a lot of it for christmas😂😂😂) she’s so funny I love her 😉
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Ahhh it is so good! Omw, didnt even realize! Thanks for the heads up, it’s supposed to be 1/2 tsp 🤦🏼♀️😂
Haha grandmas are the BEST! I love mine and yours sounds awesome too ❤️
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AHHH that is the cutest mug!! Im definitely going check out this etsy shop. Thanks for getting me in the Christmas spirit
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isn’t is?! I love it so much and the Christmas-y-ness of it just adds to the awesome-ness 🎄 Def check out her shop, she has a ton of adorable mugs and at great prices too!
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Cute!! Also, why not listen to Christmas music longer?! 🤔
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Agreed 110% 🎄❤️
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That’s a really cool mug! Great review.
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Thank you! I love it ❤️
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SUCH A PRETTY MUG! I LOVE HOT COCO! MEEEEERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
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ISN’T IT?!? Me too 🥰 Thank you and Merry Christmas to you!!
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The mug looks so cute! I definitely have to try this recipe because I really love hot chocolate lol. Also love the candy cane pieces you put on the whipped cream! 😋xx
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I know, right?! I love this recipe, especially if you add a bit of peppermint mocha creamer after 🥰 SO. GOOD.
awww thank you! I love how festive the candy cane bits make it look 😍
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That hot chocolate/cocoa recipe sounds amazing! I need to try it out! ❤
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Please do! You won’t be disappointed, its one of the best 🎄
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Hahaha it’s socially acceptable to celebrate Christmas now but I’ve totally been jamming to Christmas tunes since Nov 1st 😂
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Haha don’t tell anyone but SAME GIRL. Same 😂❤️ There’s absolutely nothing wrong with getting in the spirit early tho!
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Love hot chocolate as my go to ‘hot’ drink 😍 I’ve never considered making it on the stove but must give it a go sometime! Looks so good & that mug is super cute! All the cosy vibes 🥰
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Me too! I love hot apple cider and hot cocoa so it’s almost all I drink all winter long 🥰
Oh really? You must, it’s truly delicious!
Aww thank you so much! ❤️
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Ah lovely! That cocoa looks delicious! We always add a touch of cinnamon to ours…I don’t know it just adds “something”! 😂
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Why thank you! It was quite good 🤩 Ooohh interesting, I’ve never tried that but it sounds good!
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Ahhh looks delicious 😍😋
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Oh my goodness it isss 🥰❤️
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Such a pretty mug! I need to make hot cocoa, like, 3 days ago
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Isn’t it?! I love it 🤩 Haha hot cocoa is a staple for me during the holiday season!
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This post was great and that mug is super cute!! Hot chocolate is so amazing. ❤ Early Merry Christmas to you. 😉
– Keziah
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Aww thank you so much! I agree, it’s definitely a staple for my holiday season! Merry Christmas to you too lovely! 🎄
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