Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (2024)

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles

Discover the best Christmas candle scent recipe for DIY candles in easy-to-use printable candle scent mixing charts! These Christmas scented candle recipes are anything but basic.

Christmas is a special time of year when fairytales come to life. Elves and Santa, too, can be spotted almost anywhere. Snowflakes create mosaics on our windows in the chilly air, and twinkling lights line the streets from dusk until dawn. Houses brim with the sound of holiday music and scents of cinnamon, spruce, and peppermint. And if you’re ever so lucky to have Christmas snow, it truly feels like a wonderland.

The days may be the shortest of the year, but the memories can last a lifetime. And while we may encounter many a cold night, a single candle can warm the soul and light up our lives with the spark of a flame.

If you’ve dreamed of making candles for Christmas, now’s your chance to awaken your dream and capture the magic of the holiday season in a homemade candle!

I’ve put together Christmas candle scent recipes that are anything but basic. They’ll brighten the far too-early sunsets and add a personalized touch to your holiday celebrations by bringing cheer to your home with merry holiday fragrances and warm candle scents that feel like a big hug.

So, if you’re unsure where to start creating Christmas candles, I’ve got everything you need to make the perfect candles to fill your home with comforting aromas and happy holiday scents!

We’ll talk about the best Christmas smell, how to test candle scent recipes, and easy steps for use, along with our printable candle scent mixing charts you can keep.

Let’s deck the halls with a glow this season!

For your convenience, this article contains some affiliate links to find the supplies needed easily; read the full disclosure policy for more information.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (1)

What’s The Best Christmas Smell?

Have you ever noticed that we primarily describe seasons by scents, colors, and tastes? The holiday season is no different – the smell of freshly cut pine trees, candy canes, cinnamon, and a color palette of green, white, and red brings holiday traditions to mind. Take a look at this list of the best Christmas scents and see if you disagree.

BEST CHRISTMAS SCENTS:

Sugar Plum

Peppermint

Roasted Chestnuts and Rum

Fir Needle

Clove

Frankincense and Myrrh

Sweet Orange

Christmas Tree

Cinnamon

Juniper Fir and Balsam Spruce

Holiday Season

Cedarwood

Peppermint and Cocoa

Gingerbread

Hot Cocoa

Christmas Wreath

Snickerdoodle

Candy Cane

Put some of these ready-made candle scents to work, or turn to our printable Christmas candle scent mixing chart below to make amazing candles with unique candle scent combinations. You’re sure to find inspiring ideas to bring the aromas of the holiday season into your home.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (2)

3 Ways To Test Candle Scent Recipes

Here are three ways to test these Christmas candle scent recipes at home in addition to your own ideas for scented candles for any occasion. Because it is never too early to start creating Christmas DIY crafts, especially when it comes to holiday candles!

Quick Jar Test:

For a quick test of a scent recipe, add drops of each scent according to the percentage to a cotton ball.

For example, if you want to smell the Holiday Cheer scent before making a candle. Add 5 drops of cinnamon, 2 drops of orange, and 2 drops of amber to a cotton ball. Place the scented cotton ball in a glass jar.

After a few days, open the jar and take a whiff. If you like what you smell, make a candle or test it in a candle melt next.

Wax Melt Test:

Candle wax melts are a very inexpensive way to test candle scents. Follow my instructions to make soy or beeswax candle wax melts to test a scent. I have done this many times, and I know you’ll find it helpful, too.

Small Candle Test:

Another affordable way to test a candle scent blend is to make a small candle. This can give the best example of how it will perform in a candle. Opt to make a small two or four-ounce candle. Ensure you give it 3 to 7 days to cure before lighting and smelling the hot throw.

Related To: Candle Scent Quiz

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (3)

How Do You Use A Christmas Candle Scent Recipe?

It’s easy to make candles that smell like Christmas in minutes by following this key technique!

Before you begin, it’s helpful to know how much candle fragrance your candle wax can hold. Most candle wax makers will include this on the label and/or in the product’s description.

For example, this soy wax has a maximum fragrance load of 12%. Meaning it can hold up to 12% or almost 2 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax. If you’re unfamiliar with this term, read my scented candle guide or pick up a copy of my candle-making book, Creative Candles Made Simple!

Once you know the amount of fragrance your candle wax can hold, choose your desired fragrance load. Do you prefer a lightly scented candle or a strong scented candle? To give you an example, store-bought candles have a common fragrance load of 6%. In contrast, high-quality candles can have a fragrance load of up to 12%.

Now that you’ve chosen your wax and desired fragrance amount, you can put them into a fragrance load calculator and calculate the fragrance load for your homemade candles.

If this all sounds complicated, don’t worry. I’ve made it easy to get started with tested Christmas candle scent recipes you can use in various candle sizes.

How To Use A Candle Scent Recipe:

Divide the total amount of fragrance you need for your candles by each percentage included in the candle scent blend.

For example,

Suppose you need a total of 3 ounces of fragrance to make six 5-ounce candles with a 9.5% fragrance load. If you want to make the first recipe, Holly Jolly – then you’ll add .90 ounces of vanilla + .30 ounces of peppermint + 1.20 ounces of cinnamon + .60 ounces of lemon, which equals = 3 ounces total.

Pretty straightforward, right? Let’s get started!

Related To: Christmas Handmade Candles

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (4)

The Best Christmas Candle Scents Of the Season

You’ll feel like Santa checking off this list of holiday candle scents of the season! Don’t miss the tips above to test each scent and how to use the candle scent recipes for various candle sizes.

I have included links to high-quality, phthalate-free natural fragrances or essential oils for each recipe. This is my way of giving you many options for choosing your candle fragrance type.

Let’s let it glow with the best Christmas candle scent recipes!

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (5)

Holly Jolly

This slightly sweet holiday baking candle scent recipe will add some holly jolly to your kitchen this season.

30% vanilla

10% peppermint

40% cinnamon

20% lemon

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (6)

Winter Woods

Refresh your space with a serene, snowy scent of myrrh, clary sage, lavender, juniper, and frosted vanilla. This candle scent recipe perfectly captures the fresh scent of winter in the woods.

25% clary sage

10% myrrh

25% lavender

30% juniper

10% vanilla

Prefer a ready-made candle fragrance? Try Bramble Berry’s Black Amber and Lavender Oil; it’s a sophisticated mix of black myrrh, lavender, amber, vanilla, clary sage, and tonka bean.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (7)

Fireside

This Fireside scented candle of rich clove, fresh pine and vetiver, earthy cedarwood, and a dash of apple will add a festive touch, glowing over the fireplace hung with stockings.

30% clove

20% pine

10% vetiver

20% cedarwood

20% apple

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (8)

Peppermint Bark

You’ll be ready to watch a holiday movie with a cup of hot cocoa topped with snowflake marshmallows and peppermint candy cane after making candles with this scent!

25% creamy vanilla sugar or vanilla

50% peppermint

25% cacao blanc absolute

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (9)

Christmas Tree Farm

Just like we can’t have autumn without a pumpkin spice candle, we can’t celebrate the holidays without Christmas tree candles either. This scent recipe is a twist on the classic aroma of fresh cut Christmas tree with the added warmth of sandalwood and anise

35% black spruce

10% anise

25% sandalwood

20% amber

10% vetiver

Bramble Berry’s Black Spruce and Anise say it smells like crisp air but isn’t your typical woody scent if you’re looking for a ready-to-use option. The blend includes anise, wild berries, amber, black spruce, and sandalwood. That finishes with bottom notes of balsam fir and vetiver.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (10)

Holiday Cheer

Create a warm welcome of holiday cheer with a beautiful blend of bright orange, comforting cinnamon bark, and warming amber in this Christmas scented candle blend.

50% cinnamon

25% orange

25% amber

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (11)

Frosted Forest

Fill your home with the seasonal spirit when you make Christmas candles with notes of pine, juniper, balsam fir, eucalyptus, and a sublime pairing of lemon and cinnamon. Frosted Forest is an invigorating candle scent you don’t want to miss this season!

10% pine

25% juniper

20% balsam fir

20% eucalyptus

10% lemon

15% cinnamon

Short on time to make candles? Use Juniper and Balsam Spruce oil from Makesy (get 10% off with my exclusive code CREATEWITHKRISTY10). It’s a fresh breath of frosted mountain air with eucalyptus, lemon peel, pine wood, juniper, balsam fir needle, sweet apple, and cinnamon.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (12)

Mulled Wine

Who doesn’t enjoy a glass of mulled wine during the holidays? Make candles with this blend of orange, apple, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and bergamot to delight the senses. Pair it with homemade wine bath salts or red wine soap for the gift of relaxation.

20% orange

10% apple

20% cinnamon

20% clove

10% nutmeg

20% bergamot

Printable Christmas Candle Scent Recipes

Finding the perfect holiday candle scent is so easy with these printable Christmas candle scent mixing charts! Please find it and countless more candle-making resources in the Simple Living Library.

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (13)

Candles are a holiday essential for me and my best go-to give to spark a flame and keep you feeling warm and cozy all season long!With these printable Christmas candle scent mixing charts, it’s easy to find a new favorite candle for the best time of year.

If you want to make your festive gifting a little more personal, make your own scented candles and DIY candle bags -they’re a guaranteed gift to treasure.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

  • Layered Massage Soap Idea
  • How to Start Making Bath Bombs
  • Coffee Infused Tightening Eye Cream
  • DIY Matcha Green Tea Bath Bombs
  • How To Make Perfume Spray
Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (14)

Save these Christmas candle scent recipes to your candle making Pinterest board, and while you’re there, be sure to follow Life-n-Reflection for more inspiring ideas.

Did you know you can Tag #lifenreflection on Instagram to share your DIYs with me?

Best Christmas Candle Scent Recipes For DIY Candles (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a candle that smells like Christmas? ›

Mix Essential Oils Into Wax

For a holiday tree scent, combine 10 drops of balsam fir needle and 5 drops of eucalyptus. For a spiced cider scent, combine 10 drops of sweet orange and 5 drops of clove bud. For a snickerdoodle scent, combine 10 drops of vanilla and 5 drops of cinnamon.

What are the scent notes for the perfect Christmas candle? ›

Fragrance notes: fresh cut pine, cinnamon sugar and toasted marshmallow.

How do you make super strong smelling candles? ›

How do you make strong-scented candles? Generally speaking, the more fragrance oil you add to your melted wax, the more aromatic the candle will be. And as mentioned above, the type of wax you choose has an effect too. The basic ratio is one ounce of oil per pound of wax.

What scents sell the most in candles? ›

Leading scents in the global scented candle market 2022, by market share. As of 2022, the leading scent used for scented candles worldwide was vanilla, with a market share of about 11 percent. Citrus/lemon scent was the second most popular, with a share of approximately ten percent.

What scents make a Christmas scent? ›

Read on to find out how to start prepping your home to smell like Christmas.
  • Christmas Tree.
  • Sage.
  • Cinnamon.
  • Nutmeg.
  • Peppermint.
  • Rosemary.
  • Myrrh.
  • Clove.

How do you get the Christmas smell? ›

The holiday season is filled with nostalgia and notes of spice, evergreen, and peppermint. To infuse your home with natural, clean fragrance that speaks to this time of year, look to foraged items such as pinecones, citrus fruits, whole cloves, and balsam boughs.

What is the most popular Christmas scent? ›

Cinnamon scented candles are very popular over Christmastime. Purchasing a real Christmas tree for your home is a great way to bring the natural smell indoors. It's a wonderful scent to greet you in the morning. Oranges appear in many dried fruit decorations at Christmas most famously a Christingle.

What candle smells most like Christmas tree? ›

Save A Tree, Burn A Candle
  • Trader Joe's Cedar Balsam Candle.
  • Ralph Lauren Holiday Candle.
  • Nest Birchwood Pine Candle.
  • Nest Holiday Candle.
  • Capri Blue Fir & Firewood Jar Candle.
  • Thymes Frasier Fir Pine Needle Candle.
  • Yankee Candle Balsam & Cedar Jar Candle.
  • DS & Durga Portable XMas Tree.

What is a Christmas scent? ›

What is the classic Christmas scent? The smells of warm spices and fresh-baked goods always remind us of Christmas, but nothing is more classic than the scent of a Christmas tree. Fresh greenery and pine-scented candles will give your home a Christmasy feeling.

How do you make unique candle scents? ›

Instructions
  1. Open Containers. Open the oils and the small glass jar. ...
  2. Dip Cotton Swab in Oil. One at a time, dip the tip of a clean cotton swab into the fragrance or essential oil. ...
  3. Put Swab in Jar. ...
  4. Repeat for Each Scent. ...
  5. Keep Notes on Oil Testing. ...
  6. Walk Away. ...
  7. Smell Scent Blend. ...
  8. Let Jar 'Mature' and Smell Again.
Nov 5, 2020

Why doesn't my homemade candle smell? ›

If your scent is coming out too light, you may have mis-sized your wick. If you went on the small end, the pool of wax may not be hot enough to release the scent fully. Alternatively, you might have added your fragrance oil to the wax when it was too hot. Adding the fragrance oil to the hot wax is a common problem.

What is added to candles to make them smell nice? ›

Burning candles smell good because of fragrance oils added to the wax. These oils, like lavender, rose, or sandalwood, are infused into the candle during production.

What is everyones favorite candle scent? ›

After vanilla, there's a huge drop-off to third place, where lavender, lemon, and rose all tied with three state wins each, then fourth place is another tie consisting of citrus, coconut, peppermint, and gardenia, which each won two states.

What is the most universally liked candle scent? ›

According to Brooke & Lou, Citrus is a popular candle scent, especially during summer months. According to Maple Holistics, Lavender is one of the most popular scents, considered to provide relaxation.

What makes a candle sells the most? ›

Candle industry research indicates that the most important factors affecting candle sales are scent, color, cost and shape.

How do you make custom candle scents? ›

Instructions
  1. Open Containers. Open the oils and the small glass jar. ...
  2. Dip Cotton Swab in Oil. One at a time, dip the tip of a clean cotton swab into the fragrance or essential oil. ...
  3. Put Swab in Jar. ...
  4. Repeat for Each Scent. ...
  5. Keep Notes on Oil Testing. ...
  6. Walk Away. ...
  7. Smell Scent Blend. ...
  8. Let Jar 'Mature' and Smell Again.
Nov 5, 2020

What do you put in candles to make them smell? ›

Always use fragrance oils that are designed for candle making. We have nearly 400 fragrances to choose from and we are adding more each year! Don't burn your candle for too long: After burning your candle for several hours, your wick will need to be trimmed.

How do you make winter candles? ›

Directions
  1. In a double boiler, melt soy wax, beeswax, and coconut oil together.
  2. Once the mixture has just melted, remove from heat. Add essential oils and stir to mix.
  3. Place candle wick in center of jar or mold. Pour in wax while propping wick upright. ...
  4. To use, light candle.
Oct 21, 2020

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Saturnina Altenwerth DVM

Last Updated:

Views: 5963

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Saturnina Altenwerth DVM

Birthday: 1992-08-21

Address: Apt. 237 662 Haag Mills, East Verenaport, MO 57071-5493

Phone: +331850833384

Job: District Real-Estate Architect

Hobby: Skateboarding, Taxidermy, Air sports, Painting, Knife making, Letterboxing, Inline skating

Introduction: My name is Saturnina Altenwerth DVM, I am a witty, perfect, combative, beautiful, determined, fancy, determined person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.