The holidays are right around the corner, and nothing sets the tone quite like the perfect holiday scents! This post will look at lots of ways to bring warm, delicious scents into your home including all natural holiday candles, essential oil blends and stovetop potpourri.
If you follow my blog, you know I talk about the dangers of synthetic fragrances a lot. Instead of boring you with all of those details again, I’m going to just link a previous post: The Dangers of Synthetic Fragrance—What Products Contain Them?
Long story short, synthetic fragrances are unhealthy endocrine disruptors, and you’ll feel better without them around. If you are a candle lover, don’t fret! There are many, many alternatives to your favorite candle scents, and we’ll talk about them here.
DIY All-Natural Holiday Candles
One of the most inexpensive and fun ways to make your home smell delightful is to make all-natural holiday candles yourself. You will need a few things but much of it can likely be found around your house.
Here is a simple candle making tutorial that is similar to the way I learned: Simple Beeswax Candles Using Essential Oils – YouTube.
Here are links to some of my favorite supplies:
Mason jars (I like the smaller size especially when starting out)
Essential Oils: Plant Therapy and Mountain Rose Herbs are my personal favorites.
Clothespins (to hold the wick in place while you pour the wax in the jar)
You can use a medium stovetop pot and an old glass bowl to create a double boiler. In addition to mason jars, you could use an old mug or glass cup/container you wish to recycle. The options for homemade candle scents are endless. Let’s take a look at some festive scent ideas.
Holiday, Fall & Winter Essential Oil Blends
Some of my favorite blends include cinnamon and orange! You will need 30-40 drops of essential oils for an 8oz. candle. I tend to use more of the citrus and cinnamon oils and less of the stronger minty/fir oils. You can play around with the recipes and see what you like.
In recent years, preblended essential oil blends have become very popular. Just be sure to check the label as some of the blends contain ingredients other than essential oils. If you are using individual oils, here are some blends that work well together.
- cinnamon + wild orange + clove + nutmeg + cardamom
- cinnamon + wild orange + clove + cardamom
- cinnamon + clove + lemon
- cinnamon + wintergreen
- wild orange essential oil + juniper berry essential oil + ginger essential oil + clove essential oil
- wild orange essential oil + white fir essential oil + spearmint essential oil + clove essential oil
- wild orange essential oil + frankincense essential oil + peppermint essential oil (warning: quality frankincense is pricey)
Because essential oils are powerful, be sure to use with caution if you have young children or pets in your home. For example, some essential oils can trigger asthma or allergy in certain individuals and several oils are very dangerous for cats. My go-to source for essential oil safety is the Tisserand Institute.
Store Bought All-Natural Holiday Candles
Natural candles are certainly more expensive, but I probably buy less than half as many as I used to. When I think about those BOGO Bath and Body Works deals, I’m positive I spend less on candles now than I did then.
Aroma Naturals is my favorite affordable brand. The warm spice scent you see here is the epitome of a holiday candle. They also have a yummy vanilla peppermint scent.
Aroma Naturals candles are made with pure essential oils (no synthetic fragrances), natural cotton wicks, and they are made in the USA. I’ve had several of these and have been very pleased.
Plant Therapy also has several all-natural holiday candles to choose from including caramel apple, pumpkin spice and s’mores galore. Yum! I love finding new things when researching for a blog post, and this is one of those things! I have not tried these, but let’s just say the cart is full.
During my search, I found lots of imposter candles brands that used essential oils along with synthetic fragrances. Some companies stated that their synthetic fragrances were paraben and phthalate free, which is definitely an improvement, but I’d rather just avoid the synthetic fragrances altogether to be safe.
Etsy is a fantastic source for all-natural holiday candles. Just be sure to read the descriptions carefully and ask questions if needed. Aire Candle Co. seems to have all of the quality and safety concerns covered and offers several festive scents including vanilla sage, pumpkin pie and balsam fir.
As with many things handmade, the price is a bit higher, but the company has snagged nearly 1,000 rave reviews. They offer free shipping on orders over $50. The candles are hand poured in Cape Cod.
Diffusing Essential Oils
Not a fan of candles or maybe you can’t have them at work. Lots of offices have this rule. You can diffuse these yummy blends with an essential oil diffuser,
Choosing an essential oil diffuser can be a rabbit hole as they are typically made of plastic and made in China. This is what I settled on a few years back. The brand is designed in Japan (made in China) and is BPA free.
I especially enjoy diffusing in the summer months when the house is hot, and I don’t necessarily want to burn a candle. Diffusing peppermint essential oil can be great for subtly opening up the sinuses if someone in your household has cold or is congested. While they aren’t quite as powerful as a humidifier, they can make a noteworthy difference.
Stovetop Potpourri
There’s one last fantastic option to have your home safely smelling like the holidays, and that is stovetop potpourri. I discovered this a few years ago and made jars of it for my husband’s clients. You simply boil some water with oranges, cinnamon and cranberries on the stove. That’s way too simple, right?
I mean nothing makes your home smell as good as fresh baked cookies or apple pie, so it makes total sense! You can boil the same batch for a few of days then switch it out.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to break out the holiday scents and start enjoying them even though it is still 90 degrees here in Tennessee. I hope this post gave you a few ideas about how to healthfully bring holiday scents into your home.
