How to Create a CandleScape

Holiday tablescapes create a special ambiance in a home, but did you know you can also create a candlescape that adds a warm glow, especially at night?

Whether you are making a centerpiece for your dining table, a display for your mantel, or want to add some holiday touches throughout your home, candlescapes make for inspired holiday decorations.

Best of all, with the wonderful fall and winter-scented candles, you can make each room smell different. Bring your senses to life as you let your creative spirit run free.

One word of caution before we proceed – be very careful how you place candles, as you do not want them next to anything that could catch fire. Also, while bowls filled with greenery and candles make a stunning scene, opting for battery-operated candles is a good choice since candles may be a bit unbalanced in a bowl.

We often think of candles for romantic evenings, spas, or birthdays, but candles are perfect for any occasion (just watch your pets and small children). Nothing says warmth on a cold winter night better than a flickering candle.

Candlescapes can be simple or elaborate – however the mood takes you. Of course, not all candles are meant to be lit, as some are more decorative, such as those shaped like various objects (trees, animals, food). You can fool your family and friends with a bowl of delicious-looking fruit (fun, scented candles).

Children can help you search outdoors for natural décor to add to your candlescape, such as colorful leaves, twigs, rocks, moss, and pinecones. Creating a candlescape is something everyone in the family can have fun with together. Placing your candlescape on a platter, tray, or board adds another dimension. You can also purchase moss and artificial flowers from a local craft store or online.

Another creative option for your candlescape is to take plain white candles and turn them into something extraordinary. You can do this by taking leftover candles that have burned low or crayons, melting their wax, and dipping the bottoms of your white candles in them. You can learn more about doing this here.

Pumpkin spice, apple, cinnamon, orange, clove, gingerbread, and sugar cookies are some of the distinctive candle scents that will give your home that warm, out-of-the-oven baked smell. Of course, if you do not bake, make sure to have some sweets on hand when the cravings get out of control. After all, if you keep smelling cookies or pie all day, you and everyone in your home will want some.

Another option for a candlescape that is especially meaningful this time of year is one that sends a message of hope and purpose. ScentsAbility candles have names such as courage, ability, gratitude, dream, positivity, and purpose. When you purchase candles from them, you are helping to provide job training and work opportunities for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD).

Terra cotta pots can add a new dimension to your candlescape. With pots of varying sizes and their platters turned upside down or right side up, you can create a candlescape with many different-sized candles and tea lights. Position a few pinecones around, along with a bit of moss, and it will be a warm and welcoming display. Terra cotta candlescapes work well with sandalwood, pine, cedar, and other earthy scents.

Another idea that works well indoors or out is a succulent candlescape. Succulents require little care, and with their varying shapes, sizes, and colors, they make a wonderful backdrop to your candles. For those who live in the south and do not have the wonderful smell of pine in the air, placing a candlescape filled with cedar or pine-scented candles on your patio or porch will make you feel like you are up north.

Winter is also the time to put out a bowl of nuts and a nutcracker. A wooden bowl is the perfect accompaniment to a rustic candlescape. There is no limit to the creative ideas you can come up with. Just go where the mood sends you and light up your life with candles.

Resources:

https://scentsability.org/

https://blog.villeroy-boch.com/2011/12/5-steps-to-holiday-tablescape-design/

https://jennakateathome.com/fall-centerpiece-with-candles/

https://simplepracticalbeautiful.com/a-winter-holiday-tablescape/

https://graceinmyspace.com/8-easy-diy-christmas-candle-centerpiece-ideas/

https://www.shophouseofdesign.com/designprojectsucculentcandlescape

https://www.dossierblog.com/12-diys-of-christmas-terracotta-candlescape/

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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2023 Magazine