Skip to main content

21OAK may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

These are our favorite festive candles for the holiday season

If you’re anything like us, you’re obsessed with candles. They’re great all year-round, but they’re especially lovely around the holidays when they fill our homes with all the nostalgic fragrances of a childhood spent making cookies and gingerbread houses. Before you begin your seasonal candle haul, check out our top picks below. We scoured the internet to find some of the best, most well-reviewed, and amazing smelling options that will get you through the entire holiday season.

Best home candle

If you don’t get to spend the holidays at home, we implore you to buy this Holiday Stroll candle from Homesick Candles. It smells like mulled wine, sandalwood, and memories of days gone by to cure any homesickness. This one burns for 60-80 hours, so you can keep it going all Christmas Day and beyond. It’s $34 (with 15% off if you sign up with your email) and is the perfect gift for someone who won’t be home this holiday.

Best evergreen smell for your fake tree

If you opted for a fake tree either for the ease of it, because of pets, or due to allergies to trees (and mess) but love the smell of a freshly cut tree, check out this ILLUME Balsam and Cedar Mercury glass candle from Crate and Barrel. For $58, your home will smell of stunning balsam, wood, moss, and cinnamon, filling your living room with aromas that will make any guest believe you just went out into the middle of the forest and cut a tree down yourself.

Best seasonal candle

We love everything about Bath and Body Works’ three-wick candles because they burn for such a long time and produce a nice, but not overwhelming, scent in any room they’re in. At the top of our list is this ‘Tis the Season candle, which sells for $25.50 (but you can usually find a buy 2-get-2 or 40% off sale around the holidays). The vibrant red color and scents of apple, cinnamon, and cedarwood allow you to hold Christmas right in the palm of your hand.

Best ‘I can’t bake’ candle

If you love the idea of your kitchen smelling like snickerdoodle cookies, pumpkin pie, and apple pie but aren’t quite an expert baker yet, we’ve got you covered. We love this Pumpkin Clove jar candle from Anthropologie because it smells like sugar, spice, and everything nice. For $34, you’ll have a sugary sweet candle that burns for 70 hours.

Best wood-burning candle

If you can’t be around an open fire this year, you can still get the benefits of the wood-burning smells. This Hearth-Scented candle from Nest is available at Nordstrom for $44-70 depending on the size you choose. With hints of frankincense and fiery embers, it smells just like reading The Night Before Christmas around the fire before putting the kids to bed.

We hope you love these festive holiday candles as much as we do. If you burn candles daily during the season, you may want to consider buying more than one so you have the perfect scents to last you through the end of December. Mixing all of these scents will fill your home with all the best aromas of the season whether you’re baking in the kitchen and cutting down trees or buying your pies from the store and evergreens from the lot.

Editors' Recommendations

Julie Scagell
I am a freelance writer based in Minneapolis, MN. My passions include my dogs, talking about my dogs, and taking pictures of…
This is the easiest way to hang Christmas garland without damaging your walls
Decking your halls doesn’t have to mean damaging your walls
Red front door with winter wreath and garland

Sometimes, decking the halls comes with a caveat for many homeowners: hanging garland with screws and nails may damage your walls. And while stick-on hooks, putty, or wall tape are a go-to for many, these adhesives just don’t hold up heavy decorations for the entire winter season. So, today, we’re sharing a fantastic solution to hanging your Christmas garland this season from TikTok, which will protect your home while still allowing you to decorate as you like.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thekwendyhome/video/7296927492172975366?q=thekwendyhome&t=1699455884611
Use a shower rod
@thekwendyhome on TikTok shared her solution to decorating your entryways and archways with garland without drilling any holes or hooks into the walls. The solution? Use a shower rod.

Read more
What a hardwood contractor says your wood flooring says about you
According to a hardwood contractor, the species, stain, and cut of your wood floors can say a lot about you
bleached light wood flooring in an entryway

The home is a canvas for your personality, and your interiors should reflect your personal aesthetics. A professional hardwood contractor on TikTok, @lumberjackwoodsupply, says your wood flooring may reveal more about you than you might have thought. Here is what the species, color, and style of your wood flooring say about you (though, of course, some of these are a bit tongue-in-cheek).

https://www.tiktok.com/@lumberjackwoodsupply/video/7296136450888846623
What your wood flooring species says about you
Pine
If you have lighter, slim, natural pine floors, this TikToker says you likely fall into one of two categories. “You definitely have an appreciation for old things,” says @lumberjackwoodsupply. Alternatively, “you most likely own an old house that had these floors underneath.”
Walnut flooring
Walnut flooring is classy, elegant, and often sold at a steeper price. The hardwood contractor says homeowners with walnut flooring “have taste.”
Red oak
“There’s a good chance you didn’t choose to install this. It was just already in your house,” says this TikToker. But if you did choose to install red oak flooring, “you are either on a budget or you like to go against the status quo.”
Brazilian Cherry
“You probably live in an upscale but slightly outdated suburban home,” says the hardwood contractor. “There’s a good chance you hate the red.”
Maple
If you favor the sleek light wood tones of maple flooring to curate an airy and uplifting aesthetic, “You either live on the beach, or you want to look like you live on the beach,” says this TikToker.
Hickory
Hickory flooring is well-known for its boldness. It’s a unique wood with a quirky grain and various hues. If you have hickory flooring, “you like unique things,” says the hardwood contractor. “You want to be different.”

Read more
Don’t celebrate Christmas? Try these winter decor ideas instead
Here's how to decorate in favor of seasonal winter themes
Christmas decorations in house with wall sign on floor

Not everyone celebrates Christmas. But that doesn’t mean you can’t join in on all the festive fun. Sure, you may not want a Christmas tree in your living room or stockings hung over the chimney with care, but who said you had to decorate solely for the holiday?

If you want to take part in decking the halls but prefer a more seasonal approach to your decor, then we have some amazing winter decor ideas. Decorating the home during the winter months can be a great way to celebrate the season and welcome in the new year. And even if you don’t celebrate on December 25, you can still make your home look fabulous without opting for classic Christmas tropes.

Read more