35 Cozy Christmas Candle Decorations To Try This Year

'Tis the season to glow. You strung your garland, you fluffed your tree and your ribbon-tied wreaths now hang proudly in each window. The only thing missing from your dazzling holiday display? A little ambiance. Usher warm and cozy golden light into every inch of your home this holiday season with our favorite Christmas candle decorating ideas. From glimmering tablescapes and illuminated mantels, to tapers in unlikely places, read on to discover the best ways to decorate with candles to celebrate the season.

First up: Choose warm and cozy hues. Decorate your table, mantel or console with fiery colored candles to increase the holiday charm throughout your home tenfold this season. Need inspiration? We adore how this colorful set of burgundy, ochre, orange and cranberry tapers look paired with antique brass in this traditional living room.

Transform your fireplace mantel into the festive focal point of your family room this Christmas. To recreate this elegant holiday display, pile your mantel shelf with fresh silver dollar eucalyptus and 10 black candlesticks, arranged in varying heights. Alternate between snowy-white and ivory taper candles to achieve this winning wintry mix, or swap the neutral tones for berry red and gold taper candles for a bolder result.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas tree using a collection of clip-on flameless candles. The classic luminaries bring a charming retro feel to your Fraser fir and wash their surroundings in a soft golden glow that will never go out of style.

Bring that flattering candlelit shimmer to your space using a (reindeer) antler candelabra. This rustic yet refined candle holder pairs seamlessly with wintry forest touches and looks equally captivating when styled with contemporary accents, like gleaming silver bells and metallic baubles.

Skip the fussy florals and create a cozy Christmas centerpiece using snowy pillar candles and a mix of wintry accents. Follow Marian Parsons’ lead and create a festive focal point for your table using a classic white cakestand as your base. Layer your stand with a creamy baking dish filled with five pillar candles, snow-dusted evergreen clippings, mistletoe berries and pinecones aplenty.

Fill the space along the edge of the stand with unshelled nuts for rustic, woodland results. Or swap nuts for golden jingle bells for glamorous impact.

Invite the spirit of the season to your dining table or entryway with these hand-crafted candle wreaths. The timeless candle chargers feature texture-rich moss adorned with snowy berries and finished with miniature cardinals. The vibrant, feathered figurines invite traditional holiday color to your vignette, and the festive birds are well-known harbingers of good luck.

Are you looking for a modern and merry tablescape muse? Say less. This sleek, soiree-ready display features understated yet impactful centerpieces, including glass hurricanes brimming with silver baubles, snow-dusted pine garland and contemporary candlesticks in an aged brass finish. The candlesticks are placed off-center for an asymmetrical display, creating a fresh juxtaposition between the effortless arrangement and elevated materials.

German Christmas pyramids bring whimsy, movement and playfulness to any holiday vignette. The charming tabletop mobiles date back to the 16th century, when they were a light source for miners, but have since evolved into a traditional holiday decor staple. We adore how designer Marian Parsons incorporated a natural wood Christmas pyramid with fresh evergreen garland and a miniature village of wooden A-frame houses to create this timeless display.

Having a blue Christmas doesn’t look so bad to us, Elvis! Skip your standard red-and-green color scheme, and lean into sapphire hues for the holiday season instead. We’re smitten with how this outdoor kitchen balances the cool cobalt tapers with rich walnut candlesticks, white oak reindeer shakers, the acacia serving bowl and fresh evergreen clippings.

If your holiday table appears a bit lackluster, the solution is likely sitting in your cabinet right now. Up the ante by, quite literally, and prop your pillar candles on a ceramic cakestand to bring dimension and height to your table.

Pro tip: Select a stand in a color that disappears against your tablecloth or runner to ensure focus remains on the candles and florals.

Do you ever stand back after decorating your dining room table or buffet and feel like it’s missing something? You’re in luck because we’re dishing on our secret solution. Fill any gaps in your Christmas vignette with clean and classic white tapers atop silver candlesticks. Here, a glowing duo brings a festive sparkle between three tabletop trees and visually expands the display for a grander look.

Transform a long-forgotten Bundt pan into a show-stopping centerpiece that’s guaranteed to leave your table sparkling all season. In addition to the Bundt pan, you'll need dark green paint, faux evergreen foliage, scissors, a hot glue gun and assorted ornaments. Copy our look and use a merry mix of pink and gold baubles or customize your centerpiece with hues that match your existing holiday decor.

When in doubt, you can never go wrong with the classics. Swap white tapers for statement-making red candles to bring emboldened Christmas style to your house — inside or out. Take a cue from this holiday-ready patio, and pair bright red candles with silver candlesticks and flocked pine sprays.

Pay homage to Santa’s darling deer with this playful, Rudolph-approved centerpiece. Use a warm wood or patinated metal tray as your base for wintry white, vanilla and almond pillar candles in varying heights. Fill the gaps between the pillars with snowy white deer.

Pro tip: Choose glitter deer to enjoy next-level shimmer on your coffee or console table after hours.

‘Tis the season to spruce up your stoop for holiday guests. Treat your out-of-town visitors to a gorgeous, glowing greeting with a pair of candlelit porch lanterns. Outdoor lanterns come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but we find this black-and-gold duo especially fetching for Christmastime because of its bell silhouette. Snag a set to spread holiday cheer to your porch and pair them with battery-operated pillar candles for an enduring (and safe!) wash of golden light.

Candles are one of our go-to accents for adding seasonal flair to unlikely areas. Case and point: This festive bathside vignette. Here, a pair of jolly red taper candles fills the room with a golden glimmer when lit, while a glass vase brimming with ornaments rounds out the display with seasonal sparkle.

Hosting a holiday party this year? Go ahead and bookmark this shining idea now, and thank us later. Guide your guests to your door with a dreamy candlelit path lined with galvanized luminaries and aglow with tealight candles.

Psst! You don’t need to dip into Santa’s toy budget to achieve an elegant candlelit mantel this Christmas. Turn heads at your fête de Noël by lining your fireplace shelf with frosted glass jars twinkling with tealight candles.

To achieve the mercury-glass effect, mist the interior of the jars with water and immediately spray a layer of looking-glass paint. Pair your silvery vessels with berry and pine garland for a classic look, or style with flocked greenery and pinecones for a winter wonderland display.

Dress your brass candlesticks in their holiday best with the help of our easy evergreen candle ring craft. To make them, you’ll need a set of plain napkin rings, faux juniper greenery, green acrylic paint, a chip brush or foam paint brush and your trusty hot glue gun. Ready to recreate these beauties for your table? Find our step-by-step instructions below.

Why limit yourself to red-and-green when you can embrace the North Pole’s arctic aesthetic instead? Snag a set of cerulean tapers and nestle them into pewter, silver or mercury glass candlesticks. Style your icy-blue candles with a family of silver reindeer, metallic baubles and flocked greenery for a crisp Christmas display.

Pro tip: Lean into the inspiring locale and add some faux snow to your vignette for a frosty finish.

Leave your Christmas dinner guests feeling positively starry-eyed after seeing your holiday table using just a few shimmering, celestial touches. Forgo traditional brass candlesticks for dazzling star holders, as seen in this festive tablescape. Pair your otherworldly holders with warm white, gold or red tapers for a timeless appeal.

Hosting a frosted holiday fête? Save your gold candlesticks for another day, and create an elegant and icy table using aqua glass candlesticks topped with snowy pillar candles. Arrange the candlesticks down the center of your table at staggered heights and anchor them with a grand glass vase overflowing with baby’s breath and pine garland.

This classic candle centerpiece may look like a store-bought holiday splurge, but it’s actually a budget-friendly DIY that you can recreate at home while binging HGTV in your Christmas pajamas. To get started, gather an oval-shaped tray, grapevine wreath, a pedestal-based candle holder, faux red berries, evergreen and pinecone floral picks and faux flower stems. Find our step-by-step instructions below.

Skip the neutral and tried-and-true Christmas hues and make a bold statement with a slew of punchy and bright candles instead. Take inspiration from this well-dressed window and incorporate candles in unlikely colors — such as fuchsia, aqua, aubergine or butter yellow — into your Christmas scenes. Pair the vivid tapers with simple silver or brass candlesticks and accent them with evergreen snippings for undeniable holiday flair.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you need to break the bank in order to create an awe-inspiring Christmas table. All you really need? A few dollar store glass candle holders, pine greenery, ribbon, taper candles and your go-to hot glue gun.

To make: Clip sprigs of natural pine branches to lengths shorter than your glass vase. Attach the greenery around the outside of the vase with hot glue until all sides are covered. Tie a decorative ribbon around the vase and greenery. Add hot glue to the bottom of a candle and press it into the bottom of the inside of the vase to secure it in place.

Wow your Christmas guests with this candlelit Yule log centerpiece. Forage or source a large log from your go-to firewood retailer, and use a drill to create five holes along its center to hold taper candles. Nestle white, red or emerald candles into the log and enhance the centerpiece with faux or fresh pine and berry sprays.

Pro tip: We recommend flameless candles for maximum safety without skimping on the glow.

Ensure that your dessert table is stately and festive with the help of statement-making silver candlesticks topped with cranberry and Santa-suit red pillar candles. Nestle your sweets and serving trays below the rosy lights, and pull out your red-and-white serveware for the occasion. Finish the table fragrant evergreen arrangements dappled with snowy anemone blooms for a winning wintry touch.

Deck your dining room table for Christmas dinner with a candle centerpiece that speaks to your rustic farmhouse style. Our secret ingredient to cook up farm-fresh style: galvanized metal. Use a galvanized cake stand, tray or bowl as your base. Add a trio of snowy pillars to the center and fill the gaps with pinecone-adorned evergreen clippings.

No candlesticks? No problem. Add glow in unlikely spaces by tucking tealights or short taper candles into antique or thrifted teacups. This cottage-style vignette offers ample inspiration, featuring three porcelain cups, an evergreen garland and a pint-sized potted pine that exude timeless Christmas cheer.

Love the flicker of a roaring fire but loathe cleaning out the aftermath? Highly relatable. Skip the soot with this easy, high-impact candle display. Fill your firebox with a wintry mix of white and ivory pillar candles in staggered heights to achieve an enviable luster. You can also customize this dreamy display using colored candles tailored to your holiday decor.

Dreaming of frosted panes and flurries this Christmas? Transform your dining room into a winter wonderland ahead of holiday festivities. Recreate this flocked and festive display with fluffy white blooms, flocked pinecones, mistletoe berries and white taper candles on gleaming silver candlesticks.

Prepare to earn compliments galore at your next holiday gathering after making our ice lanterns. The wintry ice vessels feel intentional and elevated on your deck, porch or patio table but they cost next to nothing to make. Find the materials list and a step-by-step tutorial to make these lovely luminaries below.

Complement your classic red-and-green Christmas scheme with pockets of warm candlelight, courtesy of gorgeous golden votives. Take notes from this playful plaid brunch table and incorporate small-but-mighty gold vessels to bring seasonal sparkle to the display.

Soften the glamour and pull off a Scandi-inspired table by swapping gold or brass candle holders for a natural wood alternative. Make this sweet Christmas table your blueprint, and style your wooden candle holders or candelabra with neutral taper candles to keep the focus on the red-and-green accents below.