There’s something about coming home after a long day, lighting your favorite candle, and cuddling up on the couch—especially when the nights are long and the temperatures low. This year, instead of running to your favorite store to stock up on seasonal scents, why not make your own DIY winter candles?

Candlemaking is the perfect self-care activity, promoting creativity and calm. If you find that you tend to get overwhelmed during the holiday season, pouring candles can be a great means of easing anxiousness. Plus, homemade candles make the perfect gift!

Choosing a winter candle scent is something of an art form in and of itself, allowing you to showcase smells that promote a sense of ease, showcase the season, and elicit comforting memories—or aid in the creation of new ones.

Why Make Your Own DIY Winter Candles?

When crafted correctly, DIY candles are better for your health and that of the planet. Many store-bought chemicals are made from petroleum byproduct paraffin and emit carcinogens like alkenes, acetone, benzene, toluene, and particulate matter, even when left unlit.

In addition, purchasing candles leaves you with little control over sourcing, production, and packaging, potential planetary blights that you can combat by getting creative.

How to Make Your Own DIY Winter Candles

To begin, track down 100% natural wax like beeswax, coconut wax, or soy wax. Insert a lead-free wick into your heat-resistant vessel, use a double boiler to melt your wax flakes (at 180°), stir, pour, and allow to harden (detailed instructions here).

But don’t forget the most important part: selecting your favorite winter candle scent. Here, seven options that represent the sensory nostalgia of the season.

7 Winter Candle Scents to Try

1. Pumpkin Spice

Pumpkin spice is one of the season’s most popular scents for good reason. Spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice combine to create a cozy and warming atmosphere.

2. Eggnog

A blend of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg essential oils team to recreate the scent of this unique holiday. Get creative when pouring this candle! With the right vessel, it can look like the actual drink—and make the perfect gift for a nog-lover.

3. Peppermint

As chilly as the morning air, peppermint is a perfect winter scent. Clear your sinuses and your mind with this adaptable favorite, which blends well with lavender, eucalyptus, lemon, and more.

4. Fresh Pine

Fresh pine trees are a refreshing earthy scent synonymous with wintertime, encouraging memories of cut trees, wreaths, and walks in the woods. Opt for pine extract, and head to your local forest (or your living room) for some decorative needles.

5. Coffee

Coffee candles can offer the smell of your freshly brewed morning beverage, and the scent can even aid in memory and alertness throughout the day.

6. Rosemary

At one calming and reinvigorating, rosemary can be used in more than your holiday meals. A rosemary-scented candle is comforting enough to burn through the season, but general enough for year-round gifting.

7. Cinnamon

This one is a no-brainer. The backbone of pumpkin spice, eggnog, and many of your favorite holiday treats, cinnamon is among the most warming spices (and smells) in the natural world.