Easy Christmas Candle Displays

February 19, 2016
Light up your home for Christmas with these unique ideas for adding candles to your festive holiday decor.
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Evergreen Candle

Set a pillar candle inside a pretty glass container surrounded with bits of greenery to combine natural textures with the welcoming warmth of candlelight.

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Step-by-Step

Arrange your pillar candles in stair-step order to create a simple, classic display. You can buy candles in varying heights or cut longer candles to the desired lengths. We wrapped the candle bases in wide satin ribbon to add a subtle gleam. This display looks great on a mantel or as a centerpiece for your holiday table.

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Hanging Candles

Create a falling-snow look with wire lines suspending votive holders, shimmering snowflakes, and pretty ornaments. Use battery-powered votives so you can leave the display lit even when you can't be around to monitor it.

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In Miniature

A pillar candle surrounded by several smaller accents creates an elegant display. The candle inside the clear glass hurricane stands tall amidst small vessels filled with water and a single flower or sprig of foliage. Red metallic florist's picks and loose silver ornaments add color and sparkle.

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Mix & Match

For a designer-worthy display, group candles and holders with similar colors but different shapes and sizes. Here, a collection of wintry branches pairs well with simple white candles in forest-inspired shapes.

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Night-Light

Illuminate your staircase with an assortment of candles in bowls and hurricane lamps. Use different shapes and sizes for variety. For safety, never leave lit candles unattended or use battery-operated ones.

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Seeing Red

Place red roses or amaryllises into a metal flower frog. Adhere the frog to the bottom of a glass cylinder with double-sided florist's tape. Pour water into the cylinder and float cranberries and a floating candle on top. Create a larger centerpiece by grouping cylinders in varying heights together.

Editor's Tip: Change the water daily. The arrangement should last up to seven days.

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Silvery Shine

Grouping candles multiplies their star power. Light up a room with a simple lineup of votive candles on a shiny metal tray.

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Stacked Up

Fill a tiered glass compote with miniature colorful ornaments. Nestle glass votive cups on the top tier for a sparkling candle display. For a natural look, use pinecones and berry sprigs instead of ornaments.

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Glowing Greeting

In the entry, set a tray of pillars on a chair for an unexpected greeting. An icy wreath completes the welcoming scene.

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Red Snowflake Candle

Add a wintry glow with this festive pillar candle nestled in greenery and peppermints. Press a snowflake stamp into embossing ink and stamp onto white tissue paper; then sprinkle the stamped pattern with red embossing powder. Trim the paper around the design and hold against the candle. Use a heat gun to embed the pattern into the candle. (Follow manufacturer's instructions to avoid melting the candle.)

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Fast & Easy

Add a homey touch to your Christmas decorating with a candle display made from canning jars. Tie a colorful ribbon around the top of each jar, using a simple double knot to secure. Fill each jar about two-thirds of the way with water and add a floating candle. Group the jars as desired, then embellish the display with evergreen sprigs and glass ball ornaments.

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Take It Outside

Light up the night with a nature-inspired luminaria. Green leaves are adhered to a white pillar candle with decoupage and nestled in a bed of rocks inside a clear glass vase. Make several luminarias and arrange them along a walkway to welcome holiday guests.

Editor's Tip: For safety, consider using battery-powered candles for these outdoor luminarias.

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Simply Chic

Use candlesticks in varying styles to create a chic display. Unify the vignette by choosing candlesticks in a similar color or material. Here, silver and glass candlesticks are topped with classic white candles.

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Be-ribboned

Wrap basic pillar candles in Christmas-theme ribbon for an instant holiday makeover. Choose candles that match your decor, along with ribbon that boasts holiday flair. Secure the overlapping ends of the ribbon with double-sided tape. When the holidays are over, remove the ribbon and reuse the candles throughout the year.

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Kitchen Brilliance

Line a colander with clear cellophane and nestle snowball-shape candles and glass snowflake ornaments for a frosty display.

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Sweet Scents

Romance the kitchen (or any room) by arranging simple jelly jars in a line on a countertop, shelf, or mantel. Line the jar rims with fragrant wreaths of rosemary and thyme sprigs wired together, then insert votive candles.

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Table Beauty

Transform ordinary objects into extraordinary candleholders. Arrange a medley of votive holders and small glasses on a glass pedestal cake stand to cast a pretty glow.

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Let It Snow

Turn inexpensive glass cylinders into winter wonderlands. Place one cylinder inside a larger one, sprinkle fake snow between the two, and add a sprig of cedar. Pop a votive or pillar candle into the inner cylinder.

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Wineglass Display

Turn crystal wineglasses upside down on a silver tray and use the bottoms as bases for pillar candles. Wrap a small beaded garland around the base of each candle for extra sparkle.

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Tea Party

Take those mismatched porcelain teacups from the back of the china cabinet and use them for an illuminating mantel display. Choose tea lights that have plastic or metal holders to protect the insides of the cups from wax. A mirror placed behind the row of cups relects the flickering light.

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Woodland Glow

Stock your fireplace with an assortment of candles on silver stands, then add greenery and pinecones for a woodland backdrop. Long glass icicles hanging from the mantel provide a frosty valance for the setting below.

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Beeswax Candle Bow

A glittery beeswax bow wraps a plain pillar in holiday spirit. Display the candle on a silver pedestal with evergreens and tiny glass ornaments.

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Luminous Light

Bring the luminarias inside. Line candle-illuminated lanterns around the perimeter of a room, or place glass candle votives along windowsills. Battery-powered votives make this display easy and safe.

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Natural Style

This arrangement brings a seaside feel to the holidays. Shells hold votives on a lightly flocked wreath accented with starfish and coral. Because of the potential fire hazard, either use battery-powered votives or keep a very close eye on the display.

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Berry-Trimmed Candles

Create these fresh red-and-green candle arrangements in a flash. Simply tuck pieces of wet florist's foam into two pots, add a bit of greenery and some hypericum berries (available from most florists), and finish the display with festive holiday-hue candles.

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Fire & Ice Topper

Assemble this stunning table topper in a snap. Simply group nine pillar candles on the table center and surround the base with fake snow. Wrap the candle bunch in wide ribbon and embellish with red hypericum berries.

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Natural Light Candle

Nestle soft-color candles in a bed of mixed nuts and tiny red ornaments set on a tray for portable ambience.

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