You know the signs.

The crispness in the air, the colors of the leaves, holidays are fast approaching, and seasonal decor makes it’s appearance! It’s that time of year…

IT’S FALL, YALL!!!

Fall is admittedly my favorite season, but not because I like PSLs (I tried one once and thought it was awful), or wear UGGS (never owned a pair), or because chunky sweaters are LIFE (they just make my chins more prominent). It’s because it’s the time for LOTS of family togetherness! I have a HUGE family, and we use any excuse to party together, but the holidays are all that much more fun when you have a big family to celebrate them with.

I also love that Joshua will take a bit more time off of work, we’ll have more time together in our little family of four, and we may even try to get to NYC at some point during the holiday season, even if only for a few days!

But fall just says COZY to me. Snuggle up with the ones you love, get a fire going in the fireplace, and curl up under a blanket. I love condo living, but we don’t have a fireplace and it bums me out. So we did the next best thing…put a mantle up, and have lanterns of different sizes and shapes filled with candles under it. It’s not the same obvi, but it sets the mood just fine 🙂

Speaking of candles, they’re great for so many reasons…from scent to glow to look…they make a room in my opinion! So I’m going to share SEVEN of my DIY candle ideas with you! Almost everything you see was bought at the Dollar Tree, with a few items from Walmart, so you know that these are also affordable projects! {PRAISE HANDS}

• The Pumpkin Spice Latte…

Found this glass coffee mug at the store, filled it with whole coffee beans, and sunk a pumpkin spice candle down in the beans! And as the candle starts to burn and warm up, the fragrance of a PSL fills the air! I like the scent, but not the drink, go figure!

• The Crisp Apple…

Plain glass vase, plus burlap around the side, tied with twine and an apple-scented candle dropped inside…reminds of apple picking in the mountains (which we’ve never done, but makes a lovely anecdote doesn’t it?! ;))

• The Not-candy Corn…

You don’t always have to buy a vase/votive; just look around the house! I filled a martini low-ball glass with popcorn kernels, and sunk a tea light in them. Then I found a candy corn-colored striped ribbon, and tied it around the neck of the glass! But why not candy corn you ask?! It certainly is in season, right? But let’s be honest…if it was filled with candy corn, I’d want to eat every last one of them. It’s safer this way 😉

• The Footballer…

This one is super fun for kids and you can do the concept a million different ways, so please customize it for your kiddos how you see fit! But fall means football to me, so I chose that fabric. Walmart sells fabric squares for less than a dollar, so grab a few (I was looking for plaid but didn’t find one that day), and cut a strip of one. Wrap it around a tin soup can you’ve cleaned out, and secure it with a dot of glue, and an extra ribbon! Then instead of using a real candle/lighter and having to worry about the flame/burning, just use a battery-operated light!

• The Colorful Leaves…

Again, I started with a cheap glass vase, and then used leaves bought at the dollar tree, and hot glued them all over. When a candle goes inside of this, the colors are gorgeous!!! After you hot glue them on, you could always seal them with Modpodge, but I didn’t!

• The Cinnamon Stick…

Start with a plain pillar candle, and wrap a sheet of paper around the side of it, because as much as I wish hot glue would stick a cinnamon stick to the candle, it won’t. WHY?! Because hot glue melts wax yall!!! {Not speaking from personal experience or anything} 😉 So wrap in paper, glue the sticks on to the paper, and then cut the remaining paper off! YALL. When this one is lit and warmed up?!!! Close your eyes and imagine the smell. You’re welcome.

• The Glitter and Hemp?!

I like mixing high and low in decor, and this candle is no exception. Starting with a plain pillar again, wrap some sparkly ribbon around and secure it with a push pin. After that, take your roll of hemp, cut off a piece, and make a letter on the side over the existing ribbon, using more push pins. I did M for Miller, but these would look so pretty spread down the center of a table, on a mantle, on your porch, wherever, and they could spell out your whole last name!

These candles are simply meant to give you some ideas, but always add your own spin on them as you see fit! Do multiples of them and use them as centerpieces to a tablescape. Line a mantle with an array of them. Maybe even give them as gifts…they make awesome hostess gifts!

Also, don’t forget to pin it!