Some places in the world wear their seasonal hearts on their sleeves, with the weather shifts being apparent and dramatic. Other places with more temperate climates have very subtle seasonal changes, apparent not in the skies but in the small corners of the garden. Either way, it is usually up to us, not Mother Nature, to shepherd those changes into the great indoors. Something as simple as wrapping your local flora to a plain pillar candle is a quick, easy and interchangeable way to welcome the current local season into your home.

I was walking home from work one day at the cusp of a seasonal change and I noticed lavender-looking flowers bolting out of ornamental grasses in my neighborhood. I clipped a small handful to bring home to wrap around candles we light at the dinner table to help celebrate the season.

How to Make Seasonally Inspired Candles

You Will Need:

-Flowers/Leaves

-Jute twine

-Candle

To Make:

Snip leaves or flowers in bloom in your garden or neighborhood (preferably flowers that have already been worked over by pollinating creatures so as not to remove their precious resources). Tie foliage to your candles with jute twine. The thinner the candle, the lower you should tie the foliage to minimize fire risk, and of course only light while attended. You can always opt not to actually light your candles if you are concerned. Decorated candles add romance to your dinner table whether or not they are lit! Fresh foliage will likely wilt within a couple of days, so simply untie wilted plant matter, add it to your garden compost, and source some fresh foliage whenever you want another seasonally-themed candlelit dinner.

Discover more candle-making inspiration in our special edition Candle Issue available at: https://stampington.com/the-candle-issue

Johanna Love lives in Orange County, CA, with her husband and their three sons and is the director of photography at Stampington & Company. Find her on Instagram, (@lovejohannalove), to see more of her “hippie bling,” natural living, and family antics.