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Spiced Pumpkin Candle: DIY Fall Candle You Can Make In 30 Minutes

This spiced pumpkin candle is a DIY fall candle you can make, regardless if fall is officially here. Because it’s never too soon to start enjoying pumpkin spice! 

There are those of us who cling to summer, and then there are those of us who just can’t wait for fall and will do anything to ignore the fact that the weather hasn’t changed. 

Spring and fall always have me ready for a change; New Years just never feels that new to me. Does anyone else feel that way? 

Regardless if the weatherman didn’t get the memo – it’s officially here in our home. We’ve decked out almost every room with dried fall leaves, a pumpkin, or cinnamon sticks. And we’ve made warming orange clove bath bombs, a midnight bath soak, our favorite fall soap recipes, and of course, rearranged the furniture. 

So, even if the season isn’t officially here, you can still make it feel like a crisp autumn day in your home. 

Many of us feel the need to go out and buy more fall decor – more pumpkins, more fall stems, a new fall wreath, new fall pillows, and throws. But, I must tell you, there’s only one thing you need to make your home feel like fall. 

Because scents are huge, a fall scented candle can instantly ignite that cozy autumn feeling. And many agree it’s not fall without a pumpkin candle! 

Just the light of this spiced pumpkin scented candle can make a space feel fall cozy without a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby. Join me for this spiced pumpkin candle DIY tutorial because it’s never too soon to start enjoying pumpkin spice! 

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What does a pumpkin candle smell like?

That’s a great question! A pumpkin candle might sound simple, but since we can’t extract essential oil from a pumpkin, most pumpkin candles smell like pumpkin spice.

It’s a classic spice blend used for baking this time of year made of warm ground spices, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg. Pumpkin spice is the perfect complement to the holiday season. And we wouldn’t have the PSL season without it! 

How do you make candles smell like pumpkin spice?

You might see a few candle DIYs that include ground pumpkin spice, but that’s not a great idea. For one thing, if you add too much of any ground spice, you risk clogging the candle wick. And secondly, it’s not going to be a strong enough scent to fill a space. 

Luckily, we have a few innovative ways to make a candle smell like pumpkin spice. 

Begin Here

For this candle DIY, I made two 12-ounce candles. So, I used my fragrance load calculator to calculate a 7.8% fragrance load with 1.5 ounces of fragrance needed to achieve that amount of scent throw. 

From there, I could select my fragrance choice. And you can too! 

#1 Spiced Pumpkin Candle Scent Recipe

The first way to make a candle smell like pumpkin is to follow a candle scent recipe for spiced pumpkin. This is the recipe I developed as the perfect scent for anticipating the changing of the season. It’s not included in my printable fall candle scent mixing chart. So, make a note of it if you want to try it. 

To use this candle scent recipe, all you need to do is apply the percentages to the total amount of required fragrance for your candle project. Meaning, that each ingredient included in a scent recipe contains the percentage to use in the candle blend. So, for example, if I need a total of 1.5 ounces of fragrance, then 50% of cinnamon would be .75 ounces, and so on.

50% cinnamon

20% clove

20% nutmeg

10% ginger or cardamom 

If you like your candle to smell a little sweet, reduce the cinnamon to 40 percent and add 10 percent vanilla. If you want a fruitiness to the pumpkin spice, reduce the cinnamon to 40 percent and add 10 percent bergamot or 10 percent orange. 

Finding the perfect fall candle scent is so easy with this printable fall candle scent mixing chart! I’ve tested, created, and narrowed down the best fall candle scent recipes for you. Find it and countless more candle-making resources in the Simple Living Library.  

#2 Ready-To-Use Spiced Pumpkin Fragrance Oil

If you prefer a ready-to-use fragrance, here are two options I found:

Toasted Pumpkin Spice – this phthalate-free fragrance from Candle Science is comforting and sweet with just the right amount of spice to remind you of autumn festivals, pumpkin carving, and bonfires. 

This ready-to-use fragrance is infused with natural essential oils, including clove leaf, cedarwood, copaiba, cypress, elemi, cinnamon bark, and olibanum.

The second is a Pumpkin Spice oil from Bulk Apothecary. It’s a soft, warm, cozy pumpkin pie scent with vanilla whipped cream base notes. Think fresh pumpkin with the perfect mix of spices. It is phthalate-free, paraben-free, SLS + SLES Free, vegan, and cruelty-free.

So, take a bite out of a fresh pumpkin pie with buttery notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, almond, and vanilla with this ready-made option. If you have Amazon Prime, you can have this pumpkin spice oil delivered with your household needs. 

Related To:  How To Choose The Best Candle Scents

Spiced Pumpkin Candle DIY Tutorial

Invite the autumn season into your home, regardless of the weather forecast, with this beautiful spiced pumpkin candle DIY. It’s a fall craft you can make in 30 minutes! Light this candle up and indulge yourself with a warm, comforting candle scent. Because if there ever were a season for scented candles, it would be fall.

Fall Candle Supplies:

2 candle jars 12-ounce size

1.2 pounds eco soy wax

2 cotton wicks

2 wick tabs

1.5 ounces fragrance 

How to Make Pumpkin Scented Candles:

Step 1: 

Cover your area or line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper to place each candle jar on. Then press the tab on the bottom of a natural cotton wick into a wick sticker tab. Peel it off the sheet and place it into the center base of the candle jar. Repeat for each candle jar. 

Step 2:

Place a candle melting pitcher on a kitchen scale and tap tare weight. Then pour scoops of eco soy wax inside it until you reach 1.20 pounds. 

Step 3:

Next, place the melting pitcher filled with candle wax inside a saucepan filled with approximately 2 inches of water. Use the double boiler method to heat the wax on low up to 150°F.  

Use a no-touch infrared thermometer to keep an eye on the heat of the wax. Stir the wax slowly, yet often with a heat-resistant silicone spatula.

Step 4: 

After completely melting the candle wax, remove it from the heat source and add 1.5 ounces of your spiced pumpkin fragrance choice to the wax when it is between  110°-135°. Stir the fragrance slowly into the wax for 1 to 2 minutes to thoroughly incorporate the scent. 

Step 5: 

Then use the spout of your candle melting pitcher to fill each candle jar. Hold the wicks centered and upright with wick-centering bars while curing.

Step 6: 

Allow the candles to cure for 24 hours before trimming the wick to ¼ an inch. If you want a strong scent, wait three to five days before lighting.  

Printable Candle Tutorial

What smells spicy, warm, and feels like fall? It’s got to be pumpkin spice! This scented autumn candle is sure to spice up your home, regardless if fall is officially here. Because it’s never too soon to start enjoying pumpkin spice! 

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Save this spiced pumpkin candle DIY tutorial to your candle making Pinterest board, and while you’re there, be sure to follow Life-n-Reflection for more inspiring ideas.

Did you know you can Tag #lifenreflection on Instagram to share yours with me?