Make an Autumn Candle With What You Find on a Walk 🍂

A few leaves. A glass vase. And suddenly… autumn. 🍂

The leaves for this candle were picked up by Emilia on one of our walks.

Nothing fancy. No trip to the florist. Just a little reminder that some of the nicest candle decor is already around you.

And if this is your first Emilie candle, this is a very easy one to start with.

Our wax comes as loose pearls, so there’s no wax to melt and no wick glued to the bottom of a jar. You pour in the pearls, place your wick, light it and make the candle look the way you want it to look.

Here’s exactly how we made this one.

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What you’ll need

• A wide, suitable glass vase or candle container
• Emilie Pearled Candle wax
• One Emilie wick
• Leaves, flowers or other autumn bits you like
• Strong, thick double-sided tape
• Scissors, if you need to shorten your wick
• Your favourite candle-safe essential oil, if you want to add scent

We used Unscented Saturated Bordeaux in the video.

Tiny note: this was our older Saturated Bordeaux. The new version is a little richer and deeper.

For the tape, this is the thick double-sided one we used:

The double-sided tape we used on Amazon UK

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1. Start with the outside

Add small pieces of double-sided tape around the bottom of your vase.

Then start pressing your leaves onto it.

Don’t try to make it too perfect. Layer some leaves over others, turn a few in different directions and let the shape build as you go.

We used leaves Emilia collected on a walk, but that’s really the whole point of pearled candles:

your candle doesn’t have to look like ours.

Use the colours, container and decor that make sense in your home.

And yes, free decor from the side of the road gets extra points. 😄

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2. Pour in your pearls

Now fill the vase with your Emilie pearls.

That’s it.

No melting wax.
No pouring hot wax.
No waiting for a candle to set.

For this candle, we added quite a deep layer of pearls because we’re going to use the full Emilie wick.

And that brings us to probably the most important trick in this whole post.

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3. Don’t turn your wick into a tree 🌳

When you place the wick into your pearls, leave only around 6 mm / 0.6 cm above the surface.

Not 1 cm.

Not 2 cm.

And definitely not one of those giant candle-guru wicks you sometimes see sticking out of wax like a tiny tree. 😄

More wick sticking out does not give you more candle.

You’re just burning the wick itself before the wax has a chance to do its job.

And that’s a waste.

Push the wick down until only about 6 mm is showing.

Why are we using the full wick here?

Because this vase has plenty of pearls underneath it.

Our wick sits freely inside the wax rather than being fixed to the bottom of the container. For that system to work properly, the wick needs enough wax around it and underneath it.

That gives it room to form its little melt pool as the candle burns.

Using less wax?

Then shorten the wick.

Maybe you’re using a shallow dish.

Maybe you want to make a candle floating over water.

Maybe your container simply doesn’t need this much wax.

You do not have to use the whole Emilie wick.

You can cut it down to around 2 cm, which is half of our standard wick.

Placed correctly, a 2 cm wick can give you roughly 2–3 hours of burn time.

So the simple rule is:

Deep pearls = longer wick.
Shallow pearls = shorter wick.
Only 6 mm showing above the wax.

That little rule will save you a lot of wasted wick.

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4. Want to make it smell like yours?

This one is optional.

We used our Unscented Saturated Bordeaux, which means you can leave it exactly as it is…

…or make your own scent.

Before you light the candle, add around 6–8 drops of a suitable candle-safe essential oil to the pearls around the wick.

Then light it.

That means the same colour can smell completely different depending on what you feel like that day.

Autumn leaves with something warm and woody?

Perfect.

Something sweet?

Also perfect.

Your house. Your candle. You decide.

Just add the oil before lighting, never to a burning candle.

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5. Light it ✨

Now light the wick and you’re done.

The loose pearls around the wick begin to melt and create the candle.

That’s the part we love about Emilie.

You didn’t have to buy another finished candle just because you wanted a different autumn look.

Change the vase.

Change the colour.

Change the scent.

Change the decor.

And suddenly it’s a completely different candle.

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A quick note about your decor

This is where you can have fun.

Leaves, flowers, stones, seasonal pieces — there are so many ways you can make a pearled candle your own.

Just remember one boring-but-important thing:

it’s still a real flame.

Anything you add is your choice and should be used with care. Keep anything that could burn well away from the wick, melt pool and flame.

The leaves in this tutorial sit around the outside of our glass vase, safely away from the candle itself.

Be creative.

Just don’t make the flame part of the decoration. 😄

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And that’s it.

Today it’s Saturated Bordeaux and leaves Emilia found on a walk.

Next month, take the leaves off and make it something completely different.

That’s kind of the point.

You decide what your Emilie becomes next. 🤍

Love,
Sara x