The Yule Log Candle: History, Traditions and How to Make a Yule Log Centerpiece

Few holiday decorations are as simple, or as charming, as a Yule log set with candles. A rustic log dressed with greenery and glowing lights makes a beautiful centerpiece for a mantel or holiday table, and it carries a long history. Here’s where the Yule log tradition comes from, how it turned into the candle centerpiece many families use today, and how to make your own.

Where the Yule log comes from

In many parts of Europe, families once chose a large log to burn in the hearth over the Christmas season. Customs varied from place to place. In some regions the log was brought home with ceremony and decorated before it was lit; in others, a piece of the log was saved to light the next year’s fire and kept as a token of good luck for the home.

As large open hearths disappeared from most homes, the tradition changed shape. Some of today’s best-known versions don’t involve a real fire at all:

• The bûche de Noël. A French cake rolled and frosted to look like a log, often decorated with meringue mushrooms and powdered-sugar “snow.”
• The TV Yule log. In 1966, New York station WPIX aired a film loop of a log burning in a fireplace with Christmas music on Christmas Eve, giving viewers without a fireplace a hearth to gather around. Fireplace videos are still a holiday favorite.
• The candle Yule log. A log centerpiece that holds candles, bringing the look of the hearth to any table.

What a candle Yule log is

A candle Yule log is usually a short, split or whole log (birch is a popular choice for its pale bark) with a flat bottom so it sits steadily and several holes or holders on top for candles. It’s dressed with evergreen sprigs, pinecones, berries and ribbon. Some families light it on Christmas Eve, on the winter solstice or throughout the season.

How to make a candle Yule log centerpiece

What you’ll need

• A dry log, about 12 to 18 inches long and 4 to 6 inches across.
• A saw or a helper with one, to flatten the bottom.
• A drill with a bit sized to your tealight cups or taper holders.
• Metal or glass tealight cups, or metal taper candle holders.
• Tealights, tapers or battery candles.
• Greenery, pinecones, faux berries, ribbon and other trimmings.

Steps

1. Flatten the bottom. Cut a thin slice along the length of the log so it won’t roll.
2. Mark the candle spots. Space them several inches apart so flames don’t heat each other or the decorations.
3. Drill the holes. Make each hole just deep and wide enough to hold a metal or glass cup. The cup should sit snugly so the candle never touches the wood.
4. Clean it up. Brush off loose bark and sawdust.
5. Decorate around the base. Lay greenery and pinecones around the log rather than on top, so nothing sits close to the flames. If you love the look of greenery on top, use battery candles.
6. Add the candles. Set tealights in their cups or tapers in their holders.

If you’d rather not use a drill, set the log on a tray and arrange pillar candles on heat-safe plates beside it. Our guide to decorating a pillar candle has ideas for dressing the candles to match.

Styling ideas

• Woodland: birch log, pinecones, moss and cream tealights.
• Classic Christmas: red tapers, holly and plaid ribbon.
• Winter white: white candles, frosted greenery and silver ornaments.
• Solstice: gold candles, dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks.

For more ways to build a holiday table, see our guide to the candle Christmas centerpiece.

Add scent to the season

A Yule log looks best with unscented candles on top, so the scent doesn’t compete with dinner. Put a scented jar candle on a side table or mantel instead to bring in the smell of the season.

• The Stanley Hotel candle has evergreen, spearmint and cocoa notes, a natural match for a woodland-style Yule log.
• The Lemp Mansion candle pairs hops, mahogany and bergamot for a warm, woody scent on a winter evening.

Both come with a QR code that tells the haunted history behind the name, a nod to the old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas.

Find more winter scent ideas in our seasonal candles guide.

Simple Yule log traditions to start

• Light it together. Choose an evening, such as Christmas Eve or the winter solstice, to light the candles as a family.
• Share a memory. Have each person name a favorite moment of the year as a candle is lit.
• Save a sprig. Keep a sprig of greenery from this year’s log to tuck into next year’s, a small version of the old custom of saving a piece of the log.

Safety notes

• Never let candle flames touch the wood or greenery. Always use metal or glass cups or holders.
• Keep the log on a heat-safe tray, away from curtains and hanging decorations.
• Never leave lit candles unattended, and blow them out before bed.
• Dried greenery catches fire easily. Replace it when it gets brittle, or use faux greenery.

FAQ

What wood is best for a Yule log candle holder?

Birch is popular for its white bark, but any dry, sound log works. Avoid wood that’s damp, rotting or full of loose bark.

Can I put tealights directly into the wood?

It’s safer to set tealights in metal or glass cups so the flame and hot wax never touch the wood.

When do you light a Yule log?

Many families light theirs on Christmas Eve or the winter solstice, but you can enjoy it any evening through the season.

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