Smells like holiday spirit: Tips for adding the scents of the season to your home

The holidays bring twinkling lights and brightly wrapped packages, but they also bring wonderful aromatic scents to fill your home.

Candles are popular scented home decorations all year round, but they really take center stage during the holiday season.

"We have three new candle lines that are all made right here in the USA," says Lisa Walker, who co-owns High Street Station in Jackson with her sister, Lynette Strange. "Hillhouse Naturals are made in Wickliffe, Kentucky. They have a new popular scent called 'Spicy Rose Hips,' and one called 'Christmas,' which is a spicy blend of orange and cinnamon."

Another new candle line at High Street Station is Simpatico, and it's made in St. Louis.

"Simpatico candles come in very vintage-looking glass jars of different colors. They really have lovely packaging. They are made from soy blend and vegetable wax for cleaner burning," says Walker. 'Reindeer' is a blend of red currants and cranberries mixed with a hint of fraser fir. 'Scotch & Pine' has a very woodsy smell."

Colonial Candles are great sellers at High Street Station all year round, she adds.

"Their holiday scents include 'Winter Woods' and 'Holiday Sparkle,'" she says. "Our customers tend to want classic scents at Christmas. They usually don't want to experiment."

Annie-Em's at Home in downtown Cape Girardeau is known for its Thymes Frasier Fir line of scented products.

"We've been carrying that line for about 10 years," says Emilie Stephens, owner of Annie-Em's. "They offer a signature holiday fragrance which we carry in the store from September through December."

Thyme's Frasier Fir lines include candles, room sprays, sachets, reed diffusers, all-purpose cleaner and dishwashing liquid.

Holiday scents are also available at Bloom Studio & Gifts on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

"We carry three different brands of candles: Voluspa, Votivo and Seda France," says Michaelyn Ross, owner of Bloom. "All three brands will have special holiday scents like 'Visions of Sugar Plums,' which smells really sweet, and 'Christmas Tree,' which smells like pine. We also carry Seda France pump soap with a pine scent called 'Holiday.'"

For scented candles with a local flavor, Sweet Designs Boutique in downtown Cape Girardeau has candles named after area destinations as well as some that play off the "Gone Girl" movie, which was shot in Cape Girardeau last year.

"They are from the Ella B. candle line and their scents include 'Old Towne Cape,' a blend of red currant and roses, 'Amazing Amy, ' a blend of tarragon, basil and patchouli, and 'Mighty Mississippi,' which has more of a manly smell of eucalyptus, spearmint and pepper," says Candi Winkler, owner of Sweet Designs. "We also feature one called 'Christmas in Cape' ,which smells like cranberry, cloves and mandarin."

Another interesting scented candle line at Sweet Designs is Rewined, in which all the candles mimic a type of wine.

"They feature a Christmas candle called 'Wine Under the Tree,' which smells of evergreen," says Winkler.

All the candles made by Rewined are hand-poured soy candles.

"They all come in recycled wine bottles, so the packaging is great," says Winkler.

If fresh scents are more to your liking, Knaup Floral in Cape Girardeau has an assortment of fresh-cut flowers and evergreens.

"We have fresh cut pine, cedar, arbor vitae and noble fir boughs, branches and wreaths," says Kathy Knaup, owner of the store. "The fresh-cut [evergreens] can also be used in arrangements and centerpieces."

The shop's array of fresh-cut flowers includes paperwhites, oriental casa blanca lilies, roses, peppermint carnations, white freesia, white stock matthiola incanas and white gardenias.

"The paperwhites come in a fresh-cut bulb flower or plant form and are very fragrant," says Knaup. "The oriental casa blanca lilies are super fragrant as well and can be used in arrangements or purchased by the stem.The peppermint carnations have the same fragrance as any carnations, but they resemble peppermint candies, which are popular at Christmas. They are white with red marbling or edging."

White freesia is a delicate flower with a strong aromatic smell.

"They are also used in arrangements or customers come in and purchase a few stems to put in a vase," she says.

White stock matthiola incana is a linear or upright flower with clusters of fragrant flowerets.

"They come in a variety of colors, with white being the most popular at Christmas," says Knaup.

White gardenias are available, but she recommends ordering those in advance, as quantities will be limited.

Knaup also carries Circle E Candles, including seasonal favorites such as 'Chocolate Mint,' 'Christmas Tree,' 'Christmas Spirit,' 'Wassail' and 'Silver Bells.'