The tradition of bayberry candles bringing good luck comes from Colonial times. The legend says if you burn a bayberry candle to the end you'll have good luck in the coming year.

Bayberry candle tin with Merry Christmas red sticker the Estep family.

When my sister and I owned the herbal gift shop, selling bayberry candles at Christmas time was a big hit. They smelled really great, and we offered a little "good luck" tag (shown below) to go along with the candle.

The History of Bayberry Candles

History states that the early settlers first made their candles from tallow or animal fat, which was in short supply and often had an unpleasant odor. Then someone discovered the waxy berries on the Northern Bayberry or Myrica pensylvanica. found all over the coastline.

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A bayberry shrub. — Myrica pensylvanica - photo by Richard Webb

This native deciduous shrub was also very fragrant. When boiled in water the berries sink to the bottom and the scented wax floats to the top. The fragrant bayberry wax also burned much cleaner than the original tallow based candles.

Bayberries in the winter. — Bayberry shrub in the winter

The only problem was that it took many, many berries, as much as 15 pounds to produce one pound of wax. Therefore, the taper candles were often saved for special occasions like Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Legend of Burning Bayberry Candles

The early colonists believed that burning entire candles on Christmas Eve would bring a year of prosperity and good fortune. Some say this tradition came about due to the difficulty of making the candles and the fact that they smelled so good and burned so well. They were considered special occasion candles.

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Bayberry Poem

"This bayberry candle comes from a friend. So on Christmas Eve burn it down to the end. For a bayberry candle burned down to its socket, brings health to the home and wealth to the pocket."

Click the image above for a full page of the bayberry poem that you can print out and attach to the candle.

You don’t see many real bayberry candles on the market, though some foragers and homesteaders still make them. Instead, you can purchase some bayberry oil and make your own bayberry candles for fun, and “good luck” during the holidays.

Making Bayberry Candles

Supplies

4 oz candle tins
soy wax
candle wicks
bayberry fragrance oil
candle pitcher or large empty coffee can
wax thermometer
an old pot

Most of the supplies came from Amazon and candlescience.com. They have a great FAQ section that really helps you determine how much you need.

All in all, I think I ended up spending around $180 and made 60 candle tins, which comes out to $3 a candle. This also included the cute labels I bought from pipsy.com.

Candle tips:

Use a bit of hot glue to hold the wicks in place in the center of the tin.
Once your wax melts, add the fragrance oil around 185 degrees F before pouring it into tins.
I used straws with a slit cut in the middle to hold up the wicks and keep them straight. Some people also use clothespins.
Once they are completely cool, trim the wicks.

Spoiler Alert: It's a little hard to burn the tin down to the wick on Christmas Eve as a 4 oz tin should burn for about 20 hours, so start burning it early.

These bayberry candle tins worked so well for this project and made a great fun affordable holiday gift.

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