DIY Christmas Incense with Pine, Frankincense & Cinnamon
Updated: 3 days ago
For a festive Christmas incense scent, use fully dried pine as the main forest note, frankincense for resinous depth and only a small amount of cinnamon for warmth. For cones or sticks, treat these ingredients as the aromatic part of a tested makko-based method rather than as a complete self-burning formula on their own.
Quick pick: cones are the easiest self-burning format for this seasonal blend; loose incense is the most forgiving if you want to experiment with pine and resin; sticks need the finest, most even powder and careful binder balance.
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Why Pine, Frankincense & Cinnamon Work for Christmas Incense
Pine gives the blend a crisp, green and woody character. Frankincense adds a dry resinous note with a subtle citrus-pine edge, while cinnamon contributes warmth and spice. Cinnamon can dominate quickly, so think of it as an accent rather than the main ingredient.
For more ingredient ideas, see 10 Best Herbs & Botanicals for Homemade Incense and 5 Best Natural Resins for Incense Making.
Before You Start
Use correctly identified, untreated pine and dry the needles completely before grinding.
Grind botanicals finely and sieve out coarse pieces, especially for sticks and cones.
Keep cinnamon low. It is a strong scent and fine spice dust can irritate the nose and throat while you are grinding and mixing.
Use resin sparingly in self-burning incense. Too much resin can make a stick or cone harder to keep alight.
Make a small test batch first and adjust the scent before scaling up.
A Simple Christmas Incense Scent Blend
Use this as your aromatic blend before adding it to the base method for your chosen incense format:
2 parts fully dried, finely ground pine needles
1 part finely crushed frankincense resin
A small pinch of cinnamon powder
Optional: 1 part sandalwood or cedarwood powder for a softer woody base
This is a scent ratio, not a complete stick or cone formula. Self-burning incense also needs the right amount of combustible base and binder, which is why the format-specific methods below matter.
Option 1: Make Christmas Incense Cones
For cones, follow the base proportions and shaping method in How to Make Incense Cones at Home. Use the Christmas blend above as the aromatic portion of the recipe, then add water gradually until the mixture holds together as a workable dough.
Grind and sieve the pine, frankincense and cinnamon until the blend is fine and even.
Combine the aromatic blend with makko according to the dedicated cone method.
Add water drop by drop rather than pouring it in all at once.
Shape small cones with a narrow tip and place them where air can circulate around them.
Let the cones dry completely before testing one. If it struggles to stay lit, allow more drying time before changing the formula.
Need makko for the base? This is the makko powder I use in my incense-making kit.
Option 2: Make Christmas Incense Sticks
For sticks, use the preparation and shaping method in How to Make Incense Sticks at Home. Keep the Christmas scent blend finely powdered and avoid adding large amounts of resin or cinnamon to the stick dough.
Make only a few sticks at first. Once they are fully dry, test one for scent and burn behaviour before making a larger batch. A seasonal blend can smell very different when burning than it does in the mixing bowl.
The Easiest Option: Make It as Loose Incense
If you mainly want the pine-frankincense-cinnamon scent and do not need a self-burning stick or cone, use the same aromatic blend as loose incense. See How to Make Loose Incense at Home for charcoal and electric-heater methods.
For the classic resin note, you can also use frankincense resin on its own or combine a very small amount with dried pine and cinnamon.
Can You Use Essential Oils Instead?
For this recipe, I would not improvise by dripping essential oils into the powder mix or soaking homemade sticks. Blank incense sticks can be fragranced with formulas designed specifically for that method, but a powder-and-makko recipe behaves differently. Keeping this guide to dry botanicals and resins makes the method easier to control and troubleshoot.
Christmas Incense Safety
Incense smoke is still combustion smoke, even when the ingredients are botanical. Burn one small piece at a time in a well-ventilated room, use a stable heat-resistant holder and keep incense well away from Christmas trees, dried wreaths, wrapping paper, curtains and other flammable decorations. Never leave burning incense unattended.
When grinding cinnamon or other fine botanicals, work gently and avoid creating airborne clouds of powder. Stop burning the blend if the smoke feels harsh or causes irritation.
Want more ready-made botanical combinations? Explore the 15 Herbal Incense Recipe Cards for printable blends you can keep beside your incense-making kit.
DIY Christmas Incense FAQs
1. Can I use fresh pine needles for incense?
Use fully dried pine rather than fresh needles. Moist plant material grinds poorly, can smoulder unpredictably and is unsuitable for storing in a blend. Only use pine you can confidently identify and know has not been treated with garden chemicals.
2. Can I use pine resin instead of pine needles?
You can experiment with a small amount of pine resin, but resin behaves differently from dried needles and can make self-burning incense harder to formulate. It is usually easier to test pine resin first in loose incense or on a suitable resin burner.
3. How much cinnamon should I add to Christmas incense?
Start with only a small pinch. Cinnamon is much stronger than pine once heated, so it is easier to add a little more to a second test batch than to rescue a blend that smells overwhelmingly spicy or harsh.
4. How long should homemade incense sticks or cones dry?
Drying time depends on thickness, humidity and airflow, so do not rely on a fixed number of days. The incense should feel completely dry throughout before you test the burn. If it repeatedly goes out, give it more drying time before altering the recipe.
5. Are sticks or cones better for a Christmas incense blend?
Cones are usually the easier starting point for a seasonal homemade blend because you can shape a small test batch quickly. Sticks need a very even, fine mixture around the core. If you mainly want to experiment with the scent, loose incense is even more forgiving.
A Simple Winter Scent to Experiment With
Pine, frankincense and a touch of cinnamon make an easy starting point for Christmas incense because the scent moves from fresh and forest-like to warm and resinous. Keep the cinnamon restrained, test small batches and choose the format that suits your experience. If you are unsure which method to try, compare them in Types of Incense: Sticks, Cones, Loose & Resin Guide.
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