In either your family room or your living room the fireplace is usually front and central. Most fireplaces have mantels and they make a perfect place to set your Christmas decor theme. You can choose from an enormous range of options for this. Ideas can be anywhere from the traditional pine boughs to ultra-modern glitz. The idea is to continue your theme with the other decorating that you plan to do.
Is this the year that you are planning a departure from past years? Are you moving from the traditional green and red decor to a silvery look? Are you thinking of an ultra-sophisticated look? Maybe you are considering a minimalist look. The mood you are thinking about should include your total decor with the mantel as the focal point.
Do you want your mantel to reflect the Christmas story? There are so many options to recreate the scene of Christ's birth. There are beautiful crèches available. They are definitely part of the collectible Christmas decorations. Setting up the manger with the animals and the figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the angels, and the wise men provides an opportunity to teach children the story of Christ's birth. You can find simple sets at many craft fairs. There are a number of woodcarvers who make beautiful manger scenes. Alternately you can find a number of these nativity sets made from glass or porcelain.
If you are keeping with a traditional look this Christmas you can place pine boughs on the mantel and then add touches such as red Christmas balls, sprigs of red berries, red candles, and red ribbon. Another theme would be to go with all the accessories in gold. Or you could do a mixture of red, green, gold, and silver accents.
The use of boughs on your mantel gives you the opportunity to use real pine branches and fill your home with the wonderful smell of Christmas. You can mix this with branches from the Holly trees. Staying with this idea of natural materials you can add some red apples and small oranges.
Maybe you want to feature Santa Claus with his sleigh and the reindeer. There are many renditions of these figures. Check out the online stores for choices or visit your Christmas craft sales. If you like to make your Christmas decorations you can find the heads and bodies then just use your own ideas for the dress. It is possible to see Santa dressed in everything from mink trimmed coats to ash cloth. Other figures can be made from filming gauze or muslin. This is great for making snowmen or angels.
Do you have a collection of Christmas snowballs? The mantel would be a perfect place to show them off. Or do you have a collection of old fashion village pieces that can be featured on the mantel? One of my Christmas memories is of a white church with a music box. As children, we loved that church. The church was placed on a bed of cotton batting to represent snow. There were little figures that were put out in the "snow" as if they were headed to the service. Unfortunately, it is long gone but I still remember how excited we were when it was placed on the mantel.
For that sophisticated look think about doing all your decorations in either silver or gold. Use a gauzy silver cloth to cover the mantel. You can use silver balls mixed with silvery-blue balls, silver candlesticks, and silver candles, placed along the mantle. A silver wreath with silver ornaments and ribbon can be hung in the middle. Silver Christmas stockings can be hung from the edge. If silver is not your look you can do exactly the same thing featuring gold. You can also combine this idea with green boughs as the base. This will soften the look and make it have a warmer feel.
You can use topiaries or small potted Christmas trees as your starting point then build the theme around these. This allows you to do a simple theme like adding some pomegranates, oranges, and pine cones with some candles or more elaborate accents such as choir figures, villages, and Christmas balls. The use of candles enhances the feeling of the holiday season. You can also add some pine smelling potpourri.
Remember the scene that you set on your mantel is part of the rest of your room's dècor. If you decide that you want a traditional Christmas look then the mantel needs to reflect this. Your mantel will be the focal point from which you will add the other Christmas decorations in the room.
