A fireplace mantle can become a great stage for decorating in your home. In most homes, the fireplace is at center stage in the living room area, den, or master bedroom. And because it is at center stage, it becomes a great place to flex your decorating muscle. Most fireplaces have a mantle over them that provide ample space for all kinds of items. A decorated fireplace mantle can be a great place to showcase the seasons or recent family celebrations in photos.

So instead of just relying on your fireplace as a source of warmth, consider using it as a decorating canvas that can easily be changed to fit the season, holiday, or decor.

Here are four ways that you can decorate your fireplace mantle:

* Highlight Current Holiday Celebrations

Is a special holiday coming up? Is Christmas just on the horizon? Why not take the space provided by a fireplace mantle to highlight a holiday coming up. Since the fireplace can be used as a focal point in the room, it may be on the of the few places where you may need to decorate to showcase a holiday that will more than pull its weights. Miniature Christmas trees or a miniature lighted houses with faux snow surrounding them can be a fun way to showcase the upcoming holidays. Or you can hang a holiday wreath over the mantle to create even more of a focal point for the room.

* Celebrate Family Events

Did your son or daughter just graduate? Did your grandson win a soccer tournament? Are you welcoming a new family member? Every family goes through fun events that can be highlight on the fireplace mantle. A beautifully framed picture, a trophy, a medal, or other item can be a fun way to celebrate current family events. Updating the decorations on your mantle to reflect current family events can be a great conversation starter for guests as well.

* Mirrors, Lots of Mirrors

If you live in a smaller home or apartment, then mirrors can be a smart way to give the illusion of a larger space. A large mirror is a common decoration over a fireplace mantle, but you can decide to take it a step further and use different sized mirrors to stand and lean onto the wall of the mantle. Having a few different mirrors with decorative frames resting on your fireplace mantle can make a wonderful display and can look more artistic than just the standard jumbo mirror above the mantle.

* Candles for Filler

Beautiful candles can be a great filler for items on your fireplace mantle. They can be place in between pictures, decorations, and other items to give more density to your decorations. If your decorations are smaller frames and mirrors, then consider getting candles that add height, through the candle holder or even longer candles. Adding different height ranges with your decorations on the mantle will give the overall decor more dimension. And candles are a really versatile decorative piece that can be moved and place in other places around the house when not being used to decorate the fireplace mantle.

By Dave S. Roth - Another great decorating piece for fireplaces are hearth rugs, for more ideas on fireplace decor, visit http://www.scfireplace.com