• Decorate your Christmas mantel with candy canes.candy canes image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
  
  Decorating your house for Christmas is a lot of fun. If you have a fireplace, decorate the mantel so it's a true focal point in your home. Use traditional colors in your decor or put a more modern twist on it with a contemporary design. Either way, go wild and unleash your creativity this Christmas season.
  
  

Poinsettias

• Pink and red poinsettias will give your mantel a fresh look for the Christmas. This looks particularly elegant on a white mantel. Place the flowers in standing glass vases, and bring in a bit more of nature by mixing in vases of branches.
  
  

Citrus

• Create a bright, cheerful look on your Christmas mantel with citrus fruits such as clementines, limes and lemons. Display them on silver trays along with sparkling white and silver ornaments. Add in silver candlesticks with white, tapered candles and sprigs of evergreen branches. On the edge of your mantel, secure white, fluffy garland along with clear Christmas lights.
  
  

Wreath

• Make your fireplace mantel a true focal point by dressing it with a large wreath. Make the wreath colorful with traditional red, or try something different, such as purple and orange. Another eye-catching idea is to use a wreath that's a different color, such as a white wreath with red and green decorations.
  
  

Candy Canes

• Decorate your fireplace to look like a candy cane. Place intertwined red and white garland across the mantel (affixing with tape if necessary), and add candy cans on top of the mantel. Place red and white flowers, such as amaryllis, in vases with candy canes mixed in.