Things to Put on Mantels

Photo Display

• The mantel is a common place that people put their family pictures. However, common doesn't need to mean plain. Instead of the formal portraits that sometimes make their way onto your fireplace's mantel, opt for some candid shots that tell a story visually. Choose photos from events like a graduation, family reunion or your child's kindergarten graduation. Or give your color photos a sepia-toned hue. Do this by scanning them into a photo correction computer program and choosing the sepia option. Print them out on photo paper and frame in brown frames. (ref 1, 2)

Fruits of the Season

• Seasonal displays often find a home on your mantel, and the fruits of the season make a decorative addition to this area. In fall, create a decorative display featuring pumpkins of all sizes, gourds, dried branches and candles in fall colors in hurricane glasses. For spring, arrange flowers in glass Mason jars. Drop clear, glass marbles in the bottom of the glasses and add water. Winter time gives you a chance to show off the pine cone collection from your yard. When looking for things to put on your fireplace, look for items that have interesting textures, vibrant colors and unusual shapes. These bring visual interest to the display. (ref 6)

Wine Collection

• The labels on bottles of wine often look like art, many of which feature scripted fonts and interesting graphics. These make the wine bottles, which are also beautiful even more eye-catching. If you collect wine and have it on display, make one of your display areas the mantel. There are several ways to show off your wine collection. Find an interesting looking wine holder---ones that are free-standing and shaped like grape leaves or a three-wheeled bicycle offer some nice choices. Place them in the center of the mantel and wrap a strand of silk grape leaves around their base. Another way to display them is to position a grouping of bottles at each end of the fireplace. Place the tallest ones in the back. Make groups of threes or fives for visual balance.

Antique Toys

• Antique toys bring back memories of a childhood spent in a simpler era. These items were constructed of some hardy materials such as tin and wood as well as the softest linen, and many still show signs of the vibrant paint colors used to paint them. This makes them a colorful choice as mantel decorations. It's up to you as to what kinds of toys you'd like to display. If you enjoy the continuity of having all the same type of toys on the mantel, show off a collection of dolls such as the many incarnations of Shirley Temple. If it's variety you're after, display wooden trains, tin bi-planes and composition dolls together in the same space. (ref 3, 4)