12 Tips for a Festive Holiday Fireplace

Decking out your fireplace for the season is fun but keep furkids' safety in mind and place any potential nibble hazards like poinsettias, amaryllis, holly and mistletoe far out of reach. Inquisitive pets could also easily knock over a lit candle, so either position candles where dogs and cats could never reach them, or sub battery-operated votives for flickering flames.

Select colors and patterns that'll work together when decking out both the fireplace's mantel and hearth to create a cohesive whole.

While the mantel typically gets more attention, adding a few festive touches to the hearth will pull the look together. For ours, we cozied up the stone with a faux fur throw topped with fabric-wrapped gifts. Battery-operated candles and string lights wrapped around logs in the firebox bring the sparkle without the risk of fire.

Taller potted plants, like poinsettias, amaryllis or paperwhites, will add beautiful blooms and a bit of height to your mantel design while also keeping these potential pet hazards far out of reach of nosy nibblers.

Tiny battery-operated LED twinkle lights are easy to work into your mantel display and will add a magical glow without the worry of candles or the need for an electrical outlet. Just twist the lights around fresh or faux garlands and tuck the battery pack out of sight in a handy location so you can turn the glow on and off as you wish.

While real snowy branches would quickly create a wet mess indoors, faux flocked pine branches are an easy way to work a little frosty winter magic into a fresh or faux mantel display.

For a full mantel display, mix a few freshly clipped evergreen branches in with faux flocked greenery. Fresh-cut evergreens will last indoors for about two weeks, so keeping a fresh-meets-faux garland looking its best will require a little more effort, but the clean, woodsy scent of fresh-cut evergreens are worth the extra work.

Small sprigs of juniper, either fresh or faux, will add a different texture of greenery to your display. Plus, small pieces like this are ideal for filling in gaps between larger evergreen branches.

Although not technically a flower (the 'blooms' are actually a type of leaf called a bract), poinsettias have been associated with the Christmas season for almost two centuries. Incorporate potted versions of these beauties into your mantel display for a pretty splash of color that'll brighten things up all season long.

A traditional sign of welcome in the Southeast, magnolia leaves are a favorite evergreen branch to mix into holiday displays. The glossy green leaves, with a velvety bronze underside, change very little in appearance as they dry so, unlike most fresh-cut conifers, you can keep them in your holiday garlands without the need to periodically swap them out for fresh ones.

Beautifully wrapped gifts aren't just a treat for the recipient, they're also beautiful decor. Cozy up the hearth with a few of your prettiest packages, topping them with more fresh-cut or faux greenery for a festive finishing touch that also ties them into your mantel display.