Here is what I use....
In customer/home.tpl I added the following at the top of the "menu" column
{if $main ne "fast_lane_checkout"}
{include file="customer/main/minicart-box.tpl" short_mode="short"}
<br />{/if}
Then I modified customer/main/minicart.tpl and named it minicart-box.tpl
Code:
{* $Id: minicart-box.tpl,v 1.17 2006/03/28 08:21:07 max Exp $ *}
{* Mods - BG yellow if cart full - added text *}
{if $short_mode eq "short"}
{if $minicart_total_items > 0}
<TABLE width="155" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="yellow">
<tr>
<td align="center" nowrap="nowrap"><a href="cart.php"><img src="{$ImagesDir}/custom/top-cart-full.gif" alt="Your Shopping Cart" /><br />
<b>Items in Cart:<IMG src="{$ImagesDir}/spacer.gif" width="1" height="6" border="0"> {$minicart_total_items}<br />
<b>SubTotal:<IMG src="{$ImagesDir}/spacer.gif" width="2" height="6" border="0">{include file="currency.tpl" value=$minicart_total_cost}</b></a></TD>
</tr>
</table>
{/if}
{/if}
The image "top-cart-full.gif" shows a full cart and has text that says "Your Shopping Cart".
In essence, what it does is remain invisible until there is something in the cart, then it puts a highlighted box (in my case bright yellow) at the head of the menu column that shows the customer how many items are in the cart, a subtotal, and when clicked takes them to their shopping cart/checkout.