The Tree Topper Guide: Angels, Stars and How to Crown a Tree

The Christmas tree topper is the last thing on and the first thing people look at, which is why it causes more arguments per square inch than anything else in the house. Star or angel. Lit or not. The one from the old house or something new. And then the question nobody plans for, which is how to make the thing stand up straight once it is on. We sell about seventy-five toppers and two gadgets that hold them, so here is the whole subject, from what the choices are to how to crown a tree without a ladder in the living room on Christmas Eve.

Star or Angel: Where the Tradition Comes From

Both are old and both are correct. The tree-topper tradition of a star stands for the Star of Bethlehem and dates to at least the 1840s; the angel stands for the one who brought the news to the shepherds. Households tend to inherit one or the other and stay loyal, and there is no reason to switch unless you want to. The newer options, snowflakes, finials, bows and the occasional Santa in a sleigh, are for trees with a theme or people who are tired of refereeing the star-angel question.

The Kinds of Christmas Tree Topper

Stars

The biggest family on our shelves. Lit capiz stars are the current favorites: the eight-point capiz star is eleven inches of translucent shell with ten warm white LEDs inside, so it glows rather than glares. There are Moravian stars, the many-pointed kind, in champagne glitter at fifteen inches; rattan and wire stars, including a twelve-inch gold rattan star with twenty lights and spare bulbs in the box; sequin and bead stars; a twelve-point petal star with fifty LEDs; and starbursts with eighty micro LEDs on a nine-foot lead for a tree that sits far from the outlet. Old World Christmas makes a glass mini star at six and a half inches for the tabletop tree.

Angels

Angels run from quiet to spectacular. The starry feather wing angel is fourteen inches in an ivory gown with real feathers on her wings and lit stars in her hands. The winter cloak angel, also fourteen inches, carries ten clear lights and attaches with a plastic cone. The white and silver angel at twelve inches is fiber optic, with the light moving through the gown, and sits on a metal coil. Fabric, porcelain, feathers and light: pick the angel the way you would pick a dress, by the tree she is going to stand on.

Finials

A finial is the spire shape, the one on the top of every mid-century tree. Radko’s Shiny Brite line makes them in glass: the Holiday Splendor snowman finial at eleven and a half inches and the Christmas Confetti finial with reflectors at thirteen. Finials suit slim and retro trees, and they are the lightest way to add height to a short one.

Snowflakes, Bows and the Rest

A lit capiz snowflake on a silver wire frame, ten inches with ten lights, is the quiet modern choice and the one our page recommends for small to medium trees. A jeweled wire bow at ten and a half inches tops a tree without any wiring at all. And for the household that has given up on dignity, there is a twenty-inch animated Santa’s sleigh that straps to the trunk with velcro.

How to Size a Christmas Tree Topper

No topper page gives a formula, so here is ours. A tabletop or four-foot tree wants the six-and-a-half-inch mini star or something under ten inches. A six- to seven-foot tree, the most common size, carries a ten- to fourteen-inch topper comfortably; the capiz snowflake and the eight-point star sit in that range. A nine-foot or taller tree can take fifteen inches and up, the Moravian star, the big starburst, or the sleigh. The test is proportion from across the room: the topper should look like the tree’s crown, not its hat. If you are still choosing the tree, our guide to choosing the right Christmas tree covers height and the room first.

Lit or Unlit

Lit toppers need a cord down the back of the tree to the strand or the outlet, which is why the lead length matters: the capiz stars carry a sixty-inch lead, the winter cloak angel thirty-five inches, the starburst nine feet. Check where the top of your tree sits relative to the nearest plug before buying a lit topper with a short cord. Every lit topper we sell is for indoor use. Unlit toppers, the bows, the glass finials, the glitter stars, go on in ten seconds and never need an outlet, and on a well-lit tree they pick up plenty of glow from the strand below.

How to Attach a Christmas Tree Topper So It Stays Straight

Know Your Base

Every topper attaches one of a few ways, and the product page tells you which. A wire coil, the most common, slides over the top branch and relies on it being stiff. A plastic cone does the same with a sleeve. A post or spiral base sits down over the tip. Velcro straps wrap the trunk. The wire-coil kind is where the trouble starts, because the top of a real tree is a soft new shoot and the top of an artificial tree is often a single thin stem; either one bends under a fourteen-inch angel and the topper leans.

Use a Holder

This is the gadget we sell more of every year. The universal tree topper holder is a spiral support rod that twists around the top of the trunk itself, on trunks up to an inch and a quarter, so the topper is held by the tree rather than by a branch tip. Interchangeable parts fit post, spiral, clamp, cone and finial bases, it pivots so you can level the topper after the tree has been nudged, it is aluminum and plastic in a green that disappears into the branches, and it works on live and artificial trees alike. If your angel has ever ended the season at a forty-five-degree angle, this is the fix.

The other one is ours. The Christmas tree top stabilizer is a twelve-inch stabilizer designed by St. Nick’s own Ira Sealy for spiral-base toppers, the kind that sit down over the tip and wobble. It gives the spiral something firm to grip.

Put It On First, Not Last

Tradition says the topper goes on last, and tradition is wrong about this one. Put the topper on right after the lights, before the garland and ornaments, while the tree is still easy to reach around and you can see whether it is straight. Run the cord down the back along the trunk and plug it into the top of the light strand. Then dress the tree. Our ribbon guide explains why ribbon goes on next and ornaments after, and the topper rule follows the same logic: the hardest reach first.

Straighten Without Climbing

Stand back across the room, not at the foot of the tree, to judge whether the topper leans; it is a matter of proportion, not of the stem. If it leans, bend the branch tip toward the lean rather than pulling the topper, or, with a holder, use the pivot. On a live tree, recheck after a week, because the top shoot settles as the tree drinks.

Caring for a Topper Between Seasons

Toppers get crushed in storage more than they get broken on the tree. Keep the box. Feather angels want tissue around the wings and a box of their own; capiz stars want the lead wire coiled loosely and the points protected; glass finials go in an ornament tray. Store them in a closet rather than the garage, since heat and cold both age fabric, feathers and glue. A topper that is boxed properly in January is the one your children argue about keeping in thirty years, which is the whole point.

The Short Version

Star or angel is your family’s call; stars, angels, finials, snowflakes and bows all crown a tree properly. Size the Christmas tree topper to the tree, roughly under ten inches for a tabletop, ten to fourteen for a standard tree, fifteen and up for a tall one. Check the lead length on a lit topper. Put it on right after the lights, run the cord down the back, and if the top of your tree bends under it, use a holder that grips the trunk instead of a branch. Then judge it from across the room. Browse every Christmas tree topper we carry, angels, stars and finials together.