How to Choose a Christmas Tree Topper (Finials Included)

The right topper depends on three things: how tall your tree stands, what's already hanging on it, and whether you want the classic star-or-angel look or something sleeker. A finial, the tapered, often glass-and-glitter alternative to both, works well on trees where a star reads a little too traditional and an angel feels like it's trying too hard. Settle the topper before you finish trimming the rest of the tree, if you can. It sets the tone for everything underneath it, and building around a placeholder star usually means redoing half your ornaments later.

A star or an angel says one thing: tradition, full stop, no argument. A finial says something quieter. Picture a tapered glass spire, dusted in glitter, catching light the same way an icicle does at the top of a pine. That's the shape most people mean when they say "finial," and it reads as more sculptural than symbolic.

The Frosty Tree Top ($39.99, hand-blown glass and glitter) is a good example of the type. Nothing figural about it, just a tapered glass spire built to catch light. That's the whole appeal. A finial doesn't compete with the ornaments below it for attention. It finishes the line the tree was already drawing upward.

Trees dressed in a tight color story tend to wear finials well, since the shape doesn't introduce a new character or motif. Trees built around a single theme, cardinals, nutcrackers, a specific collection, often do better with a star or a themed topper instead. Fewer competing ideas at the top.

A topper sized for a seven-foot tree will swallow a tabletop one whole. Scale is the first thing to solve here, before style ever enters the conversation.

For a mini or tabletop tree, reach for a topper actually built for that scale. The Gumdrops tree toppers are designed specifically for OWC's Gumdrops mini trees, so the proportions read correctly instead of looming over three feet of branches like a lighthouse beacon. A standard-sized star or finial, the kind made for a six-foot tree, will look borrowed up there no matter how nice it is on its own.

The reverse mistake happens too. A dainty two-inch topper on a nine-foot tree just disappears, and you're left staring at bare tree top like something's missing. As a rough guide, a topper should run roughly ten to fifteen percent of the tree's total height. A six-foot tree wants a topper in the eight-to-eleven-inch range. Scale it down or up from there.

Some trees already have a story running through them before the topper goes on, and the last piece should keep telling it, not change the subject.

A Rudolph-themed tree makes the case plainly. If the branches are full of Rudolph and his reindeer friends, capping it off with a plain star breaks the story right at the top. The Mini Rudolph Tree Topper & Skirt solves that by carrying the theme all the way through, roof to floor, instead of introducing a character the tree hasn't met. (We covered Rudolph's 60th anniversary on the blog, if you want the full backstory on the reindeer that started it all.)

The same logic holds for any licensed or character tree, a favorite film, a sports team, or whatever storybook character your kid won't stop talking about. The topper is the last thing anyone sees looking up, so it earns a place in the theme rather than sitting on top as an afterthought.

Farmhouse and rustic trees follow a quieter version of the same rule. Keep the topper in the same material and color family as everything below it, and it reads as intentional instead of borrowed.

Measuring for a topper takes two minutes and saves a return.

Start with the tree's total height, then aim for a topper that's roughly ten to fifteen percent of that number. A four-foot tabletop tree wants something in the five-to-seven-inch range. A seven-foot tree can carry ten to fourteen inches without looking top-heavy. Anything smaller than that on a full-sized tree tends to vanish into the branches below it, and anything bigger starts to look like it's wearing someone else's hat.

Thinner trees, the pencil-shaped varieties especially, need a lighter touch. A wide-based finial or an oversized star will visually tip the whole silhouette, so look for something narrow and tapered that continues the tree's own line instead of fighting it.

For attachment, most glass toppers and finials come with a wire loop or a built-in stem clip that fits over the center guide wire or the top branch. Secure it before you add lights if the tree isn't pre-lit, since threading a topper past a finished light strand is its own small headache. Give it a gentle wiggle test once it's on. If it tips or spins loosely, it needs a firmer seat, not more tape.

A topper is the period at the end of the sentence the rest of the tree has been writing. It shouldn't introduce a new thought this late.

Pull one material or color from elsewhere on the tree, hand-blown glass, a specific glitter tone, a metallic finish, and let the topper echo it back. Glass tree finials do this especially well, since the same glassblowing techniques used throughout an ornament collection carry straight up to the top without a visible seam between “tree” and “topper.”

If the tree leans traditional, red and gold, classic round ornaments, a finial in the same palette closes the look cleanly. If it leans eclectic, the topper is often the one place worth keeping simple on purpose, the same restraint behind our rustic Christmas decorating ideas.

A tree topper is a small purchase that decides a surprising amount: the tree's silhouette, its formality, whether it reads classic or a little more playful. Pick it early if you can, size it to the tree in front of you, and let it agree with whatever's already hanging on the branches.

Whether that means a finial that catches the light quietly or a full character topper that finishes a themed tree, the goal is the same: a tree that looks finished from the star down. Browse the full tree topper collection for the current lineup, glass finials included, and find the one that closes out your tree the right way this year.