For those who like things a little less traditional, I found an amazing cupcake tree topper on Etsy! It's so fun and whimsical!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/109289275/original-fake-cupcake-tree-topper-pink?ref=sr_gallery_5&ga_search_query=cupcake+tree+topper&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all

It was an investment at the time, but I got a Hungarian felted star from the Sandor collection and it makes me smile every year when I put it up.

http://www.thesandorcollection.com/details.cfm?id=102

I bought a real silver lametta star topper when I was about 14 or so, and when I moved out, I took it with me (my parents never had a topper). It's the simplest one out there, folds flat, doesn't break, and the tarnish it has accumulated over the years is quite pretty. I love it!

Like so, but without the poinsettia:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/115750698/1930s-vintage-tinsel-christmas-tree?ref=pr_shop

I have a modest collection of vintage toppers, none of which have ever graced the top of my tree. Those I DIY. The one thing they all have in common is a star in some form or fashion. A few are used in table centerpieces and as plant stakes in various houseplants. The mercury glass ones (as in pic #1) are transformed into bottle stoppers for vintage glass bottles on my mantle each year where they shine.

My fave has the place of honor on the dining room table each year. It pre-dates PB's existence & I paid 1/5 their asking price at the TS...now imagine $9 in mercury glass. Do I need to say it? It.Is.GLORIOUS.

Whether you're just searchng for a topper or looking to outfit your first tree NOW's the time to hit the thrift stores. They're overwhelmed with Christmas decor each yr & you can decorate a small[ish] tree in vintage ornaments for the price of a single [cheap] immitation.

Re #5 - seriously? They want $88 for an amorphous blob with spikes sticking out? I love star tree toppers, but this is ridiculous.

I'm old fashioned enough that my trees have to have an angel on top. The one I still have on my tree is older than I am, so she's probably 70.

I'm fortunate enough to have the world's largest Christmas store just down the road from me. This year I picked up this guy: http://www.bronners.com/product/rustic-star-tree-top.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

We use the star my husband grew up with - gold foil and none of the lights work anymore. He loves it. I started taking it apart last year to see if I could rewire it, but it doesn't seem safely possible, so it just stays unlit. He wants his old star and colored lights so badly, who am I to argue?

My favorite part of trimming the tree as a child was putting on the topper. Ours was just like the ones in the first photo, except gold. I've now inherited it and would never think of replacing it.

My kids always wanted one of the angel toppers. I think they usually look too much like Barbie, and I don't much like angels anyhow. But I think I wanted one of those back when I was a kid, too.

My sister-in-law put a beautiful beaded star on my gift one year instead of a bow. That is what I use for a tree-topper. I think she meant it to be disposable, or a regular ornament at best. But I love it, and it has a place of honor atop my tree every year. I don't really remember what the gift was ...

That blue topper from Land of Nod is really quite easy to fold. We used to do them as paper tree ornaments in school.

This site has a video showing how it's done:
http://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2009/12/06/elins-pappersstjarnor

My mom collects real antique christmas balls. Here in Belgium there's still a lot of them going around, and not only balls, but bells, stars, we even have an umbrella, mushrooms, funny faces and lots of other stuff. Some of them are more then a hundred years old!
You can tell when there really old when the little loop (through where the iron goes or whatever to hang them) isn't a stick-in thing from aluminium, but is blown in the glass! These are rare though.

I'm not a big fan of tree-toppers (on trees, that is - I think classic glass finial tree toppers are absolutely gorgeous). I hang a tiny (half dollar-sized) homemade paper Moravian star *near* the top.

I keep having issues with my tree toppers. I wnt them to stand out and not vanish into the wall or the tree. (I got a lovely star made of wire and pearl-like beads, and you could see right throuh it as though it weren't there. I got a peacock and it was too close to the color of the tree.)

Currently I have a fairly large lighted Moravian star (one of my favorite things in the world is stellated polyhedra, including Moravian stars). It's ok, but it doesn't sit nicely at the top and the white points look pretty but the framework at the base gets a kind of unhappy brownish glow where the thicker, stronger parts are.

Perfection is yet to be found!

I think displays of those finial style toppers in crystal or metal candle sticks of various heights are gorgeous! But the vintage ones are something I'd probably accidentally break, so I never tried it...

I just have to brag. My tree topper is the same star used in A Christmas Story. And I still have the box.

I'm going to try to make this felt star topper...doesn't look too difficult. http://www.purlbee.com/felt-star-pendant-and-tree-top/

Yes, please get yourself a tree topper. Before your boyfriend realizes it first, finds an errant tiny decorative mitten to top the tree with as his 'contribution' to the holiday decorating, and suddenly topping the tree with a ratty, disproportionately small felt mitten is a tradition in your household. I mean, hypothetically.

That's the kind my family used too! I loved it, and was so disappointed when the 70s rolled in and we "updated" to a giant round tinsel-laden thing with 12 little lights in it.

In the 60s, we also had the most fabulous twinkle lights -- every individual light twinkled on its own timetable. I've never seen another set like it, and I've always stuck to non-blinking lights because the all-on/all-off flashing and the gaudy chasing all seem so coarse compared to those delicate twinkles of youth ...