Family & home
Customs people turn to when they wish for Family & home.
46 articles
Find the Christmas Pickle Ornament for a Year of Good Luck / 🇺🇸 USA
Find the green pickle ornament hidden in the Christmas tree and welcome a year of good luck. In this playful American custom, the first person to spot it receives good fortune or an extra little Christmas gift.
Display a Double Distelfink Hex Sign for Family Harmony / 🇺🇸 USA
Display a hex sign with two lucky distelfink birds and wish for harmony at home. This colorful Pennsylvania folk-art design brings a message of happiness and love to an entryway or a room your family shares.
Find the Roscón Figure to Welcome New-Year Good Fortune / 🇪🇸 Spain
Share a roscón de Reyes on 6 January and crown the person whose slice holds the little figure. This Spanish tradition brings good fortune and a playful royal welcome to a family’s first celebrations of the year.
Give Food to the Tió de Nadal for Family Harmony / 🇪🇸 Spain
Give the Tió de Nadal a little food and a blanket during December, and welcome a Christmas custom full of family good fortune. This smiling Catalan log rewards its care with sweets and little gifts to share.
Tie Three Knots in a Bonfim Ribbon for Good Luck / 🇧🇷 Brazil
Tie three knots in a Bonfim ribbon and make a wish for good luck with each one. In Salvador, this colourful ribbon turns a greeting into something you can wear.
Share Sweets on Cosme and Damião Day to Wish Children Good Health / 🇧🇷 Brazil
Share small bags of sweets on Cosme and Damião Day to wish children good health and joy. In Brazil, families and neighbours turn an act of giving into a celebration.
Wear White at New Year to Wish for Family Harmony / 🇧🇷 Brazil
Wear a white garment on New Year’s Eve to wish your household peace of mind. In Brazil, white is a familiar colour of peace and renewal at the turn of the year.
Share Bread on Saint Anthony’s Day to Wish for Prosperity / 🇧🇷 Brazil
Share a bread roll on 13 June and wish for prosperity at home. In Brazilian celebrations for Saint Anthony, bread is a sign of having enough to share.
Give a Red Hongbao to Share Prosperity and Family Luck / 🇨🇳 China
Give someone a red hongbao at Lunar New Year and share a wish for prosperity. The bright envelope carries a blessing from one person to another, and you can fold a paper version at home.
Fold New Year Dumplings to Welcome Prosperity / 🇨🇳 China
Fold and eat jiaozi at Lunar New Year to welcome prosperity. Their curved, plump shape recalls old Chinese ingots, turning a shared plate of dumplings into a delicious wish for a year of plenty.
Sweep Before Lunar New Year to Clear Trouble and Welcome Luck / 🇨🇳 China
Sweep and clean before Lunar New Year to clear away the old year's troubles and welcome good luck. The Chinese New Year house-cleaning custom turns a familiar household task into a bright beginning, ready for the celebrations ahead.
Share Round Tangyuan for Family Harmony / 🇨🇳 China
Share a bowl of tangyuan to wish for family harmony. These soft, round rice balls turn togetherness into something you can taste, making them a lovely treat for the Lantern Festival or a gathering with the people you love.
Hang an Upside-Down Fu to Welcome Good Fortune Home / 🇨🇳 China
Hang a red fu decoration upside down on an indoor wall to welcome good fortune. In Chinese, the phrase for an inverted fu sounds like fortune has arrived: a joyful play on words you can bring into your home.
Give a Chimney Sweep Charm for Luck at Home / 🇩🇪 Germany
Give a little chimney sweep at New Year to wish someone good luck at home. In Germany the familiar sweep turns the memory of a safer hearth into a gift.
Give Four-Leaf Lucky Oxalis for New Year Good Luck / 🇩🇪 Germany
Give a pot of four-leaf lucky oxalis at New Year to wish someone good luck. Its four leaflets make the wish visible the moment the recipient sees the plant.
Write Wishes Together for a Happy Marriage at Polterabend / 🇩🇪 Germany
Write a wish and tear a paper plate together to celebrate a happy marriage. This home version takes its cue from the teamwork at Germany’s Polterabend.
Hang a St Brigid’s Cross to Wish for Protection at Home / 🇮🇪 Ireland
Hang a St Brigid’s cross indoors to wish for protection. Weave one from rushes or give it to someone setting up a new home.
Light a Christmas Window Candle to Wish for Family Harmony / 🇮🇪 Ireland
Light a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to wish for family harmony and welcome visitors. An Irish Christmas light can tell someone outside that there is a place for them inside.
Hang a Horseshoe by the Door to Wish for Household Luck / 🇮🇪 Ireland
Hang a horseshoe over a doorway to wish good luck for your home. In one Irish wedding custom the open end faces up, while a Kerry account places a found horseshoe over the kitchen door.
Set May Flowers by the Door to Welcome Good Fortune / 🇮🇪 Ireland
Place a little bunch of May flowers outside the door to wish good fortune for the household. In Ireland, the flowers welcome the start of summer around May Day.
Make an Onam Flower Carpet for Family Harmony / 🇮🇳 India
Make a small pookalam from flower petals and wish for family harmony. In Kerala, Onam’s flower carpets welcome the legendary king Mahabali back to his people.
Share Sweet Pongal for Prosperity at Home / 🇮🇳 India
Share a bowl of sweet pongal and wish for prosperity and family harmony. The harvest festival of Tamil Nadu turns a pot of rice into a way of giving thanks.
Tie a Rakhi for Family Harmony and Protection / 🇮🇳 India
Tie a rakhi on your sibling’s wrist and wish them protection and family harmony. At India’s Raksha Bandhan, a decorated thread marks the bond between siblings.
Share a Pomegranate to Wish for New Year Good Fortune / 🇮🇹 Italy
Share pomegranate seeds at New Year and wish for good fortune around your table. The many red seeds make it a memorable Italian symbol of abundance.
Share Panettone on Saint Blaise Day to Wish for Health / 🇮🇹 Italy
Share a slice of panettone on 3 February to wish your household good health. In Milan, the custom keeps a taste of Christmas for Saint Blaise Day.
Give Five Wedding Almonds to Wish a Couple Lasting Love / 🇮🇹 Italy
Give five sugar-coated almonds to wish a wedding couple love and family harmony. In Italy, the sweets called confetti often go in a small favour for guests.
Give a Bokjumeoni Fortune Pouch for Prosperity and Happiness / 🇰🇷 South Korea
Put a holiday gift into a Korean bokjumeoni and hand it to someone you want to wish well. The little fortune pouch carries a blessing for prosperity and happiness, turning a simple present into a bright new beginning.
Say a Korean New Year Blessing for Family Harmony and Success / 🇰🇷 South Korea
Say a Korean-style deokdam greeting at Seollal and wish someone family harmony or success. A good wish becomes something you can give aloud, with a few words chosen for the person listening.
Make a First Full Moon Wish for Family Health and Harmony / 🇰🇷 South Korea
Make a wish for family health when the first full moon of the lunar year rises. Korea’s Jeongwol Daeboreum brings hopes for a good harvest and a peaceful year under one bright moon, which you can enjoy from home.
Cook Ogokbap Five-Grain Rice for Family Health and Abundance / 🇰🇷 South Korea
Cook Korean ogokbap for the first full moon of the lunar year and share a wish for family health. Five grains and beans in one bowl celebrate a plentiful harvest and a good year together.
Make Crescent Songpyeon for Family Harmony and a Bright Future / 🇰🇷 South Korea
Make crescent-shaped songpyeon with your family at Chuseok and wish for family harmony and growth. Korea’s half-moon rice cakes give a beautiful shape to the hope that the good things in life will keep growing.
Share a Star Piñata to Wish for Family Harmony / 🇲🇽 Mexico
Share the fruit and sweets from a star piñata at a Christmas gathering to wish for family harmony. In Mexico, the seven-pointed star is part of the December posadas and gives everyone something to share.
Share Rosca de Reyes to Wish for Family Harmony / 🇲🇽 Mexico
Share a ring of Rosca de Reyes on January 6 and wish for family harmony. In Mexico, finding the little figure in a slice brings a second occasion to the calendar: tamales with the same people in February.
Share Doña Pepa’s Turrón for Family Harmony / 🇵🇪 Peru
Share a slice of Doña Pepa’s turrón and wish for family harmony. In Lima, this colourful layered sweet is part of October and the celebration of the Señor de los Milagros.
Display Two Pucará Bulls for Family Protection / 🇵🇪 Peru
Display two little ceramic bulls together and wish for family protection. In Peru’s southern Andes, the pair is a familiar symbol of a household looking after its own.
Share a San Juan Juane for Family Harmony / 🇵🇪 Peru
Share a leaf-wrapped juane and wish for family harmony. In the Peruvian Amazon, these rice parcels give people a reason to gather for San Juan.
Give Wedding Arras Coins for a Strong Marriage / 🇵🇭 Philippines
Hold out thirteen arras coins during a Filipino wedding as a pledge to care for your new household. The coins give the couple a visible way to express unity and a wish for a prosperous marriage.
Serve Birthday Pancit for Good Health and Long Life / 🇵🇭 Philippines
Serve a plate of long pancit noodles for a birthday and wish the guest of honour good health and a long life. The Filipino celebration turns the length of a noodle into a warm message you can share at the table.
Hang a Filipino Parol for Family Harmony at Christmas / 🇵🇭 Philippines
Hang a Filipino star lantern in the window for family harmony this Christmas. The parol recalls the Star of Bethlehem and gives the people you welcome home a light to look for.
Give Tikoy for Family Harmony at Lunar New Year / 🇵🇭 Philippines
Give a box of tikoy at Lunar New Year and wish the people you love another year together. In Filipino Chinese homes, the sticky rice cake is a sweet way of expressing a family’s wish to stay close.
Give White Jasmine for Family Harmony / 🇹🇭 Thailand
Give white jasmine to your mother and wish her good health and family harmony. In Thailand, this small white flower has a special place on Mother’s Day.
Use a Water Bowl at Songkran for Family Harmony / 🇹🇭 Thailand
Take a small bowl and pour water over an elder’s hands as you wish them good health and family harmony. This is the quieter side of Thailand’s New Year.
Share Aşure for Family Harmony and Friendship / 🇹🇷 Turkey
Share bowls of aşure and wish for family harmony and good relationships. In Türkiye, this sweet mix of grains, beans and fruit is a dish to pass on.
Hang a Blue Nazar by the Door for Family Protection / 🇹🇷 Turkey
Hang a blue glass nazar by your entrance and wish for family protection. In Türkiye, the little glass eye is a familiar way to mark the place where people come home.
Display a Pomegranate Motif for Prosperity at Home / 🇹🇷 Turkey
Display a pomegranate motif and make a wish for prosperity at home. In Anatolian decorative art, the fruit’s many seeds offer an image of abundance.
Display Wheat to Wish a Marriage Abundance / 🇹🇷 Turkey
Put wheat in a small bowl and make a wish for marriage and family harmony. A wedding custom in Yozgat gives the grain a place in the first days of a new household.