The elephant in the room (and a pig too!)

Let me tell you a story.  I'm from Brazil, and it's a country full of tradition (and quirky ones at that), like many other places.  One of these is that an elephant with it's trunk up, and bottom facing the front door of a house will send negative energy away, including any that might try to come in with visitors.  The upward trunk promotes positive energy towards those inside the home.  

As a whole, elephants are a symbol of luck, and some people even rub the trunks of elephant statues in order to raise their spirits or increase luck!  So why do I have it in my house?  I love a touch of tradition, and my mom had this little mirrored elephant in our house when we were growing up and I just loved it!  I remember dusting the living room and always making sure the butt was facing the door.  And now ours does the same!  Oh yeah...that's husband hanging out back there.

Not far from the elephant in the room is a pig - a piggy bank to be exact.  Not a Brazilian tradition, the piggy sits on a console by the front door so that rather than dumping loose change on the table, it goes in the 'bank'.  This is literally the catchall area of the house, and though it's not perfect right now, the cheery colour of the piggy bank does make me like it just a little bit more!  

I can't help but think having little gems like this around the house are important.  They're so much about personality and fun, and I love the thought of both of those things being important parts of our home.Here are the other 31 days of House to Home.