Monday, February 6, 2012

The Butterfly Project

At the beginning of the year I told you that my One Little Word for 2012 is BUTTERFLY. Several of you left lovely comments, and one that really stood out was from Fiona. She wrote: "What a lovely word to choose for the year. It made me think of this project and I wondered if you knew about it."


I hadn't heard of it before, and when I followed her link I was dumb-founded when I read the large caption:

1,500,000
innocent children perished in the Holocaust.

One and a half MILLION innocent children?
~gulp~

I hadn't known that there was a museum in Texas dedicated to Holocaust victims, and they have a project organized to remember the 1,500,000 innocent children who lost their lives.

Check this out! The museum is collecting 1,500,000 handmade butterflies to create an exhibit. Can you imagine? 1,500,000 handmade butterflies?!?! The image alone is just magical in my mind.

Here's where we come in.
:o)

On my birthday this year I will be 51, and my goal is to collect 51 butterflies for this project. The specifics for the butterflies are on the website, as well as the address for mailing them to the museum. There's a slideshow running on the site with photos of butterflies that have been submitted, so if you need some inspiration go there and have a look.


If you'd like to participate, you may either send your butterfly to me before May 1 {my birthday}, or mail it directly to the museum {just please let me know you've sent it so I can count it in my goal}. The deadline for the project is December 31, 2012, and the display is set to be completed in the spring of 2014.


If you create a post with a photo of your butterfly, I would love to see it! Just leave a comment with a link here on my post. In the meantime, I will work on creating a button for the sidebar of my blog to link back to this post {wish me luck with that!}.


Specifics for butterflies are:
* This project may be completed by all ages as individuals or groups.
* Butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches.
* Butterflies may be of any medium the artist chooses, but two-dimensional {flat} submissions are preferred.
* Glitter and all glitter-related products should not be used {Carrie!}.
* Food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables) also should not be used.


So what do you think? Will you join me?

I can't wait to see what you'll come up with!
If you need some help with a butterfly template, here's a link to a few.
Remember: It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be there.

Check out these posts from my lovely blog friends who have made butterflies:
Rinda - pink and blue and mosaic
{UK} Deb
Helena
Miriam
Irene
Alison
Amanda
Jo C.
My Mom
Stephanie
Karen
Cheri
Annie
Carrie

{If you have created a post sharing your butterfly and I have missed it,
please let me know so I can add you to the list!}

28 comments:

Cheri said...

I am SO IN! Now I have to think about how to carry it out...

helena said...

yes, yes - what a fantastic project and so fitting for you Deb.

Fiona@staring at the sea said...

I'm so happy that you liked the idea. I made some last year to send, but I am absolutely in :o)

Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita said...

you are so awesomely awesome. I am making a note to myself to get this done. xoxo

Maria Ontiveros said...

I'm in, too. YOu know I"m not much of a seamstress, but I have a few ideas.
Rinda

Unknown said...

No glitter?! What kind of project is this?!

Just kidding. I will of course be making one...and I LOVE yours - I wish you didn't have to give it up! :)

Anonymous said...

This is such a great idea; I'm already spinning ideas around in my head. You can count on me.

scrappyjacky said...

Count me in as well.....not sure what medium yet.

Mom said...

I will definitely participate! Mine will be cardstock and flat but that's all I can promise! I'll probably use one of the templates so it will at least look like a butterfly! Good job, my Sweetie! Love you! xo

Sian said...

I would love to make some time for this project Deb. I'm sure TSO will want to join in too - all children here learn about the Holocaust as part of the school curriculum and it is something I have had to talk with her about several times. Yes, I think it's a wonderful idea!

I see that Dolly Donations has a new drive going for dolls for Mexico. I'm thinking about that one too

debs14 said...

This is just the kind of thing I love, please include me in! What a great project. My son went on a school trip to Germany to see these camps and it was so thought provoking. We can't begin to imagine what those people went through. I love the idea of 1,500,000 butterflies in memory of them.

Alison said...

You can count me in Deb....what a worthwhile cause...1.5 million children is just inconcievable1
Alison xx

Jo.C said...

Great idea and I am in too - love yours - my type of colours. A very important thing to remember and there are some lovely examples on the site.

Amanda said...

I have seen this project before and I'm glad it's still running giving me the chance to join in. I'd love to send you a butterfly or two just let me know where to send them.

Yours is lovely by the way :)

Beverly said...

I'll definitely send you a butterfly for the project. Maybe we can convince Melissa she needs to go see the completed exhibit and take pictures :)

Amy said...

Yes, I would say that I'll be in too ... along with both of the children - having awareness of the world and events that have passed, such as the holocaust tragedy, is something children here also learn about.

furrypig said...

wow what an amazing thing to be part of, I would love to join you and will talk to the children about joining in too xxx

Irene said...

I work down the street from the Holocaust Museum in Houston and have made several school trips there. You can count on me to make a few butterflies.

Catherine said...

Deb,
What a beautiful OLW and to have it linked to such an amazing and touching cause. You are one classy lady.
Catherine

Maria Ontiveros said...

Hi Deb,
Here's a link to a post with my first butterfly:
http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/2012/02/pink-butterfly.html
Rinda

Miriam said...

There will be a butterfly from me too Deb, this is such a wonderful idea, something beautiful from something so shocking.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Here's my second butterfly Deb:
http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/2012/02/blue-butterfly.html
Rinda

♥ Liz ♥ said...

Hi Deb. I'd love to join in please. It's such a great idea.

Jessica said...

Wow, so beautiful. I'm definitely IN! Would you please share this with my readers at my monday link up? http://www.clipwithpurpose.com/?p=8933

Jessica said...

Thanks for linking up! I hope more readers get involved!

Shari said...

Thank you so much for sharing this. I passed the information along to my daughter's teacher from last year to see if she would like to incorporate it into her unit on the Holocaust.

annie@mostlovelythings said...

I just read about this project and you on Stephanie's blog... la Dolce Vita. I see this post was back in February...I would love to do this and send it to you if I'm not too late. By now you probably have more than 51. This is a wonderful idea for a very meaningful cause.

Unknown said...

i would love to be part of this, i hope i'm not too late. susan

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