March Craftivism Challenge - The Butterfly Project

One day when I was a child, my mom and I ran into a family friend she'd known most of her life growing up...

He was an older gentleman, seemed kind of frail.  They chatted away for a few minutes, hugged, and then we left.  While they were talking, I noticed a really strange tattoo on his arm, and I asked my mother about it on the way home in the car.  She explained he was a survivor of the Holocaust, and that the tattoo was his number when he was in the concentration camp.  Now, I think I was only in 3rd or 4th grade, and we had not studied the Holocaust yet in school, nor had I read The Diary of Anne Frank.  Of course, when you learn about the horrors of the camps, it is very difficult to even imagine, and even more difficult to think of the children who were in the camps - some surviving, some executed.

So fast forward to the present...

After responding to a comment by one of my lovely readers and visiting her blog, I noticed the following button on her sidebar:










Here's the scoop:  In an effort to remember the innocent children who perished in the Holocaust, The Holocaust Museum in Houston is endeavoring to collect 1.5 million handmade butterflies that will then be displayed in the Spring of 2014.  These are the rules from the HmH:

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 submissions are preferred.
• NO glitter or glitter-related products (i.e., glitter glue, etc.).
• NO food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables).
• If possible, e-mail a photograph of your butterflies, to butterflyproject@hmh.org.

Please send/bring your butterflies to the Museum by December 31, 2012, with the following information included:

• Your name,
• Your group or organization,
• Your address,
• Your e-mail address, and
• The total number of butterflies sent.

Mail or bring your butterflies to:
            Holocaust Museum Houston
            Butterfly Project
            Education Department
            5401 Caroline Street
            Houston, TX 77004
            USA

For questions or additional information, please e-mail butterflyproject@hmh.org.

I really hope you'll join us on this one!  This is a great activity to do with scout groups and Sunday school classes.  You think of some ways to make butterflies, and I'll think of some, too, and we'll make them together.  Project(s) to be posted soon - stay tuned!

And of course, I'll have a link at the end of March so we can share our projects...