fold with us

• Red tissue paper

• Black tissue paper

• Green pipe cleaner stems

• Scissors

• A clean cardboard box

• Black marker

Optional: if folding outdoors, try clean smooth stones or paperweights to keep the tissue from flying away.

You might also want to bring offerings, libations, a soft blanket, beeswax candle, or other special items to add good energy to the ritual.

Please do not write anything on the poppies. Just listen to them and allow them to speak for themselves.

Thank you!

See below for 2 instructional videos, totaling ~30 minutes, on folding and storing the poppies, along with some of the symbolism behind this practice.

A bit of context:

This version of tissue paper poppy folding has been adapted from Madison’s Library, (apologies for the Eurocentric term “Oriental” she uses), who in turn adapted it from Design Every Day.

With gratitude to Erika Ramirez for passing along this method, which she learned at an action for Gaza and Palestine on unceded Nisenan, Maidu and Valley Miwok lands (Sacramento, California), on 03 January 2024.

That action was jointly organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

(We affectionately think of those paper poppy ancestors as the teosinte to our current corn! :)

If you wish to send poppies toward the 15,000 main collection, please mail to:

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

4641 Marconi Ave.

Sacramento, CA 95821

For a deep dive into prayers, intentions, background, and invocations around the poppies, see our

52-page full-color digital zine.