Flutter On

The feel-good story behind those rainbow butterflies at Galleria Dallas

You may have recently noticed a colorful addition flying above the ice skating rink at Galleria Dallas. It's an installation called From Fold to Flight, and besides being incredibly beautiful to gaze upon, the striking display has an important message.

Learn six cool things about the story behind the butterflies below, and marvel at their beauty through August 19 at Galleria Dallas.

1. It's not just an installation
Each of the 4,000 rainbow-colored origami butterflies was hand-folded by one of over 800 volunteers. Why would anyone do this? To help bring awareness to Paper for Water, a nonprofit organization that raises money to drill wells for some of the world's 783 million people who lack access to clean water.

2. From hobbyists to humanitarians
Paper for Water was founded by Isabelle and Katherine Adams — when they were only 5 and 8 years old. The girls began by folding origami Christmas ornaments to sell for $1 each, hoping to raise just $500 to help fund the building of a well in Ethiopia. Since then, Paper for Water has raised over $1.5 million and funded 160 water projects in 14 countries around the world. Younger sister Trinity now helps run the organization, and parents Deborah and Kenneth help run the nonprofit as a business and manage the girls' projects and speaking engagements.

3. Doing good around the world
At just ages 14 and 11, the Adams girls have already received numerous awards and have traveled internationally to visit their wells, meeting with the U.S. ambassador to India and a member of the Indian parliament. One of their current projects is helping give clean water access to 250 homes on the Navajo Reservation at Smith Lake, New Mexico.

4. Clean water for all
When the Adams girls learned that other girls worldwide often do not get to go to school because they spend their days hauling water, they were moved to action. They also learned that a child dies every 20 seconds from unclean water, and that due to unsafe water and poor sanitation conditions in much of the developing world, millions of people try to survive on water that may kill them.

5. Popularity prevails
Initially, From Fold to Flight installation was only going to be on display at Galleria Dallas through the end of June. But due to its massive popularity, you can now experience it through August 19.

6. Snap a pic
A special Instagram wall has been set up next to the installation — be sure to pause for a picture to remember the amazing artwork and all the good it's doing, and don't forget to tag @galleriadallas while you're at it.

Each of these 4,000 butterflies was hand-folded.

Photo courtesy of Galleria Dallas

Each of these 4,000 butterflies was hand-folded.

put it on santa's amex

Well-to-do Dallas suburb lands on top-10 list of holiday big spenders

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Flower Mound residents have the No. 7 biggest holiday budgets in the U.S. for 2024.

It looks like Santa Claus is going to be competing with residents in Flower Mound to see who brings the most lavish holiday gifts this year.

Festive Flo-Mo ranked No. 7 in WalletHub's annual report on U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets in 2024.

Residents in this well-to-do Dallas suburb are expected to spend $3,541 on their Christmas gifts this year. But tsk-tsk: That's down $56 from the $3,485 they were ready to drop in the 2023 ranking — bumping them down two spots from their previous ranking at No. 5.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that Flower Mound's estimated population of 79,445 had a median household income of $154,471 in 2023. No wonder they have the extra cash to spare.

Flower Mound consistently makes the list of the top 10 U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders, outshining its nearby neighbor Frisco, which took a precarious drop this year from their previous high ranking of No. 3 in 2023.

They've now fallen off the top-10 list altogether. The average holiday budget in Frisco is still an exorbitant amount – $3,412 – but that only garnered the city No. 11 in the overall ranking out of 558 U.S. cities. You gotta spend to stay on top.

The No. 1 city in the U.S. for biggest holiday spenders in 2024 is Newton, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb right outside of Boston, where the median income measured in 2022 was $176,373. Slots 2 through 5 were all cities in California's Silicon Valley: Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Milpitas.

Seven additional North Texas cities landed in this year's top 100 biggest holiday budgets, including:

No. 18 – Allen ($3,070)
No. 32 – Plano ($2,658)
No. 45 – North Richland Hills ($2,484)
No. 52 – McKinney ($2,386)
No. 76 – Richardson ($1,980)
No. 81 – Carrollton ($1,932)
No. 92 – Lewisville ($1,848)

Meanwhile, Dallas landed at No. 213 this year with an average holiday budget of $1,406, and Fort Worth ranked No. 359 with a budget of $1,082.

Each year, WalletHub calculates the maximum holiday budget for over 550 U.S. cities "to help consumers avoid post-holiday regret," the website says. The study factors in income, age of the population, and other financial indicators such as debt-to-income ratio, monthly-income-to monthly-expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly-expenses ratio.

Whether a Dallasite's holiday budget is under $200 or more than $1,000, it's better to prioritize remaining within that budget instead of racking up the credit card bill, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"There are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays and show you care without spending much money, like hosting potlucks or giving handmade gifts," said Lupo.

Other Texas cities that made it into the top 100 are:

No. 13 – The Woodlands ($3,395)
No. 15 – Sugar Land ($3,214)
No. 23 – Cedar Park ($2,930)
No. 25 – League City ($2,897)
No. 39 – Round Rock ($2,538)
No. 60 – Pearland ($2,223)
No. 87 – Austin ($1,905)

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