Welcome Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday Shoppers!

I'm not much of a marketer, but if you are making plans to do some shopping next week on Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday, consider Erin's Dream Lanyards--lanyards, eyeglasses chains, dream wands, earrings, necklaces, boot bling, keychains--all artfully made by volunteers with 100% of all proceeds going to the childhood cancer cause.


Currently, we have the following in stock (with suggested donations):

Dream Lanyard--$20 or 2 for $30

Simple Dream Lanyard--$10
Deluxe Dream Lanyard--$25
Earring Set--$5
Necklace--$20
Dream Wand--$5 or 5 for $20
Keychain--$5
Boot Bling--$15
Beaded Book Mark--$5
Eyeglasses Chain--$15
Snowflake Christmas Ornaments--$15

Thanks Hannah!

I'm so amazed at my young friend Hannah.  Hannah is a high school junior who works part time, keeps  up with her school work, plays in the band, and does the long hours work to be in the flag corp and winter guard.  When she finally gets a free weekend that doesn't involve football game performances or contests, what did she do?  She invited her friends over and lured me up to Dallas for a lanyard workshop.  Thanks Hannah!

Wixon Valley 4-H

I'm very proud to announce a new partnership with the Wixon Valley 4-H.  These fabulous young people--ages 8-18--want to support Erin's Dream Lanyards, not just with a two-hour workshop, but with the whole nine yards:  learning about the mission and the cause, doing their own bead drive, making lanyards, and then selling them for us.

I met with them this evening to take the first step, and you can't believe how enthusiastic and absorbed they were by this project.  November is their bead drive month, then on December 1, we will get together for a mega workshop.  They will have lanyards in time for stocking stuffers and teachers' gifts.

Because-Nico-Is-Back-In-Town Lanyard Workshop

The lanyard party when Nico and fam were in town from Australia was not the largest workshop I have ever done (that would be the National Charity League Bead-aThon two or three years ago).  It wasn't the largest workshop I ever had in my own home (that would be the one on July 4, 2009 where somehow over fifty folks crowded into my modest three bedroom casa).  In fact, it wasn't even the largest workshop I did in the last ten days (since I ran over to MacArthur High in Aldine after school last Monday to help 60+ teens make a difference in the lives of children with neuroblastoma).

That said, Nico and all his friends (combined with his mom and my friends) overran the house weekend before last.  It's not so much that they had overwhelming numbers (although there were a lot of them), but they just took up so much more space than they did as younger kids.

I gave them a camera and ask them to do a little photo journalism of the evening:

They were pretty serious about getting the lanyards done.

And used whatever space they could find.

Rowan and Nico finished early, leaving their hands free.  Can you tell Nico has some keyboard-compatible hands?  And can you believe that Rowan, one of Erin's sixth grade classmates, is graduating this year?  He's on the expedited plan!

Andy always seems happy where ever he is.  He and Erin agreed about almost everything, except politics.

Precious Toni makes the most beautiful, delicate lanyards.  She and Erin have been friends since Day 2 (birthdays two days apart!)

Nico was sure we had shrunk everything in Erin's room since he moved.  It all seemed much smaller now that he is so tall.

Samantha and Erin had so much in common:  soccer, brains, and most notably, confidence.

Jackson was always much bigger than Erin, and the trend shows no sign of slacking off.

Most of the adults were slackers, preferring to eat and chat rather than work.  This includes me. 

It was my birthday, so I took the evening off.  That means I'm still working on finishing some of the lanyards the kids made, plus the tray full I have from the MacArthur workshop and the one at the new College Station High School last Saturday morning.

Teddy wasn't really all that impressed with having a house full of teens.

Not only did Erin and Nico's friends overflow their allotted space (plus the kitchen, plus the lake, plus my bedroom where I keep the Wii), they overflowed the love in my heart.

School is Just Around the Corner

Message to my teacher friends within driving distance: 


Let me know if you would like me to set up a display at your school during in-service days before school starts so you can introduce your colleagues to Erin's Dream Lanyards. People who have to wear ID badges seem to really appreciate having something beautiful to replace those plain nylon shoestring type lanyards! 


And as always, 100% of all donations go to support childhood cancer research!

Walsh University Partnership

Not too many weeks ago (I think it was the same week of Walter's surgery), I received an email out of the blue, from a woman in North Canton, OH.  She wanted to offer Erin's Dream Lanyards as a part social, part service activity for the incoming freshman at Walsh University, during their summer orientation weekends.  

I've got to tell you, this is exactly the kind of email I love to find in my inbox.   It takes a great deal of bravery to read about something on the internet and then decide you want to make a go of it (with 400+ people depending on you to get it right).  That's exactly what my new friend McKenzie did.  We worked together to figure out what she needed to know and how to get the supplies and materials she would need.  They had their first do at it weekend before last, and from the smiles, I think these young folks found the spirit of Erin as they worked.

Two months ago, I wouldn't have been able to place Walsh University in the right state if you had quizzed me.  Today, I'm proud to have a new partner in our fight to raise money for a cure for childhood cancer.  You all know the mantra.  This is not something any of us can do by ourselves!  Thank you Cavaliers!

Mo Ranch Summer Camp!!!!

Thanks go out to Amber Thomas and her fantastic counselors and campers at Mo Ranch this summer.  Erin (and all the Buengers) love Mo Ranch, but Erin was the only one of us to go to the Summer Camp  option.  She celebrated her 11th and final birthday there in 2008.  This year for the third consecutive year, campers there are making Erin's Dream Lanyards with verve and style.  This is an awesome testimony to the "Happiest Place in the World!"  I wish I were there.

Ready for Summer Beading!

This is not a store display.  This is a small section of Erin's room.

Thanks to my uber organized sister Kat (who would be OCD about organizing, but refuses on the grounds that OCD isn't in alphabetical order), the bulk of the seed beads donated by Jennifer Fountain at the end of last year and sitting in a jumble in a cardboard box since then, are now ready to go for the summer lanyarding season!

Do you feel your creative juices flowing?

Erin's Dream Wands

I have been looking for a way to extend our reach and help any pediatric cancer research effort.  Erin's Dream Wands are one possibility.  

We have been playing around with this idea since last fall when we gave the wands a successful try at Max's Ring of Fire Lemon Run in San Diego.  You also may have seen them at the lighting of the childhood cancer Christmas tree sponsored by the American Childhood Cancer Organization in DC in December.  We have also been building towards FOW's Cure Me!  I'm Irish next month in Boston.  My new BFFs at Cure Me (Becky and Jen!!!) collaborated to make this flyer.  I think this captures so much about what we are all trying to do.  Let me know if you want a wand and I'll ship you one (or more) and send your donation to Cure Me! If your group is planning a pediatric cancer research fundraising event and you want to add Dream Wands to the line up to support your efforts, let me get on your schedule!

The Doorbell Rang

The doorbell rang and then, of course, the dog bell rang, which at our house means a little bit of barking, a storm of tail wagging, and quite a bit of excited jostling towards the front door.  We weren't expecting company and for a moment thought that our new next door neighbors needed to borrow an egg or an allen wrench or something else that they hadn't unpacked yet.

I looked out the window and saw a woman I recognized (but couldn't recall the context), a very tall and sturdy man, who was definitely not my new next door neighbor, and a pair of handsome children, who I knew NOT AT ALL.  I opened the door, and the woman turned out to be Lynn Davis who I knew through my Board position at Hospice Brazos Valley.  She asked nicely if they could come in--Nathan had something for me.

Nathan delivered a large and overflowing bag of beads that his birthday guests at his 7th birthday party had collected to donate to Erin's Dream lanyards.  I hear he is looking forward to the next lanyard workshop so he can add his labor and his creative touch to the already huge and selfless gift he has given.  

Nathan, thank you for your vision, thank your guests for their generosity, and thank your parents for setting you down a path that will truly make a difference.

Nathan's face captures the joy I feel every time I think of Erin's Dream Lanyards and all of the wonderful people who make what we do possible.

Invited Back to Seguin

The Matadors of Seguin High HOSA club welcomed us back again this year.  

So, the day after my first Bush Library workshop, I drove three hours to a school in Seguin where some young high school kids stayed after school on a Friday afternoon to make wands.  It got to be 5:30 and I was facing a long, dark ride home, and they just wouldn't let me leave.  "Oh, I have an idea for another one!", "Just eight more and we'll have a hundred!", "Can't you just tell your husband you'll come home tomorrow?", ""Tell me more about Erin and Will!"

These compassionate young people have a heart for helping and an eye for art!  I am glad that they are all on track (with a few more years of education under their belts) to be health care professionals.

Friends of President Bush Are Friends of Ours!

On Thursday, January 26 and again on Friday, February 3, the volunteers at the Bush Library have Make-and-Take Lanyard workshops.  This allows those fantastic volunteers to really spiffy up their look as they conduct tours and do other volunteer services at the Presidential Library.  Thanks you Bev Spencer for suggesting the idea and especially to Sharon Merrill, Library staff, and the many volunteers who participated.

Lanyard Friends can you guess what a stir I caused having to take every thing through security?  After the first couple of trips through, they got used to me (I think they are even going to lower the bollards for me next week, so I can drive right up to the entrance to unload).