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About

Teacher of tiny humans by day and creator of pretty little things by night.

My name is Mayra, (pronounced MA-EE-RAH not MAY-RUH haha) and I am a born and raised Houston Latina. I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. I've always found joy and happiness in creating pretty things. I am able to visualize what I want to make and my creativity has allowed me to find my happy place. Since becoming a teacher, I have found a new love for creating teacher related items, and slowly started receiving requests for handmade items from friends, co-workers, and family. I never thought I'd be bold enough to go on Etsy and share my crafts with you all, and now my website. Woo! I take pride in the things I create and LOVE seeing peoples reaction when they see the final product. I am very, very, very detail oriented and take my time with everything I make until I feel it is perfect. I guess that makes me just a tiny bit of a perfectionist and another tiny bit OCD. I enjoy anything craft related and decorating so this hobby was bound to happen. During college, my interest in the crafting world really expanded. I would see something cute on instagram or pinterest and would ask myself, "I wonder if it would be too much work to make that?" Sure enough, I'd find out what materials I needed to make that specific item that I so badly wanted for myself, and ultimately made it. When people would ask, "Where did you buy that shirt? It is so cute!" and I would tell them I made it, only confirmed what I already knew, that I was obsessed with DIY. 

Gifts have always been my thing. I LOVE making something for someone specific and tailoring that item to fit their personality. Eventually, I had been told, "You really need to take pictures of this and start your own business, etc" so many times, that I finally listened. 

My shop definitely caters to the things I love most, teaching, family, and Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Most of the things in my shop I've created in the past as a gift for someone special and that is what sparked the creativity of it being here now.

My first order was within days, and I mean not even a week had passed since opening my shop. It was the infamous Teacher Pencil Shoes and it was from someone in Maryland. This is when it all hit me. Someone who didn't know me, never met me, thought that something I made was worthy enough of being purchased. IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STATE!! I'll never forget the excitement and joy I felt. I've now shipped to about 45 states, Australia, Spain, Japan and still find that fascinating. I think I appreciate that the most about Etsy because it opened doors for me. It is a place for handmade items, produced by a passionate stranger who is willing to share their art. Very quickly, my shop grew and I adjusted and decided to move over to my own platform, which is why you're now on my website.

Teaching is not an easy job, and the thought of opening my shop for people outside my neighborhood/work just seemed like too much work and a little scary. After some research and A TON of encouragement from my (then) boyfriend (now fiance), I decided to go for it. I told myself I wouldn't get my hopes up in case nothing really came out of it, but I definitely should've believed in myself so much more! 

The hardest thing about Etsy? My shop name! I spent hours, days in and out trying to find the perfect name. Before Etsy, I was making custom made shirts, sweaters, phone accessories, tumblers, senior night signs, banners for my classroom, and family, you name it. So I didn't want it to be something that would describe one item because I felt like I did more than that. My fiance would ask if I'd taken the step to open the shop and I would say, "There can't be a shop until I have a name for it. I just can't." He made a joke saying, "Just name it what it is, Crafting by Mayra. I mean you are the only person doing all the work, and what you do is a craft that not everyone can do as effortlessly as you. You are good at it but most importantly you love it." It was kind of frustrating that I'd spent so much time trying to come up with something creative while he had the name all along. If it wasn't for him giving me that push I needed, I would not have made the leap of faith I did to go onto Etsy and now start my website. The name felt right and I appreciated the thought behind it.

So, welcome to CraftingbyMayra!