Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Araujo.
Hi Maria, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I have always had a love and passion for crafting things out of my creativity, putting things together into something.
Growing up I’ve always had an interest in art, anything with making something out of my creativity. I remember when I was in Elementary, I would go to the store with my mom, and every time I would see fashion books and sketchbooks I would beg her to buy them and I would draw and draw in them, it was like a canvas where all my creativity would overflow it, I would even bring them with me to school to show my sketches to my teacher and friends. I dream of someday fulfilling the love I have for fashion. Growing up into my teen years I already wanted to have a job starting at 14 years old, I remember I would look for places to apply, but my mother would remind me of how young I still was. Until I turned sixteen and decided to apply for a job. I applied to retail companies and one reached out to me, one that I loved going in when I would go to the mall, Forever 21.
It was a dream come true, I just remember how happy I was that I literally went into my younger sister’s room and started jumping on her bed. I did have an interview and got hired on the spot I was working with them for almost a year about 9 months and I absolutely loved it. I was in the position of working in the fitting room most of the time and it was pretty great to me, others might not agree, but to me yes. I just enjoy helping out people style their outfits. After my lovely experience with Forever 21, I decided to focus more on school, but I still wanted to do something, something of my own and something I would have a passion for every second. I just felt in myself that I wanted to create things. That something in me is my creativity that my God gifted me and I am so thankful. I remembered I admired pictures of flower bouquets I would see on social media and it called my attention.
I also had a special someone who would gift me flowers, and every time I received them, I would just get lost in the flowers, I would take off the leaves losing their color, trim the soft petals and its stem, then arrange the flowers in the vase. I realized this could be something I could do and I decided to go at it. I went online to shop for supplies and to stores looking for the best prices for flowers. I then made an account on Instagram to get started, I was thinking of what name to use and I thought about the word “Hermosa” which means beautiful in Spanish I knew I wanted to use the word Hermosa, but something more and I thought what about Hermosa and I added “creations” to it, and together it was “Hermosura creations” and I loved it and that is my name, Hermosura Creations. I’m truly proud of myself that I pushed my courage to just do it, if it’s something I enjoy why not do it?
When all my supplies arrived, I got my first flowers, I bought 24 white roses and 24 pink roses and I made my first two bouquets out of those. I just felt the excitement running through me as I was making my first bouquets! I then started promoting my flower bouquets on Instagram and when I sold my first two bouquets, I felt all kinds of emotions, I think I was really overwhelmed accepting the fact that it was really happening, the ideas I planned in my head are reality! With days I started getting more and more orders with Valentine’s Day coming up. I was so overwhelmed with joy and I would do my little happy dance every time I would get an order, I don’t know how I could ever thank God for the courage He gave me, and for all the opportunities He gives me.
I remember when I would finish order and I would admire my work, I really never thought I would overcome the doubts I had on myself, all the ideas I had in my head would I ever really do them? But I’m so glad I turned to God and I put my trust in Him because He never fails, He is so good! Literally, my routine after the school changed when it was Valentine’s Day week, it was just going to school, then going to buy flowers, getting home, and making them into bouquets, and ta-dah! And I don’t complain about it! I am truly happy with what I do it’s inexplicable I just enjoy working with my creativity, working with flowers, and the process of making them into bouquets. I now dream of one day having my own floral shop and also being my own supplier of flowers, I want to have my own garden of flowers and maybe one day I can be a flower supplier to another florist too.
And thank you, Jesus, I recently made a first step toward my dream, I started planting roses and hopefully from here to a year or two I’ll have my own roses if it’s all in God’s will and I truly give all my thanks to God, He is my number one and my all, who shows me, true love! And how this amazing verse says Psalms 139:13-17 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God!”
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I have gone through struggles to get where I am now, and all glory to God because with Him I am able to push through every single thing that tries to intervene. There are going to battle or stops in our paths until the end, either physical or mental struggles. Self-doubt and not believing enough in myself to just do the things I want to do has been a struggle for me. Even before turning to the Lord, I had doubts about Him. How could I ever doubt in our Savior I tell myself? But self-doubt is real, intrusive thoughts are real, and the enemy is also real! I started reading His word more (the Bible) and it’s just so fascinating, I remember I was so hooked when I was reading the Book of Revelations chapter 12 the women and the Dragon, the Bible is so much more fascinating than one can imagine, there are so many stories that are heart touching, eye openings, shocking, lessons, so much more. The doubts I had about God started changing and I started changing, I wanted to put my trust in God and walk my path with Him and I wanted to have a relationship with Him. I wanted to have all that but it’s only going to happen if I start, if I start making decisions, how am I going to walk now?
I couldn’t continue walking with temptations that will lead me to sin, but I couldn’t let go of it, it was a battle to let go, but the Lord showed me, true love. He showed me what true love is, His love truly protects, His love for us is so deep He will move mountains for us and He showed it to me. I felt Him with me, I don’t know how to describe it, the feeling is so great so loving so comforting. My self-doubt and intrusive thoughts are still at work, but I’m so glad where I am now, that sometimes I don’t even think about them. I feel free now in a way. I feel like if I stayed in that position, I was in I probably wouldn’t have been doing what I do now, and I know that because I’ve had ideas before in the past in my head but never did them because of my self-doubt, but I’m so proud now of who and where I am now thanks to God. And I just think how can I ever thank Him for the sensation that runs through me when I feel the passion and joy when I make something when I think of something with my creativity that He gifted me? God is so good, even the sensation I feel this moment writing this I am so thankful God is so good, He knows I’ve been waiting for a moment like this, He knows and He gives His love is true love, God truly does provide. (Matthew 6:25-34).
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I make flower bouquets/arrangements. The process is fun to me, I first check all my flowers one by one for any not-too-good-looking petals to be taken off then I remove all leaves and any thorns on the stem. Once they are all trimmed up and looking pretty, I start going one by one at the end of their stem I cut at an angle then I have a bucket or vase prepared for them to be in until it’s time to start making them into a bouquet. Once it’s time to start making them into a bouquet, I either lay all the flowers in front of me or I may leave them in the bucket, however, it’s comfortable at the moment, but I start grabbing them one by one in my hand to form a circle. Sometimes it can get frustrating because I wish I had another 10 fingers to hold the flowers in the place where I have them because when I reach for the tape they start moving out of the spot it gets frustrating but in the end of it I have them all looking so pretty in place, it’s worth the struggles.
After I’m done with taping them together in a circle shape I start with the wrapping paper. First, I fold the wrapping paper and place tape in between so it doesn’t lose its shape then I start putting the wrapping paper on the flowers by putting tape on the sides of the flower stems and sticking the paper on the next paper until the flowers are all covered. The more flowers, the more wrapping paper! After that lovely process comes the cutest part, decorating the bouquet with a bow around the stem and butterflies or gems on the flowers and ta-dah! A Hermosura is created! I love working with flowers I feel like they are so special to me when I trim them because it feels like they are my girls that I’m getting them all glammed up, it’s so cute and funny to me. I’m really proud of myself that I decided to work with what I love and I hope I can start doing more things in the future I have an interest in making sweets has been on my mind, but practice first and trust in God hopefully that interest may come true one day!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood memory is when I was around 7 years old, my family use to live in a neighborhood of mobile homes, and in front of our dark green trailer, my mom had such a pretty garden, in a small area, but she made it look like much more. With such a variety of bright colors flowers. I remember one of our flowers was a sunflower, a lime green tall stem with bright yellow long and wide petals, and in its center were rows and rows of its growing seeds.
When the seeds were all grown, it looked like a spiral of rows of seeds, I just remember it looked so captivating. I would have my little bucket and pick out all the sunflower seeds from its center, I just remember how satisfying it was to pick the seeds out, seeds with grayish-white and black lines. When I would be done picking the seeds out, I would have my little bucket filled with sunflowers seeds and with that, I was just happy.
Pricing:
- 24 roses of color choice with paper of color choice $34
- 12 roses of color choice with paper of color choice $24
- 48 roses of color choice with paper of color choice $60
- 72 roses of color choice with paper of color choice $85
- Add-ons for your bouquets like butterflies and gems are .50 cents each. Interest in other flowers than roses please message me for availability, thank you.
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