Elsa Ortiz Online

08/28/2026

Most of our clothing is upcycled from previously worn Mayan cortes (skirts).

08/14/2026

Before we left Guatemala we brought a canasta basica to a very poor family that makes some of our beaded products. A canasta basica is a one month's supply of basic food. This family lives in the mountains. The house has no running water, no electricity, no bathroom, and just dirt floors. The kitchen was very smokey from the wood stove they use.
Irma, their 16-year-old daughter showed us how she beads our coin purses. Look at the little loom she made using two plastic combs and some thin wires. That's what she does much of every day. Irma has epilepsy. Needless to say, her medical care is not ideal. They can't afford to drive her to the city every month for tests and adjustment of medicine dosage. She lives as my grandparents would have lived with the disease.
The beads she has are imported from Czechoslovakia. Our friend, Mildred, orders beads and gives them to many artisans in the mountainous areas. They bead and sell the products back to her. She then sells them in her store in Panajachel.

07/28/2026

Hope you can come! We'll be back from Guate two days before.

07/28/2026

Lucia embroiders our dancing dresses. Her husband, Tomas, sews them. Meet them both and see the dresses in this video.

07/01/2026

A rare choice of children's apparel. All hand embroidered in the highlands of Guatemala. We will have them at the wine festival.

06/30/2026

Here's the wines they will have at the festival....

Ponderosa Valley Winery
D.H. Lescombes Winery
Gruet Winery
El Alamo Winery
Black Range Vineyards
Jaramillo Winery
Black Mesa Winery
Black Smuggler Winery
Vinos Unidos
Sheehan Winery
Shattuck Vineyard
Noisy Water Winery
La Esperanza Vineyards
Luna Rossa Winery
Chavez Brothers
Las Nueve Niñas Winery
Embudo Valley Vineyards

We'll also have Beer Creek Brewery and Mystic Ambrosia Meadery on site for those who might want a few other options.

06/29/2026

Join us this weekend at the most widely attended and popular summer wine festival. We will be there selling our beautiful upcycled apparel and ceramics from the Mayan Highlands of Guatemala.

06/25/2026

We will be there with our beautiful upcycled apparel, ceramics and beaded ornaments. Oh, and a glass of local wine!

www.buymayan.com

06/03/2026