BOOKS How To Embroider a Book

Guess what?

An official rug decision has been made.

I wanted to thank you SO MUCH for all your input. It meant the world to me and I read every single comment and kept a tally and the rug is ordered and I’m redoing the room to make sure it fits and fingers crossed it turns out even better than we all envisioned.

I’m hoping to post the finished room on Friday.

Unless the rug gets snowed in.

In that case, it will be Monday.

But with all the rug talk and all the rug decisions and my big rug misstep, I totally forgot to share something with all of you.

There was one more handmade Christmas present from one of my sisters that didn’t get its day in the sun.

It was actually my favorite (don’t tell the other presents), so I was saving it for last and then the rug drew me offside.

So now?

It’s Christmas in February.

Because I wanted to show you this.

// 10-Minute Christmas Decorating Book //

It’s my book.

Remember the book I wrote at Christmas?

It’s called 10-minute Christmas decorating ideas and it was all about simple, easy ideas that only took 10 minutes that you could use to decorate your house for the holidays 10 minutes at a time. You can see the book here.

This is the cover of the book at least it used to be the cover of the book.

Except.

Except now it’s fancy.

My sister took the book.

AND EMBROIDERED IT.

Can you even believe it?

My very own embroidered copy of my very own book.

Have you seen all those embroidered books on Instagram?

The artist takes a vintage book and adds tiny stitches through the cover to decorate the book.

Tiny flowers and birds and vines and leaves twirl in and out of the title of the book.

I’ve watched those videos in fascination.

But I never.

Never ever.

Never ever ever imagined that one of my books could look like that.

My sister added holly berries.

And leaves and garlands of flowers.

And tiny glittered falling snowflakes all over the cover of the book.

She embroidered the entire cover of the book and then put a new front page inside to cover all the stitches on the inside front cover.

And when I opened it on Christmas morning.

I couldn’t believe it.

WHAT?

My book?

All those stitches?

All that time?

All that heartfelt effort to make my book look prettier than I could even imagine?

I have it displayed in my office on a little display easel.

It’s there to remind me of something important.

Writing a book and seeing it in print is wonderful.

But having a sister that celebrates your book like this….

….is truly AMAZING.

PS Did you know that this was actually my EIGHTH book?

(Just between us? I’m as surprised as you are.)

The books have actually never all been together on this blog before, so I thought I might be fun to share.

Here are the other six books (in order of publication):

// So Close To Amazing //

So Close To Amazing

This is my first book. It’s my memoir—full of stories and heart and the journey to Kentucky and back home again.

You can see So Close To Amazing here.

// The DIY Home Planner //

The DIY Home Planner

This is actually my bestseller. It’s the perfect guide to help you design a home you can fall in love with.

Featuring:

Convenient pockets to tuck paint chips, fabric samples, and more to keep you organized
Charming illustrations, photos, and diagrams to inform and encourage you
Unique style guides, decision trees, and reference guidelines to inspire confidence in every decorating decision
Easy DIY projects to help you accessorize with personalized style
Incredible extras in the back of the book, including three frameable prints to brighten up your wall decor

You can see The DIY Home Planner here.