Just wanted to stop by and say that Completely Unfinished has a new look! The old layout has been up since June, and was definitely in need of a refresh & more organization. I’m still tweaking a couple things–mostly in the sidebar. Jump out of your reader and check it out :)

I’m always super stoked about the first of the month! I designed a wallpaper back in the fall and wanted to share another one after the idea of argyle + hearts popped into my head. Right click & open in a new window to save the image.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I have planned for my birthday month:

- Graphic design book review
- Giveaway!
- Thrift finds
- Inspired by Modcloth DIY
- A printable
- January Photo-a-day part 2

This month [like a bunch of bloggers], i’ve been doing the photo a day challenge from Fatmumslim.com. Although, I haven’t been doing one a day–instead a bunch at a time on the weekends when I can take photos in the daylight. Maybe at some point I’ll really do a photo per day challenge, but for this I wanted to use my SLR instead of my phone’s camera. This will definitely be easier in the summer when there’s more hours of natural light! Here’s some of my favorites, you can see the rest on my Flickr if you’d like!

↑ Close-up

↑ Something you’re reading

↑ Breakfast

↑ Something you wore

↑ Daily routine

↑ Childhood

Are you participating in a photo challenge this month? I’d love to see :) Part 2 coming soon.

With feeling sick & exhausted comes the need for pick-me-ups–so here’s what i’ve been loving from my week via my non-iphone phone:

1 // The fact that it’s staying light out longer – my drive home from work while the sun was setting
2 // Ice cream cones in the winter
3 // Old school mixtapes
4 // Inspiring horoscopes

My younger brother just went back to college after being home on break for almost a month. At the end of the summer, our basement got a bit flooded and we had to rip up a lot of the carpet, leaving it pretty much unusable since then. It’s not a finished basement obviously, but we’ve spent time making it our own [and hey, I like the unfinished basement look anyway!]

So while my brother was home he & I spent two days giving my parent’s basement a makeover–putting down a new rug, throwing stuff out, and re-arranging everything. Here’s a little tour!

Pillows I made, a new old green couch, and we finally got a bookshelf.

Old old couch (sofa bed!) for sleepovers & a table I got thrifting in college. So cute–i’m pretty sure it’s from Urban Outfitters.

This is my little music corner + most of our guitars. My Clash poster that’s restricted to the floor…Apparently my music taste is not good enough & doesn’t even come close to the Beatles :P I’m not sure why I have two saxophones…

Check out my old pink iMac! I’m not sure what to do with it, so it kind of just chills behind the couch. I’ve upgraded it & it works except it won’t save any files! I originally got it just for music recording purposes. Anyone have an idea for it?

My interior decorating trained Mom even said the space looked great. Success? ♥ I definitely want to hang out down there more now…it feels so cozy. Next stop–make my craft area pretty!

I realized that over the years I’ve aquired lots of shirts from Threadless. I found myself not wearing them–for some reason graphic tees don’t really leave my closet. I really like the designs on my old shirts, so I wanted to put them to good use & decided on making some pillows!

Pick out a couple different fabrics. I used 4 pieces of vintage fabric that weren’t big enough for a project, you can use more than four if you want it extra patch-y. This is super great for using up fabric scraps.

Lay your shirt flat & cut off the sleeves and a straight line under the neckline. Then figure out how big you can/want to make your pillow image. Pin & cut a square around your t-shirt image, use the same width and height. Mine was 11.5 inches–leave 1/2″ for seam allowance.

Cut strips of fabric that are 3 inches tall, at varying lengths. Use less than 3 inches if you want a smaller border/pillow, or more for larger. Lay out the strips so that each side has that 3 inches overhanging on one end–Except for one side.

I messed this part up at first! Arrange the strips something like this, I made my pattern reversed on opposite sides. **One side needs to be just the same size as the t-shirt side, with no extra–this is #1. Trim extra fabric that’s on each side.

Once you have it all figured out, sew or serge the patches to each other making a strip for each side. Sew to the t-shirt starting at #1–the strip with a bit less fabric. Then sew strip #2 and so on. Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing :)

Now that the front of your pillow is all done, use it to trace around some fabric or t-shirt material for the back. My finished pillow front was about 17″. Sew the front to the back right sides together, leaving a few inch gap on one side. Turn right side out & stuff or use a pillow form. Admire your pretty pillow!

The shirt I used is called, ‘A day in the life of a decadent designer.’ Isn’t the design rad? This is what my mother had to say about the image–”It’s like a mess, just like you!” Uhh..thanks Mom? Hah. I prefer to call my messes ‘Hodgepodges of creativity.’ ♥

With the new year & my 24th birthday next month, I thought it was a good time for some new focuses. These are my bigger-than-to-do-list goals i’m aiming to accomplish before next year. I started this list a couple months ago, so I already completed a few!

1– visit a new state
2– finish my personal zine
3– table at a craft fair
4– try roller derby DONE
5– volunteer somewhere
6– learn to surf
7– record a demo & design it
8– eat only raw food for a week
9– become financially independent
10– lose 5 pounds DONE / lose 10 pounds
11– list 50 things on ebay
12– start a savings account DONE
13– giveaway on my blog
14– reach 100 blog followers DONE
15– provide custom blog designs
16– host a potluck
17– sell prints on etsy
18– take a yoga class again
19– move!
20– start a vintage clothes wardrobe
21– take a knitting class
22– design and print business cards DONE
23– plant a garden
24– start saving a trip fund
25– adopt a cat

Also, it’s been a whole year since I started full-force blogging. Since then, this little blog has gotten more than 100 followers…i’m so stoked & thankful! I have lots planned this year, and definitely more frequent posts. I’m beyond excited for 2012 ♥

Hello 2012! It’s that time of the year again…time for a fresh new planner to fill up with tons of words, lists, doodles, & ideas. The Slingshot Organizer is hands down my favorite planner. This is my 3rd or 4th year [I lost track!] using one, I was feelin’ turquoise this time.

It’s a hand drawn, punky, radical, unique, and incredibly useful little organizer. They also make one in a smaller pocket size, but I personally prefer more room to write. I like a lot of the calendar and to-do list apps out there but I always find myself going back to just writing things down.

What’s your favorite planner?

This year I designed my own simple holiday cards..I wanted to share :) These I made for my brother and parents. I wanted my brother’s to say ‘Happy Christmas’ because of this song by John Lennon we play on guitar together every year. He and my dad gave me a good idea for next years card based on the song, too!

I was set on wrapping my gifts differently this year, and I really wanted to use brown wrapping paper after seeing so many pretty wrapped gifts on the internet. Plus, last year I used newspaper & I thought i’d do something a bit more classy ;) I used two different stamps, and made a couple pompoms. I really wanted to use green yarn but I used what I had–black & green/yellow/red/orange.

I also made and printed my gift tags..my mom loved them!

Another thing I included on the gifts were a couple marble magnets I whipped up. I put them in a tiny baggie, folded & stapled some cardstock over the top, and punched a hole through all the layers. I really like how it turned out!

How did you wrap your gifts this year? Did you do something different? ♥

Hope everyone had a rad holiday weekend! Sitting at the table after dinner on Christmas Eve, I was thinking about how the night felt like it was in fast forward motion..it didn’t feel like I got to really take it all in! Maybe it’s partially because I can’t get out of the habit of always wrapping all of my gifts on Xmas eve..haha. Yep, I am a major procrastinator.

A couple weeks ago I put some twinkle lights up in my room. I just draped them over my curtain rods, &– BAM! instant pretty. I love them so much I might end up leaving them up all winter..it brightens up the room so much & lots of lights make me really happy during the blue winter months.

My brother and I used to make sugar cookies every year around the holidays with my mom..we haven’t in the last couple years & I definitely miss it. The first and only time I made vegan sugar cookies the results were less than yummy. The boyfriend and I found a much better recipe and made some super good ones this time around!