Habitat for Humanity is all about putting a roof over the heads of folks who might not otherwise enjoy that luxury; so is a man-made birdhouse, albeit on a much tinier level. As if to top off that metaphorical comparison with a story that’s almost too good to be true,…

We’re all familiar with the concept of re-gifting, which in this day and age of creeping recession has begun to make more sense than ever. But this afternoon’s Holiday Eco-Barter Market at the Mercury Cafe takes the idea of giving gifts that are new to the recipient, if not the…

Whether you like it or not, all hell seems to break loose the minute Thanksgiving is over, and unless you live in Bedford Falls, circa 1946, it’s almost impossible to avoid. The holidays come with expectations: The kids all have visions of Nintendo games dancing in their heads, and here…

A winter without the Blossoms of Light is like a world with no sun in my book, so I’ll admit I felt a catch in my throat when I heard that parking-garage construction and gardens torn up for irrigation replacement would preclude the possibility of accommodating the light-viewing crowds at…

When the Wildlife Experience Museum decides to do something, it does it all the way. So it goes without saying that the venue’s first-ever holiday lighting attraction, Winter WonderLights, also goes a step further. Opening tonight at 5:30 p.m., the fledgling spectacle has both indoor and outdoor components that set…

Chef Jamey Fader at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street, likes what happens when people meet over the spectacle of food. That’s evident in his changing menus as well as in the preparation and presentation of his beautiful and delicious everyday dishes. But even with seasonal menus, there’s still a certain strain…

To hell with Black Friday. I’m not going to go bust the doors open at the mall tomorrow morning. Nope! And to hell with Turkey Day, too. Bombs away! I’m going to bundle up the family and go shopping today at the massive crown jewel of north Stapleton, that Mexican-game-show-style…

It’s no secret: I love independent retailers. They’re what make a neighborhood a neighborhood — and besides, they’re a gritty and practical-minded bunch with a collective creative streak and an empathetic nose for what makes their customers tick. Their shops and boutiques, sprinkled throughout the city on cheerful, small-time commercial…

What goes around comes around, and as the contemporary success of neo-burlesquers, jug bands, Gypsy jazz and vaudevillian revivalists proves, old-timey is new-timey for a whole new generation of strongmen and tattooed ladies. So it’s the perfect time for a band like the Wiyos, a new York City-based acoustic string…

Small could just be another way of saying “affordable” where artworks are concerned, but in the case of WEE: A Small Works Photo Show, which opens today at FLASH, A Working With Artists space in Belmar, gallery spokeswoman Valerie Photogoddess thinks there’s more to it. “Small images are asking something…

Chris Armijo’s whimsical and often beautiful light fixtures take functionality to a whole new level: Fashioned from such everyday plastic items as paper clips and Wiffle balls, they represent the collaborative spirit of the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts gallery’s holiday show, Luz: a little bit of light in a big,…

You might say that local designer Tran Wills of the Fabric Lab learned the fashion-design business the hard way, by starting out not knowing exactly what she was doing and then slowly but surely finding her way. But it’s certain that Wills knows a lot about it now. “It’s hard…

One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I…

Get on the bus tonight — and bring the family! During Night at the Museums, nearly a dozen of the city’s museums will stay open from 5 to 10 p.m. and offer free ad-mission and special events in conjunction with Denver Arts Week. None of it will cost you a…

One of the Denver jazz scene’s favorite sons, saxophonist Fred Hess is in fine form on his new recording, Single Moment, with elegant backup from trumpeter Ron Miles Trumpet, reed genius John Gunther, guitarist Dale Bruning, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Matt Wilson. But tonight, he’ll have an entire big…

Local sculptor Meagen Svendsen couldn’t get a ticket to Obama’s DNC speech at Invesco Field last August, but that didn’t stop her from going down there. “I still wanted to do something to be there, so I came up with the idea of documenting it, of fossilizing all the people…

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra has gone to the movies before, it’s true — but, notes CSO spokesman Andrew Mathis, never quite like this: During a rare full-length, intermission-free CSO Goes to the Movies evening, the city ensemble will perform the live score during a screening of Charlie Chaplin’s comic tearjerker…

Nobody’s going to be taking any chances this holiday shopping season. Purse strings are tight, and a rosier future seems possible but still far away. But this mid-November weekend is bursting with thoughtful, homegrown and unique shopping opportunities at non-commercial venues where your hard-earned discretionary budget won’t be wasted. Imagine…

Fine art and craft curve together in a delicate tête-à-tête in Jennifer Falck Linssen: Beyond Katagami, a new exhibit opening today at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, 400 Quail Road in Longmont. Linssen, inspired by the Japanese craft of katagami (or cut-paper stencils) used for the printing of intricate…