❈Sac Thrift Chick❈

Sometimes you just instantly fall in love with a song or musician, and that's how it was for me with Shannon Curtis. I can't recall exactly the year I first saw her, but I know it was roughly 12 years ago. I remember entering Heritage Festival on the grounds of Gibson Ranch and hearing a pop rock band with a female singer who could actually really sing. That band was Paradigm. I was immediately hooked. And because I co-ran a local music website and zine that did CD reviews, Paradigm sent us their press kit, so then my broke self had Paradigm music to listen to all the time . Eventually Paradigm parted ways and Shannon embarked on a solo career in the vein of Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan. The first time I saw her perform with just a keyboard, I was blown away. I continued to catch shows here and there and do some press when I had a new music column.  I turned my husband onto Shannon's music, and despite his protests when we first met that he didn't really like...

We like our Halloween decorations creepy, not cutesy. Sure, sometimes little kids are afraid to come up to our door, but with prompting from their parents, they almost always get over it. We have free candy, after all. This floating goblin is a simple, thrifty DIY Halloween decoration that takes just minutes to make. All we used was a blue rubber mask from the 99Cent Store, a bug zapper lantern and a hooded, black Halloween costume top in a thin, breathable fabric from the 99Cent Store. We hung the zapper lantern, which is encased by proctive bars so we've never had to worry about it burning the fabric. We chose the zapper because it gives off a nice blue glow. A porch light with a black light in it would also achieve this affect. Then we stapled the hood of the top around the edges of the mask. To secure the mask in place, we fit the mask's flexible head strap around the lantern. Finally, we just pulled the shirt over the lantern. We probably could have d...

He's made children cry. He's one of the reasons we get so many "badass decorations" compliments from adults. He's our flying monster, and he only cost a few bucks to make. What You Need: 1 Black grad robe (Check thrift stores, if you don't have one lying around.) 1 Over-the-head mask (Preferably with a hood) 1 Pair of monster gloves Lots of safety pins 1 Plastic bag Newspaper or tissue paper 1 Wire coat hanger 2 sticks (We used the wands from old blinds) The Basic Steps: Fill out your mask with something bulky so it has dimension. We actually have a block of wood in there, but without pulling apart the monster, I couldn't tell you how we managed that. You can fill a plastic bag with newspaper, seal the bag and then safety pin or sew it into the inside of the mask.    Safety pin the collar of the graduation gown to the neck opening of the mask. If your mask has a hood -- as ours does -- safety pin the hood to the gown. Cut a small...

My face melted and I was generally blinded by the bright sun, but I still enjoyed seeing the sidewalk chalk drawings and listening to live music at Chalk It Up on Saturday afternoon. Chalk It Up is an annual Labor Day weekend festival at Fremont Park that benefits youth art programs in Sacramento. This year we only caught two bands, The Old Screen Door and Musical Charis. I snapped some quick cell phone pics of the bands and of my favorite sidewalk art. The Old Screen Door Musical Charis