10 Things to Do in Dallas for $10 or Less: December 15-18

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Bath House Cultural Center
521 E. Lawther Drive
ongoing through Jan. 28
Most folks don't look twice at the numerous empty beer cans, Coke cans and other aluminum waste scattered throughout the city's sidewalks and neighborhoods. But two artists have made it their focus in an exhibit at Bath House Cultural Center. Marilyn Waligore, one of the two Dallas-based artists, has renewed and repurposed the seemingly useless waste she's found on streets and in streams in her collection of photographs titled Utopian Dilemma. Emily Loving's work moves the viewer through landscapes, embracing fragmentation through her construction of sculptural forms. Both artists' work shows our everyday impact on the environment. — Diamond Victoria

Deep Ellum Wine Walk — Ho! Ho! Holidays! Edition
2650 Main St.
6 to 9 p.m. Thursday
$10
Venues throughout Deep Ellum will open their doors this evening for a special holiday edition of the Deep Ellum Wine Walk. For $10 (or free with a new, unwrapped toy) participants will receive a wine glass which will be topped off with vino as they meander around the neighborhood. Santa and his Jolly Elf will be there, though, so watch your glass. — Kathryn DeBruler

Elf
Resto Gasto Bistro
3011 Gulden Lane
7 p.m. Thursday
Free
Traditional holiday movies really clustered up in the 1950s and 1960s, an era where kitsch and oversentimentality went hand in hand with holiday cheer. Eventually, the 1980s gave us A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation, which peppered seasonal sappiness with a jolly dose of irreverence. And then, two decades later, Hollywood gifted us with Elf — a perfect blend of gleeful silliness, durable catchphrases and family-friendly Christmas feels. If you haven’t made your yearly appointment with Buddy the Elf, here’s your chance: It’ll screen for free on the patio of Resto Gastro Bistro at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. Don your ugliest Christmas sweater, celebrate your affinity for Elf culture, and indulge in $2 popcorn and candy.  — Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Beer and Carols
Oak Highlands Brewery
10484 Brockwood Road
7 to 9 p.m. Friday
Free
Oak Highlands Brewery will put the cheer in beer during an evening of Christmas carols and craft beer. A live band will set up shop in the taproom and will lead the yuletide sing-a-long. Here's hoping the music is loud enough that you can alter song lyrics without anyone noticing. ("Frosty the Pint Glass," anyone?) This event is free to attend; beer and food by Easy Slider Truck will be available for purchase. — Kathryn DeBruler

Dark Rooms Farewell Show
Club Dada
2720 Elm St.
8 p.m. Friday
$10
After sticking around Dallas since 2010, the indie pop outfit Dark Rooms is packing up and moving back to Los Angeles next month. But not without a killer farewell show first. The move back to L.A. is meant to ease the strain on Daniel Hart, the band's songwriter, who also composes music for film and television. He's currently working on Fox's The Exorcist and David Lowery's A Ghost Story, which will premiere at Sundance Film Festival next month. Dark Rooms will continue to play music and tour, however. But this show, with a bill that also includes DOMA queen Sam Lao, picnictyme and Blue, The Misfit, may be the last time for a while that Dallasites will be able to see them live. — Diamond Victoria

Holiday Roast
Sue Ellen's
3014 Throckmorton St.
10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday
$6 for those 21 and up
The holidays are just around the corner and that means you’re going to have to brace yourself for a never-ending onslaught of hokey, holiday-themed entertainment. Get ready to relearn lessons about the good nature of mankind and the power of generosity in movies and TV specials you’ve seen every year since you were born. Or, it doesn’t have to be like that this year. You don’t have to endure another screening of It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story and pretend it’s the first time you’ve seen it in your life. You can watch a room full of very funny people tear down everything that’s joyful and giving about the holiday season purely for your amusement. The Dallas drag show Mustache Envy will hold a special Holiday Roast at Sue Ellen's just so they can spit in the face of anyone who dare says “Peace on Earth and good will toward men.” This special Christmas roast will feature the show’s regular performers and a few special guests from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at Sue Ellen's. — Danny Gallagher

Treats of Christmas
NorthPark Center
8687 N. Central Expressway
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday
If you tend to think the words “treat” and “NorthPark” belong on polar opposites of the verbal spectrum during the month of December, we wouldn’t normally argue. It takes a certain grit to make it through the hustle and bustle of the popular shopping mall, but this year, there’s a little something extra to sweeten the deal. From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, “Treats of Christmas” serves up baked goodies including cookies, cakes, pies and other sweets from the kitchens of the area’s best chefs. The event, sponsored by the Texas Chefs Association, is a bake sale on a massive scale and proceeds benefit the North Texas Food Bank. — Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Light Crust Doughboys
Balch Springs Library - Learning Center
12450 Elam Road, Balch Springs
3 p.m. Saturday
Free
North Texas’ own Light Crust Doughboys hold a truly impressive place in music history. The act bills themselves as “the longest-running band in the history of recorded music,” and it’s hard to dispute the Doughboys’ claim. In 1929, the legendary "King of Western Swing" Bob Wills left West Texas for Fort Worth and quickly formed the Wills Fiddle Band. In 1931, after several new players joined, the band changed the name to the Light Crust Doughboys. By 1932 some of the original players began to leave, and while, yes, a few hiatuses halted the band’s performances, the Doughboys’ revolving-door-membership trend continues to this day. Catch the band’s current roster of players during the Light Crust Doughboys Christmas Special at the Dr. Larry "T-Byrd" Gordon Theatre at the Balch Springs Library-Learning Center, 12450 Elam Road, Balch Springs. The family-friendly Christmas concert is free and open to the public. The show starts at 3 p.m. and seating is limited. — Daniel Rodrigue

Vitruvian Lights
Vitruvian Park
3815 Spring Valley Road
6 p.m. Saturday
Free
Vitruvian Park's 12 acres spark to life each holiday season with the Vitruvian Lights — a display of millions of LED lights wrapped around more than 500 trees. Located in Addison (3815 Spring Valley Road), the park's lights were switched on Nov. 28 by mayor Todd Meier and will remain on through Jan. 1. But the holiday magic really gets under way at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, when the Georgia Bridgwater Orchestra plays a free show at the park. The many-member band's infectious sound will get you movin' and shakin', which will help with the low temperature. It's free and open to anyone who wants to excite their inner Clark Griswold. — Diamond Victoria

Poetry March
Deep Vellum Books
3000 Commerce St.
3 p.m. Sunday
Free
Now is not the time to become complacent. If there’s anything this current political season has taught us, it’s that we can’t just sit back and complain about things. We have to be active, be vocal. Spiderweb Salon is helping those feeling scared and alone to venture out from behind the intimidating computer screens and into the street with likeminded community members. The goal of Sunday’s Poetry March, which begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, at Deep Vellum Books (3000 Commerce St.), is unity, healing and change. Speakers will introduce the event and the march will route through Deep Ellum with various stops for poetry readings. Bring signs of solidarity — the more literary the better. This public event is free, but any donations collected will benefit the water protectors against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and North Texas Stands with Standing Rock. — Merritt Martin