Handmade Nation in a City Near You

Handmade Nation, the 2009 documentary about the rise of DIY crafting, is still making it’s way around the country with premieres in more than 20 cities still scheduled. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the upcoming screenings on their blog.

First-time filmmaker Faythe Levine takes crafting seriously. So do the 80-some people she interviews in her well-crafted (pun intended) documentary about the growing art community that coheres around a belief in DIY skill and resourceful creativity. Many members of the indie crafting community spent their childhoods at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores. Levine journeyed 19,000 miles around the country to discover what these crafters are up to today: selling mittens as band merchandise, knitting sweaters around street signs and networking with each other online, in stores and at craft fairs. This is a compelling look at the exuberant world of contemporary crafting.

Here are some of the upcoming events for September and October. Check out the Handemade Nation blog for more information on locations and times, plus more cities.

September 25-27th: Birmingham, AL
October 1st: Door County, WI
October 7th: Stadtkino, Vienna
October 11th: Tulsa OK
October 10th & 11th: Seattle, WA
October 24th: Norfolk, VA
October 25th: Huntington, NY

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If you’re raising little recyclers, or just trying to get your kids to stop tossing snack wrappers under the couch, Cheekoo and the Cloud of Trash is the picture book you didn’t know you needed.

In this beautifully illustrated and imaginative story, we meet Cheekoo—a young girl who becomes the unhappiest girl in the world when a literal cloud of trash begins to follow her. Orange peels, plastic bottles, buzzing flies—the whole lot! Why? Because Cheekoo never listened when her Amma told her not to litter.

What makes this story so clever is how it transforms a common environmental lesson into a fun, visual metaphor that’s both humorous and powerful. Kids will laugh (and maybe squirm) at the idea of a garbage cloud trailing behind them, but they’ll also get the message loud and clear: our waste doesn’t just disappear.

As Cheekoo starts encouraging others to stop littering, her trash cloud shrinks—giving kids a hopeful reminder that change starts small, and everyone can help. There’s even an educational section at the end that talks about where trash really goes and how to make better choices like reusing bags or waiting to find the nearest bin.

For crafty parents and educators, this book opens the door to all kinds of creative eco-lessons. Try pairing it with a recycled craft project, like making art from clean trash or DIY bins for sorting recyclables. It’s a fun way to reinforce the book’s message while getting hands-on with the kids.

Final thoughts? Cheekoo and the Cloud of Trash belongs on every eco-conscious family’s bookshelf. It’s smart, silly, and wonderfully inspiring—a gentle nudge toward cleaner habits and a greener future.

Perfect for kids aged 4–8.

Trash’s Cloudy Tale

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Have you read?