Fall Bean Mosaics
Celebrate autumn with these fall bean mosaics! This pumpkin and leaf shaped bean art is SO PRETTY! It’s such a fun indoor activity for cooler days and a great opportunity for younger kids to practice their fine motor skills.
Use dried beans, lentils, legumes, and seeds to decorate this fall bean art. It’s an easy craft that looks great sitting on a mantle, side table, or as homemade decorations for your Thanksgiving table.
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DIY Fall Bean Mosaics
Materials:
- Free Printable Leaf template
- Thin cardboard
- Acrylic paint(colour that matches your beans)
- White glue
- Dried beans(assorted)
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
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Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Prepare the cardboard base
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Print out a free leaf or pumpkin template.See below for more template links.
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Cut out the shape of your choice.
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Trace the template onto a thin piece of cardboard. (We used a cereal box.)
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Cut out the cardboard shape.
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Optional: Paint the cardboard with a thin layer of paint to match whatever beans or lentils you’re going to use.This will give the final mosaic a clean look, with no plain cardboard showing through.Allow to dry.
Step 3: Glue down the leaf details
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Add a line of glue where you want to add your first beans.If you’d like to add vein details to a leaf, or lines on a pumpkin, it’s best to do these areas first.
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Add larger beans one by one into the glue, pressing them down into place.Start by adding beans to the stem of the leaf. We used black turtle beans.
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Continue adding beans to the leaf vein, one by one, until you’ve covered all the glue.
Step 4: Fill in the rest of the leaf
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Add glue to a new section of the leaf. It’s best to only add glue to a small area at a time.This way the glue won’t dry out while you’re working.
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Fill this section with different beans, to match the paint colour. We used green split peas to make this leaf.You can add smaller beans one by one, or sprinkle a small handful at a time, spreading them out in the glue.
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Continue adding beans, working in one small area at a time.
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Repeat until the whole leaf is covered. Allow to dry.
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Your fall leaf bean mosaic is complete!
Helpful Tips:
1. Add beans to the stem of the leaf first. This will ensure that the leaf veins come up straight from the stem. Then finish the leaf vein details before filling in the rest of the leaf.
2. The tiny lentils can be sprinkled onto the glue instead of placed one by one. Use tweezers if you want to place them neatly.
3. Keep your bean art flat by placing a heavy tray on top of it while it dries. Or bend them back carefully after they’ve dried.
Free printable templates for these fall bean mosaics:
Click the links below to find many great options for making mosaic art with beans! The templates are free to download and print.
On our leaf template page you can choose from maple, oak, hawthorn, aspen, and a simple leaf shape. We used the medium size of each leaf:
>>> Leaf Template <<<
On our pumpkin template page there are 4 different pumpkins available and each has a plain outline and a more detailed template available. We made our bean art with pumpkin #1 and pumpkin #4 in the small size:
>>> Pumpkin Template <<<
What type of beans are best for making fall bean mosaic art?
There are so many varieties of dried beans that work really well for making bean art!
To make our fall leaves and pumpkin mosaics, we used:
- yellow split peas
- green split peas
- romano beans
- red lentils
- black turtle beans
- red kidney beans
- yellow whole peas
You can also use:
- black-eyed peas
- white kidney beans (aka cannellini beans)
- chick peas
- sunflower seeds
- pumpkin seeds
- popcorn kernels
- navy beans
- lima beans
- great northern beans
- pinto beans
Or buy a bean mix, meant for soup, to have a ton of different options in one bag!
What glue works best for making fall bean art?
We used white school glue to make our fall bean mosaics. This glue dries clear, and it takes long enough to dry that you can create your design without rushing.
Tacky glue is another great option. It’s a bit thicker than regular white glue, which helps keep the beans in place once they’re added.
What makes the best backing for fall bean mosaics?
You need to use thin cardboard that you can easily cut through to make your fall bean art. We cut our leaf and pumpkin shapes from a cereal box.
You can also use a thicker corrugated cardboard, but adults will need to cut it with sharp scissors or a craft knife.
These fall bean mosaics are so much fun to make and the colours look so pretty! We made pumpkins and leaves in fall colours, but you could also make acorns and apples!
Turn your bean art into magnets to hang on the fridge, or punch a hole in the cardboard before adding beans to create an ornament. These bean mosaics will add tons of fall cheer to your home, however you choose to display them.
Here’s even more fun craft ideas:
How to Dye Pumpkin Seeds
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
