Harvest Frame and Printable

This post originally appeared on Create. Craft. Love. on October 14, 2014. 

Way back in the day, the 1980s to be exact, we used dried foods in our crafting projects a lot. Let's just say I was feeling nostalgic for that gold, spray-painted, macaroni glued to cardboard picture frame I made in elementary school. So, I decided to pull out some dried beans and get crafty. Don't worry there will be noodle crafting as well; just waiting for the kids to help me with that one.

Fall is a time of harvest so why not celebrate it with a project and a lovely printable autumnal quote. 

Supplies for this project are pretty simple, just the way I like it, all you need are: 

 beans - glue - dollar store picture frame - decoupage medium 

The frame I was using had a bit of a divot in it so I starting things off by filling it in with red split lentils. This was far and away the easiest part of the project. Things got much tricky when it came to the inner and outer borders.

Who knew it'd be so hard getting these little buggers to stay put?

For the inner border, because the split peas were sitting on both the edge of the frame and the lentils, being heavy handed with the glue helped.

Unfortunately, when I applied that strategy to the outer edge the pinto and black beans slid right off. For that portion of the mosaic it took just a bit of glue to help the bean balance and stay in place.

I let the frame dry overnight and then hit it with a layer of glossy decoupage in the morning. Though the beans may look precariously balanced on the edge not a one fell off during the process!

While it did take some time, I’m so pleased with the results and I think this quote from Edwin Way Teale is a perfect fit. You can find that printable Here.

Now that it’s complete here are a couple more tips: a flatter frame would have made things much easier and don’t be afraid to look beyond beans. Popcorn kernels and various rice would be fun additions to this project as well.

I hope you enjoy this project and remember the next time you want to get creative, go old-school and check out your pantry for inspiration!