Jelly Belly Mosaic!

This is one of the most fun projects I've ever done! If you're just looking for a quick craft, you might want to pass on this one. I worked on it over a few days, but it was worth every second. I got inspired by the mosaics I saw on the Jelly Belly website. I figured it probably wasn't too hard, so I got a few bags of Jelly Bellys and started experimenting!
Alright, before you get started, here's your checklist.

- Jelly Belly beans, enough of each colour to complete your picture (I guess you could use regular jelly beans, but I don't suggest it. Jelly Bellys are the perfect size, though they are a bit pricey! The best place to get them is from the bulk section, or if you are making a very large mosaic, you can order them online.)
- A canvas (Make sure it's big enough. The more beans you use, the more realistic your picture looks. Mine was 16"x12", and you probably don't want to go smaller than that. Also, make sure it's sturdy! Those beans can be a little heavy.)
- Paint to match the colours of the Jelly Bellys (You'll see why in the next step), and paintbrushes
- Glue Gun, and lots of extra glue gun sticks! (I tried a bunch of different kinds of glues, but liquid glue + sugar was not a good combination. It always melted the sugar before it could dry. Glue gun is the only method that dries quickly enough.)

And that's all! Have fun!

By the way, if you were wondering, here is a list of the flavours I used:

Background:
Buttered popcorn
Counter:
Juicy Pear
Berry Blue
Lemon Lime
Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip
Ice Cream:
Cotton Candy
Bubble Gum
Our Strawberry Blonde
Birthday Cake Remix
Strawberry Cheescake
Strawberry Daiquiri
Cone:
Apple Pie a la Cold Stone
Coconut

All the official flavour guides can be found here: http://www.jellybelly.com/fun_stuff/flavor_guides.aspx

Step 1:

First thing you want to do is decide what image you want the mosaic to be. I chose an ice cream cone, so I googled a picture to use as a reference.

Next, paint the picture on the canvas. It doesn't have to be perfect at all, but don't skip this step, it is necessary. Otherwise, the white spaces between the Jelly Bellys (caused by the white canvas) will be very noticable. It will also make it easy to figure out where to put the Jelly Bellys if you've got the image painted already. If you look closely at my finished product, you will be able to see the spaces between the beans where I have painted it to match.

Now, it is probably a good idea to roughly arrange the beans on the canvas before you glue them on. Once you have a good idea where you want everything to go, start gluing! I started by outlining the ice cream cone from the left side and working over to the right. If you make a mistake, it is possible to pull off the bean and get a new one. Also, you will notice that on the left side of the cone,  I tried to use the darker beans (of the same flavour), going lighter and lighter the more I moved to the right. It creates shadowing. This only works with marbled beans, since none of them look quite the same.   

Step 2:

If you are doing an ice cream cone, make sure you finish it before moving on to the background.

I did the background by first outlining the whole thing (and the ice cream cone, as shown) and then, starting from the top, I glued the beans on by alternating between horizontal and vertical, depending on how many fit in each row. When you're doing the rows, you definitely want to arrange each row without gluing first, just to make sure it'll fit. You may think it will fit, but the size of the beans can vary.

It's pretty straightforward from here - just keep going until you've got the whole thing covered. Be creative, use different shades of the same colour to give the illusion of depth. The more colours, the more real it will look!

Step 3: Done!!

Woohoo! You're done, so...hang it somewhere, give it to someone....hope you like your artwork!

If you like the instructable, give me a comment!

And if you do end up making a Jelly Belly mosaic of your own, I would love to see it!

Stay creative! <3

Comments

[malibini]

But wouldnt the jelly bellys rot? maybe you should put a layer of Mod Podge on top, or would that melt it? Idk.
But im definitelly going to make this!
thanks!

[MicahF]

Glad you like it!
I don't think jelly beans "rot" exactly, it's mostly just sugar and I'm pretty sure they already have an edible glaze of some sort on them, so that probably helps. They will definitely get harder over time, but it doesn't matter because you won't be eating them. I don't think there appearance will ever change though. And Mod Podge might melt them unfortunately, but you can always do a test first and see what happens. (:

[kcumings]

Micah hi, ok I know this is a super old post but one of my friends sent it to me and I thought I'd chime in. I make the art for Jelly Belly! Great instructable and nice result. I use a two part epoxy resin to seal and coat the final product. It is not water based and does not dissolve the beans, as mod podge does. Because it's a liquid, I make all my bean art on rigid panels thay are preframed and make a "wall" around the beans so the resin is contained. My projects are mostly gigantic, like four feet by five feet but for smaller projects I buy cradled panels from art supply stores and just turn them upside down so the beans fit in the space that would usually be against the wall. Just thought I'd pass on that info since there were a few questions about that. The image is a project I'm doing this weekend at a Disney convention. Again great job!

[malibini]

Ok, thanks! Im going to make it as a Christmas gift.

[MicahF]

Did you end up making one? If so I would love to see a picture! I'm very curious to see someone else's version of this (:

[malibini]

I decided not to make it for a Christmas gift because Im going to paint my room soon, and im designing the background. Im almost done with the background! I'll show you when Im done!

[MicahF]

Awesome, so glad you decided to make one!

[MicahF]

I just realized I used the wrong version of "their" in that last comment and it was going to drive me crazy if I didn't correct it. :P

[drwebster]

realy terrific

[MicahF]

Thanks!

[Thergox]

Great Gollywog. . . That's awesome. I've tried something like this with M&M's, but the result wasn't anywhere near as amazing as this. . .

[MicahF]

I had been wondering how it would look with M&Ms! The only problem is they come in so few colours. Skittles might work though.
Thankyou for your positive comment (:

[rrkrose]

Actually if you go to places like party city they have about 15 different colors of m&ms. I'm ninety percent sure.

[krysteanuh]

This looks absolutely phenomenal! Looks like you used tiny tiles instead of jellybeans :)

[MicahF]

Thank you (: I couldn't believe how easy it was, and it would look even more realistic if it was on a bigger canvas.

[rrkrose]

This is so cool! I have seen a bunch of these at candy stores in L.A. but always figured that they would take months to make so I didn't even attempt to make one. My sister loves candy so I might make one for her for Hanukkah. My only question is did you put anything over the jelly beans? Like a varnish maybe? Because it seems to me that the jelly beans would slowly disintegrate. Thanks for the great 'ible!

[MicahF]

So glad you like it (:
I was thinking about putting some kind of varnish on it, but I was scared it would mix with the sugar and melt the same way the liquid glue did. I've had the mosaic on my wall for months though, and there has been no change. I am pretty sure Jelly Bellys are already coated in a glaze of some sort. But I suggest experimenting with a few different fast-drying varnishes before accidently ruining your hard work, and let me know how it goes! (:

[sherrycayheyhey]

How fun! It looks great and I like that you used the beans in different directions.

[MicahF]

Thanks! (:

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Cute! Love the picture you chose :)