This post is sponsored by Universal Pictures.

We are a family of animal-lovers and over the years we’ve had all sorts of pets and animal friends live with us on our farm, from dogs to horses and ducks. When we heard about the movie Dolittle, a brand new take on Hugh Lofting’s epic book series, we couldn’t contain our excitement. When our kids were younger, we would always find them playing and having full conversations with our pets, so this movie is right up our alley.

Bean and seed mosaics have been around for ages, and if you’ve made them before you’ll know how fun and satisfying they are to make. And by using bright shades of paint in combination with the beans, they get a playful, modern look.

We used all our favorite characters from Dolittle as the subjects, including Poly the Parrot, Dab-Dab the Duck, Plimpton the Ostrich, and Chee-Chee the Gorilla. Keep reading to see all our tips and tricks for making your very own collection of Dolittle-inspired bean mosaics!

• Scrap cardboard
• White glue
• Pencil
• Dried beans (various sizes and shapes)
• Folk Art Multi-Surface Acrylic Craft Paint
• Paintbrushes

Step 1
Cut your scrap cardboard down to whatever size you like – these ones are slightly bigger than postcards, and we used a few different sizes to mix it up. Use a pencil to roughly sketch out the character you’d like to create. It’s super helpful to use the movie posters as a reference when you’re doing this.

Step 2
Start by applying a thin layer of glue over the inside of the drawing, sticking to one color for now. For Dab-Dab the duck, we did the beans over her feathers first, doing the eye detail as well. Allow the glue to dry.

Step 3
We wanted the feathers to be ultra white, so we gave them a quick coat of white paint. You don’t have to be too tidy around the edges of the beans, because these will be covered with more beans later. Let paint dry.

Step 4
Next we glued on the beak, using slightly smaller beans for some difference in texture. Again, let the glue dry.

Step 5
Like before, paint the beak and let it dry. This time though, you’ll have to be a little more careful when painting around the feathers so that you have a nice tidy edge there.

Step 6
Repeat this process until the entire cardboard is covered. For Dab Dab, we just filled in the background with split peas, let dry, and gave a coat of paint. Finally, use a touch of black paint for the eye detail and your bean portrait is complete!

Use this same method for all your favorite Dolittle characters, simply gluing and painting one color at a time to make the process as simple as possible.

Happy crafting!