I love the LEGO Botanical line, but I have a problem. I’ve only got two vases. Some Botanical sets try to solve that problem for me by including a pot or something, but then I have a second problem: I don’t have a ton of table or shelf space. What I do have is often overrun with MOCs of my own. Where can I put these gorgeous flowers without having to move into a bigger place?
Flat surfaces and vases may be limited, but one thing most of us have a lot of: wall space. That makes sense, since there’s roughly four times as much wall in any room as there is floor! So I set about to turn these tabletop Botanical sets into wall-mounted art, and honestly, it went better than I’d ever imagined.
Flower Arrangement: From Shelf to Frame
Let’s begin with 10345 Flower Arrangement. (This was actually the last one I did, but I remembered to document the process on this one.) Checking in at 1,161 pieces, this is within 40 pieces of being the largest Botanical set yet and at $110, it is $10 past being the most expensive. It’s striking, full of bold colors. The cup-like vase that it’s built into is elegant and artsy. Lots of large pieces make these flowers a bit chunky, but I think it works. Often as I build Botanical sets I find myself seeing all the imperfections, but as soon as it’s done and I step back I’m thrilled with how realistic and vibrant LEGO flowers look!
Suffice it to say, it’s a great set, but my little cowboy wanted his mowing space back. So it was time to see if I could get these flowers up on the wall!
The first thing is to pull out all the flowers and find a good layout. I wanted a bit of a gradient while keeping the colors mixed up enough to look natural. I basically went from dark to light counter-clockwise from the top.
Once I knew what the flowers would look like in a more two-dimensional space, I started to wonder what exactly to do with them. These are big, playful flowers, too vibrant for a wreath. I toyed with the idea of building a Bible verse or other quote in the center, but words are hard, and it didn’t feel ideal for this particular set of flowers. Then my brother started knocking stuff over, trying to get the mirror off the wall for a photo shoot. Down came this wonderful photo of my mother as a child, and I knew exactly what I had to build.
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I threw a layer of brown bricks around the outside of the photo (which is encased in a simple plastic box) and then arranged the flowers again. Though purple is my favorite color, I’m not very fond of the butterfly-ball flowers, so they disappeared from the arrangement. After that, it was pretty simple to attach the flowers in place. The whole frame, with flowers attached, is still quite lightweight, and is as light or lighter than a wood frame this size. (Around back there’s a 2×6 hanger plate from some LEGO Dots set which works great to hang it up with.)
Pretty Pink Bouquet: From Vase to Wreath
10342 Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet is a new cup of tea. The colors are lighter and the flowers are more delicate than the last set.
With 749 pieces, it’s actually got the lowest part count of all LEGO’s $60 bouquets—probably thanks to the big new leaf pieces on the boat orchids—but not by much. I loved the colors here the moment I saw them. Some of LEGO’s bouquets are not to my taste, and include things that I would cut down if I saw in my yard, but (with the exception of those spiky white cornflowers) this one is beautiful.
Before I get to what I did with these flowers, I do have to mention the stems, which bent significantly after only a few weeks of display. I’m sure it brings the price down to use long axles instead of a bunch of axle connectors, but if you care to have straight axles, don’t leave these flowers displayed on their stems! That said, despite the warping they’re still perfectly sturdy and look just fine on display.
The pink roses are reminiscent of some of LEGO’s previous roses, but who cares, they look lovely. And if innovation is what you want, you can’t beat a shield flower and an axe flower in the same set! This is one bouquet I wouldn’t mess with if I were you.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this set the moment I got it (inspired, I have to admit, by this very not-LEGO but very lovely Sunhabi Moon Flowers set).
Inspiration can come from anyWhere, right?
Following one of my own excellent suggestions from my last article, I didn’t look at my inspiration before building. So I forgot a few things; for instance, just how thick the crescent moon is, and where its center of gravity seems to be.
I laid my flowers out from light to dark in a crescent shape and wove them together using almost exclusively parts from this set, though I did have to grab a few more Technic bits to keep it stable. After weaving them all together in an unattached crescent, I picked it up and realized there was no way it would hold its shape. So I finished off the right side as subtly as I could, and I think it kept the asymmetry I was going for while also achieving the balance and stability I needed.
The pale Waterlily Dahlia makes a great centerpiece for this wreath. It’s a flower that keeps growing on me the more I look at it, unlike the somewhat clunky magenta boat orchids. I partially love the new leaf piece, partly think it makes these flowers look like toys.
The wreath is light enough for a suction cup hook, but I’m not brave enough to leave it outside on a door that swings back and forth.
For the matter of that, I’m not even brave enough to leave it on the window over the sink for longer than it took me to take pictures, but your mileage may vary. It works fine on a screw on the wall, too.
Turning Sets into Wall Decor: The Verdict
The LEGO designers did such a great job in both these sets, not just designing flowers, but grouping them together in two really harmonious collections. I was impressed with how simple it was to pull them off their stems and rearrange them into two lovely new layouts. Both the frame and the wreath were pure fun to build, simple and straightforward—a welcome break from the MOCs I’ve been making lately, which have frequently had me building into the wee hours of the morning. Rightly or wrongly, I feel like the rearrangement of these sets has made them my own, something that’s nice for me as a MOC builder who prefers not to tell guests, “Well, no, that one was from instructions…”
Even better than being able to take some credit for what I hang on my wall, I love the way this kind of modification can turn a LEGO Botanical set into a personalized gift. I’ve gifted Botanical sets before, because they’re just so beautiful that even a non-LEGO fan may enjoy displaying them. But as an someone who builds MOCs, I’ve wanted a way to add my own touch to it. The frame in particular offers so many possibilities for personalization, I’m sure that’s an idea I’ll be coming back to!
LEGO Botanicals 10345 Flower Arrangement, is available for around US $110 | EU €110 | CA $140 | UK £95 | AU $180.
LEGO Botanicals 10342 Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet is available for around US $60 | EU €60 | CA $80 | UK £55 | AU $100.
Have you turned a LEGO set into wall decor before? Let us know in the comments below!
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