LEGO Immersion

My mom passed away in April. After
Mom died we all were struggling and looking for distractions. My husband hurled himself into a hobby. He had dabbled in LEGO, but after her death his interest exploded. He was the Kool-Aid Man crashing into the scene. I suspect it gave a space to direct his focus in his down time.

LEGO history began around 1950 if you care only about when the brick design started to come about. If you care to trace it further back with the start of the creator, they began in 1916. Beginning in a carpentry workshop started by Ole Kirk Christiansen, in Danmark. If you know LEGO as a brand, it traces back to 1936. LEGO has a fascinating history and if you have kids I'm sure you've heard of them or looked them up a few times. If you have never been interested I would encourage you to go to their website and read the history or Wikipedia, it is worth a browse through.

When my husband started heavily constructing builds, I have to admit, I was not thrilled. We live in a smaller apartment and I felt that lego sets made it look cluttered. They looked trashy and unorganized. This is when I leaned heavily into YouTube videos. I needed to learn how to clean them, as well as any other tips and tricks others may have for us. I began paying attention to how others organized builds. I cleaned off a shelf that originally housed all my cookbooks. This new space granted my husband the ability to set up a scene. After days of urging and lecturing him, on how organization of LEGOS into cases takes LEGO builds from kiddie toys to classy, he purchased a case and some other stands specific to Legos. After he set up the scene it looked ten times more impressive. It was at this point that I felt myself starting to enjoy Legos. I also discovered a cheap way to clean our Legos using a sample carpet square from Home depot. This tip helped tremendously since I do not own a Dyson vacuum with a special dusting attachment. The summer seems to welcome dust on lego sets with the use of fans and open windows.

We both started to get wrapped up in LEGO. I got crafty, as I do, and made a back drop for the scene with a little felt and puffy paint. A simple black felt with white lines extending out from the center to represent starwars galaxy hyperdrive speed. I started speculating that eventually it would be better if we could purchase a picture frame where we could upload photos and videos. Then the back drop wouldn't need to be felt. It could then give the feeling of movement and speed. Needless to say I was getting into the LEGO phenomenon.

Then my husband purchased LED lights that really upped his displays look. He found lights that could be controlled with an app. The app gave us the ability to turn on the display before entering or turn it off from bed. Convenience as well as beautiful lighting always wins me over. I was now on board.

We have discovered many LEGO stores (and Bricks and Minifigs) locations, where to purchase used Legos, what the best knock offs are and which builds are rare, etc. Most recently my husband has started to use Lego lighting kits and systems. This has opened up a world of possibilities to us. We now have plans for a Halloween Haunted House display and a Christmas village that utilizes some of the Harry Potter builds.

As a person without children, I never saw myself getting into the Lego craze. However, here I am after months of helping with builds. We are constantly discovering new tools that can be helpful in builds. We enjoyed the show Lego Masters never expecting to start logging our own hours in builds. It's not always relaxing, but there is a subtle gratification at achieving and finishing a build. This feeling is furthered when the build can be used in a display scene to decorate and bring sentiment to a holiday. I expect our scenes to get more elaborate each year and I welcome it. I joke that my orchid flower pot build is my favorite plant because it looks great year round.

To anyone who loves Lego I would say never underestimate a well designed display. A display can take toys from childs play to an exhibit atune to an art exhibition. Build On!





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