Tag Archives: Christmas

This large-scale Christmas scene looks like a cozy place to enjoy some eggnog.

At first glance, you might not realize this idyllic holiday scene is made from LEGO. That’s because builder aukbricks has made use of roughly 14,000 digital bricks to render a spacious living room at a scale large enough to trick the eye. I’m particularly impressed by the mosaic hanging on the wall, made using the tips of bar elements. Although this model is a computer rendering, aukbricks assures us that only existing bricks/colors were used. So, you can build this yourself in reality…assuming Santa brings you enough LEGO this year. Merry Christmas.

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Happiness is a puppy under the Christmas tree

Dog owners know how much joy a new doggie brings to the household. They can be a lot of work at times, they get into things you wouldn’t even imagine, but when your new pup finally settles in that’s when the magic happens. LEGO builder Timofey Tkachev likely knows what I mean as evidenced by this darling little fur baby under the tree. That playful expression, the squeaky ball, even the DOTS watchband used as a collar are all brilliant details.

You can see this precious little scamp from all angles with this short video.

Snowy Mountain Frogs

This time of year always brings out a plethora of adorable builds. From massive to microscale, there’s always something to enjoy. This delightful, tiny display by Builder Hawaii Toad is modeled to look like a music box with a small golden crank on the side. The holiday theme runs throughout, from the color-blocked bricks in the base to the snow-capped peaks looking over the sleepy village. As a train emerges from a tunnel, clearing snow from the tracks as it goes, a tiny version of Santa’s sleigh flies overhead. While the scene is quite picturesque, my favorite part is the use of frogs…er..toads? Whichever is appropriate in the builder’s mind, those adorable little pieces have had quite the year in pop culture. It’s nice to see them included in the holiday.

Little big horns for your Krampus

The new LEGO x Target collection has delivered some remarkably fun pieces. The Snow Character kit, ostensibly for building a snowman, includes human-sized versions of a handful of elements, and fans are already taking advantage of them in unique ways. This build by Blair Archer incorporates the giant-sized horns to create a Krampus head just in time for Christmas. The glow in the dark eyes round out the build giving it an otherworldly glow. Hope you haven’t been naughty this year!

If you’re interested in the LEGO x Target collection big pieces, be sure to check out Tom Alphin’s excellent review over at Brick Architect.

It’s time to acknowledge that elves are more than just toy makers.

It’s no secret that the elves of the North Pole are some of the world’s most proficient toy makers. But not every elf can devote themselves to the craft. To keep an operation like the North Pole running smoothly, you need elves devoted to all kinds of other disciplines. Lepralego is paying homage to the hardworking elves behind-the-scenes with this magical village build. This bridge is where North Poleians can come for some wonderful fresh baked goods, reindeer supplies, and even a stylish beard trimming. Or, they can spend their days off ice skating on the frozen river. The detailed stone work of the bridge and playful tilt of the shops’ roofs would make this feel right at home among LEGO’s official winter village offerings.

I love putting the gin in gingerbread

There are a few things that really get me in the Christmas mood. One of them is a LEGO gingerbread house. Over the years, LEGO has produced more specialized LEGO parts, and they often come in white. It never stops to amaze me to see how fans use these pieces in their gingerbread houses. This however is not the case for John Snyder. They have been getting creative with the toy winder key for a seed part challenge. If this build is completely symmetrical, which gingerbread houses often are, more than 50 winder keys are used in this build. But it’s not just the use of the winder keys that is very creative. The inclusion of the old window is very nice and makes it look like there is no physical door; it’s just outlines piped on with icing. The house comes with candy canes, gifts, pine trees covered in snow, and lollipops that use a dish that to me at first was unfamiliar. At first, I thought it was from a Belville fairy set, but it turns out to be a Friends part.

Check out more LEGO gingerbread houses here.

TBB Cover Photo for December 2021: Santa’s holiday cabin

While this may not be Santa’s primary residence at the North Pole, we can pretend that this cute cabin by Andrea Lattanzio is Santa’s holiday home. Since Santa only works during the month of December, does he have the rest of the year off? Does he go on holidays? He must go vacationing all over the world since he has so much time. I’d think he has a cabin close by in the Canadian or Siberian wilderness somewhere to to escape his elf-infested home for a bit of peace and quiet. I sure hope he doesn’t need to get away from his wife, and that his marriage to Mrs. Claus is still doing well…

We’ve written about Andrea’s A-frame cabin before, but we forgot to mention who owns the property. Now I’m curious to see Santa’s beach house in a more tropical region of the world. Or maybe I’m just wrong and Santa doesn’t have the rest of the year off, maybe he rents an apartment in a big city and works a boring financial job…

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This lovely aurora has the aura of Christmas magic

The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are one of nature’s most beautiful miracles. Recreating it in LEGO is difficult, but I can’t think of a more marvelous idea than dragon wings. Yep, Malin Kylinger has used multiple sets of marbled dragon wings to recreate this lovely phenomena. The rest of her night sky is beautiful too, with raised diamond tiles used for stars. The scene is made complete with an adorable elf cottage, a fire, reindeer, and a decorated Christmas tree.

It’s that time of year where we start to see lots of great Christmas builds. Check out some past wintery creations we’ve featured, and stay tuned for more!

Okay, now you can put up the tree

I’m a firm believer that the holiday season seems to creep into our lives sooner and sooner each year. Though many are delighted to lean into it, I reserve myself to celebrate Christmas only after Turkey day has passed. Now that it has, I think it’s fair to put up the tree. This year I might take after builder Peter Carmichael and go with a fancy, fake one. The secret to a good plastic tree is the texture of the bristly branches, which the builder has achieved with a ton of three-pronged stem pieces. Subtle but elegant decorations of gold keys and white garland with lights give character to the tree. Capping it off is a delightful, translucent blue snowflake.

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That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown…merchandise

Ever since 1965, the world has delighted in watching Charlie Brown grapple with the commercialization of the Christmas holiday. And then we turn around and spend our money on A Charlie Brown Christmas merchandise in a manner that would make ol’ Chuck wonder if we were paying any attention at all. There’s the Blu-ray, the music album, an official board game, greeting cards, ornaments, nutcrackers, artificial trees, t-shirts, sweaters… It seems A Charlie Brown Christmas has been licensed out to just about every product imaginable. Except for LEGO. But BenBuildsLEGO has answered my Christmas wishes by delivering a trio of minifig-scale prop builds from the holiday special.

Schroeder’s piano, Snoopy’s doghouse, and Charlie Brown’s sad little Christmas tree are all instantly recognizable, and I couldn’t imagine an official set looking any better. Some of the pieces here are kind of rare, like the medium azure life preserver acting as Linus’s blanket at the base of the tree. But if you’re decorating your LEGO city for Christmas, they’ll be worth tracking down. And don’t feel bad for dropping the money on some new LEGO pieces for your holiday celebration. Let’s face it, we all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. (It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.)

LEGO Holiday Black Friday 2021 Gift with Purchase 40484 Santa’s Front Yard [Review]

For a number of years, LEGO has been slowly building out its Winter Village Collection with numerous sets featuring Santa and his elves, starting back in 2014 with 10245 Santa’s Worshop, and following up in 2020 with 10275 Elf Clubhouse. This year’s free Gift with Purchase holiday set adds one more elf set to the mix, along with an adorable brick-built reindeer in 40484 Santa’s Front Yard. The 317-piece set will be available this weekend, Nov. 20 and 21, for LEGO VIP members, and then will be available for anyone Nov. 26-29 with purchases of US $170 | CAN $TBD | UK £170 or more from LEGO.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full review

LEGO 40499 Santa’s Sleigh – Santa Claus is coming to town [Review]

Hang up the stockings because Santa Claus is coming to town! Flying down from the North Pole this Christmas is the new LEGO 40499 Santa’s Sleigh! We had the opportunity to get an early look at Santa and his holiday ride, the perfect accompaniment to this year’s Winter Village Collection set, 10293 Santa’s Visit. With 343 pieces, the set will be available October 1st for US $36.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99. Read on to see our review of the unboxing and building below.

Click to read the full hands-on review