MODERN ART: a study in lego
Monday, July 4, 2011 at 4:41PM 
A while ago, the glass in one of the frames hanging in our living room broke, and although I absolutely LOVE the photos, I decided it was time for a change. Instead of tossing the old glass-less frame, I figured that I could use it to showcase some of Ethan's Lego creations.
You see, Ethan has an obsession with Legos. It's the one thing in life that can hold his attention for hours. Whenever he gets a new set, he first builds whatever the kit was designed for, but after a week or so on display, the model always gets re-purposed as an array of little robotic vehicles and fighter planes. The problem is that he wants to keep all these little Lego fleets displayed around the house and I like them all put back in the bins that they came from.
A few weeks ago it occured to me that I could display his Lego sculptures in a sort of revolving modern art piece using the broken frame in my living room (because as much as Ethan loves Legos, I love children's art work). I simply took out the photos and covered the photo spaces with plain, white mat board which I taped to the back of the existing mat. Then I used my hot glue gun and glued one flat Lego piece to the center of each photo space. This way, I can simply attach his creations to the glued piece, and change them out when new Lego vehicles are constructed. I took five of his little sculptures, snapped them into place, and re-hung the frame. Ethan was thrilled to see his "planes" on display and I was glad to have come up with a way to keep his Lego-mobiles organized. Within 10 minutes of being up, he already wanted to switch one of the pieces out. LOL. Who knew a broken frame could satisfy my love of children's art, tidy up some of our household Lego mess, and give Ethan a way to show the world his imagination.
Reader Comments (16)
OMW! I love this!!!! What a clever way to display, I think I'm gonna steal this idea in a few years time (when the Lego creations are a bit more than just a very high tower, lol). The funny thing is that I have the exact same frame (Ikea, right?).
XOXO
Love this idea ! My 5 year old would be so happy with this too he always wants to display his creations ! Thanks for the sharing it with us.
Great idea Jaime ... and anything that gets the Lego off the floor (and as I'm sure your know, it hurts when you step on it!!!) is a good thing + you get your very own, unique, modern works of art ... best of both worlds!
Seriously? You are a genius Jaime!!! I adore, adore, adore it!
Wow Jaime - this is divine!!! I wish I had a boy.......;)
This is so amazing and so darn smart!!! I love it (and pinned it too! http://pinterest.com/pin/56618210/)
I LOVE this! So unique and creative and just totally cool! Neither of my kids are especially into Legos, but it makes me want to brainstorm and see if I can figure out something similar for their other creations!
Seriously cool! TFS!
This just rocks! Can't wait until my Ethan plays with these little Legos! Saving this idea for sure!
Very cool!
very well,All things in their being are good for something.Experience without learning is better than learning without experience.-Corum Victory Challenge Swiss watches replicas
-Hublot Polo Club of St Tropez watches SwissI LOVE this! So unique and creative and just totally cool!
This is so cool!
You should post it at www.ikeahackers.net
Such a great idea, thank you for sharing it! I'm so going to do this.
This is going to be life altering for us! ;) LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
This is amazing! I've been trying to figure out how to get my son's lego cteations on our wall because he always wants to save them, amd little brother always gets ahold of them and tears them apart. This is waaaay cuter than what I had come up with. Thank you so much for sharing!!