MoreCityBricks

I wasn't sure what to do with the Lego Ideas 123 Sesame Street playset when it came out. Inspiration finally struck, resulting in two 16-stud modular buildings that houses Bert and Ernie's room, Elmo's room, Cookie Monster's room, and even has a tree out back for Big Bird. Big Bird's tree has finally grown up to provide from shade. (You may recognize it as the apple tree from the Medieval Blacksmith set.)   Bert and Ernie's room Elmo's room Hooper's Store Interior Cookie Monster's room In the end, it makes a pretty nice set of two-story modulars - if you add a bunch of extra bricks to build out the sides and backs of the buildings.

If you've been waiting for your chance to own one of my custom Lego creations, the time is now! My custom modular building, the Lego City Apple Store is now available on eBay.  There is only one, so when it's gone, it's gone. 

I love the design of Bert and Ernie's beds in the LEGO Ideas 123 Sesame Street set. Downstairs in Elmo's room, the bed is amazing for furniture made out of primary blue bricks, but for my purposes it needed a few updates: I like furniture to be movable so a Lego house can change with the times. Elmo's bed is anchored to the floor with tiles serving as the legs of the bed.  The chunky posts on the headboard are a little too chunky for my liking. I prefer the recessed pillows on Bert and Ernie's beds I disconnected Elmo's bed from the floor and attached feet to the bottom so the bed is now movable. I also swapped out the posts on the headboard for a less chunky version that better suits my style.  Finally, I swapped the light azure blanket for a dark azure build using curved slopes with recessed studs that leave room for the pillow to sit down a bit. I also prefer the white pillow/sheet line separating the headboard from the bedspread. You'll find step-by-step ins

If you're adding a toy store to your Lego City, Lego Ideas 123 Sesame Street (21324) provides a few mini builds that are pretty impressive. My favorite is the toy rocket in Elmo's room. Four pieces of Lego and you're on your way to the moon!  

I don't build a lot of Lego vehicles, but with Amazon selling the LEGO Creator 3in1 Race Car Transporter (31113) for just $16, I decided to give it a whirl. With a little work, it might have a place in one of my upcoming modular buildings,. I built the car transporter with two race cars. It was a quick build, but not particularly useful for modular city collectors since it is not minifigure-compatible. (The cab is a solid block of bricks with no room for a driver and the race cars have built-in miniature drivers.)   Fortunately, the set has good bones and made for an easy conversion to a 6-wide truck cab with two drivable go-karts. The truck portion of the set needed a total overhaul to make room for a driver and stretch the set out to 6-studs, which is the standard for commercial vehicles in my Lego city. I reused a lot of the pieces from the set, but added several additional pieces and the standard vehicle parts - doors, windshield, roof, etc. I also upgraded the tires and wheel

It's always a challenge to make plant life look real in Lego scenes - even when you're using the new botanical pieces. Fortunately, the Lego Queer Eye Fab 5 Loft (10291) gives us several nicely styled potted plants that can improve any modular scene - in a living room or on the street.  This big pot of Lego leaves looks great in the Fab 5 Loft and even better, in my opinion, on the sidewalk in front of a modular building. With just seven pieces, it's a quick build and one of my favorite things! The Fab 5 Loft is now on sale at Lego.com for 40% off - just $59.99!

LEGO Ideas 123 Sesame Street (21324) has lots of interesting design elements and some very nostalgic minifigures that will have you singing the Sesame Street theme song while you build. For modular builders who are always looking to furnish houses and apartments with something different, look no further than Bert and Ernie's bedroom. The matching beds with ornate headboards and footboards are clever and sophisticated and put most of my Lego beds to shame. The addition of the rounded brick pillows seals the deal, making this one of my favorite things. The set comes with two of these beds, so it's twice as nice! While the bed uses more parts than you might expect, the pieces are easy to come by and are available in a variety of colors, making it a versatile option that you can use again and again in your own designs.