Poinsettia Memories: Building Holiday Joy with LEGO Botanicals

Today’s guest article comes from Tammy Schefcik, the mother of BrickNerd Editor-in-Chief Dave Schefcik. She has fostered creativity and community through LEGO for years and shares her experience with the new LEGO holiday botanicals.

A Flower Girl

I suppose you could say I’ve always been a flower girl. My love affair with flowers began when I was just two years old, toddling down the aisle as a flower girl at my cousin’s wedding. I can still remember clutching that little basket filled with flowers, its handle wrapped in ribbons. From that moment on, flowers became a part of me, as much a part of my life as my family, holidays, and traditions.

Growing up on the East Coast, flowers were everywhere, and each season brought its own magic. Crocuses would poke through the snow to announce spring, followed by daffodils, lilacs, and azaleas. Forsythia bushes exploded in yellow, while magnolia and dogwood trees painted the neighborhoods in delicate pastels.

But beyond their beauty, flowers always carried a sense of sentimentality. I remember my dad slipping a single yellow rose into a bouquet of red roses for my mom on their anniversary. He always found a way to make her feel special. For Mother’s Day, she would proudly wear an orchid corsage while I was thrilled to get a violet one—it felt like a rite of passage.

Carmela and Dave Forsyth from December 1993

And then there were the holidays. For me, Christmas didn’t officially begin until Dad came home with armfuls of poinsettias right after Thanksgiving. My mom would arrange them around the house, their deep red blooms bringing warmth to every corner. Soon after, wreaths would appear, handmade by Mom with pinecones, holly berries, and evergreen boughs. In the dining room, she would hang a Della Robbia wreath, complete with cranberries, nuts, and even mistletoe. Those moments were pure magic—and at the center of it all, the poinsettia.

Years later, those memories still bloom vividly in my mind, but I never expected a LEGO set to take me right back to those holidays. When my BrickNerd offered me the holiday botanical sets of 10370 Poinsettia and 10340 Wreath to build, I thought of my mom and those cherished Christmases and said yes.

Building Joy

Dave playing LEGO at his grandma’s house one summer in the early 90s.

Now, as the mother of the BrickNerd-in-Chief, I’m no stranger to LEGO. It’s always been part of our family’s story. When my kids were little, the sound of LEGO bricks tumbling onto the floor was as familiar as their laughter. (And yes, I’ve stepped on my fair share of them.) Dave, of course, grew up to be a true LEGO enthusiast, and he fostered that same love in his nieces and nephews by providing a constant stream of sets for them to play with.

Over the years, I built a few sets here and there, especially after our family trips to China—the Architecture series and Chinese Spring Festival sets were a perfect fit for the memories we made abroad. But then COVID happened, and I found myself with more time on my hands. That’s when I started building LEGO in earnest.

It started with modulars. I found the Parisian Restaurant was the first big set to really capture my imagination. I’ll admit I needed a bit of help at first, but Dave was there to guide me through the tricky parts. Before long, I had three other Modular buildings and my own LEGO Christmas village proudly displayed on the kitchen counter, also a nod to my Mom’s Christmas creativity. Harry Potter and Star Wars builds soon followed. My construction questions to Dave became rarer, and I enjoyed surprising him on his trips home with the interesting things I had built.

Image via LEGO

But even with all the big sets, what really caught my heart were the botanical sets. All those colorful pieces like bananas, frogs, pirate hats, and even minifigure ice cream cones turned into LEGO centerpieces for every occasion, from Thanksgiving to Easter and beyond. They reminded me of some of my life’s most beautiful moments—cherry blossoms from our travels to Japan, desert cacti from Nevada, and bouquets of daisies my husband would secretly leave for me every birthday.

So when the LEGO Poinsettia appeared, it was like LEGO had built a set just for me.

Poinsettia Memories

Poinsettias have always been more than just a Christmas decoration to me. They’re a memory.

A very tiny BrickNerd Editor-in-chief Dave Schefcik, holding a poinsettia with his sisters and grandmother, Carmela Forsyth

My mom adored them. She had poinsettia earrings, a poinsettia pin, and even a poinsettia sweater—and let’s not forget her fruit wreath pin, too! For her, these bright blooms represented Christmas joy, and she passed that love on to me. (And yes, that’s a young BrickNerd-in-Chief in that photo!)

The build itself was delightful. I smiled when I opened the box to find the new paper envelopes that I could recycle. I started with the pot, which was familiar after building earlier botanical sets like the Orchid and Bird of Paradise. I actually quite prefer it when the flower sets come with a base rather than just the flowers that need a vase and arranging.

For a red plant, I had to wait until Bag 3 for the red pieces--the poinsettia’s star attraction… literally. Those bright red “ninja star” pieces threw me for a loop but started to grow on me after I’ve seen the completed set on my table for a bit. Bags 4 and 5 brought more petals, and soon, the plant came to life. The whole set is smaller than I expected, especially with a real poinsettia sitting right next to it, but it is every bit as charming. As I added the final touches, I was full of memories of my mom and our shared love of the holidays (and poinsettias).

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When I built the LEGO Poinsettia, it meant more to me than just following the instructions. It was about memories. It brought back the smell of evergreens, my Mom’s homemade wreaths, and the way she would arrange poinsettias just so, placing them in the center of the table or by the fireplace. I can still see her hands working their magic, making the house feel warm and festive through flowers and her Winter Village under the tree. I think she would have gotten such a kick out of this LEGO set.

Image via LEGO

Of course, I couldn’t resist building the LEGO Wreath soon after. In the past, I had made the smaller holiday wreath from a few years ago and the heart wreath for Valentine’s Day. I found those sets a little finicky, so I hoped this wreath would be a tad easier. Nine bags of bricks and four identical sections meant a longer build for sure, and yes, some of it was just as finicky as the other wreaths. That said, I loved the little details—pinecones made of hat pieces, cinnamon sticks, and orange slices that might just be one of my favorite pieces of all time now.

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The wreath was a bit tricky to assemble at the end (getting those boughs to line up just right took some effort!), but it felt like the perfect companion to the poinsettia when it was finished. The extra pieces to make different color variants threw me for a loop, and I also have no idea how to hang it since it is so heavy and delicate. I’ve opted to display it horizontally on the table as a centerpiece rather than hanging on a door. (If you have ideas on how to hang it, please let me know in the comments!)

Blooms That Last Forever

A few poinsettia pins, earrings and decorations.

The LEGO holiday plants now decorate my home, with the Poinsettia set sitting proudly on display, bringing the same warmth to my home that my mom’s real plants did so many years ago. It may not need water or sunlight, but it carries all the love and memories of those holidays combined with my family’s love of LEGO. It’s a reminder of the little things—of poinsettia pins and handmade wreaths, of red blooms and family traditions, and of my mom, who always made Christmas magical.

LEGO has a way of turning nostalgia into something tangible. It turned our family trips into keepsakes. It turned a pandemic into a family bonding experience. And it turned flowers into fresh memories. For me, the LEGO Poinsettia isn’t just a set. It’s a story and a bloom that will last forever—just like the memories of my mom.

And really, isn’t that the best kind of holiday gift?

10370 Poinsettia and 10340 Wreath are available now as part of the LEGO Botanicals Collection for around $50 and $100, respectively.

DISCLAIMER: These sets were provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Do you have any poinsettia memories? Let us know in the comments below.

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