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Christmas LEGO ornaments for charity

Today I would like to introduce you to a family that has been running a long tradition of helping others during the Christmas holidays with their LEGO project. Eric and Kristy Carlson, and their children Brandon & Aidan, live in Omaha, Nebraska. Back in 2008 they made LEGO ornaments as gifts for extended family, and thought it would be a good idea to also sell them to raise money for charity – thus Ornaments4Charity.com was born. We have actually mentioned their project briefly last year in The Best Christmas LEGO Ornaments! post, as they had such nice designs. 🙂

LEGO Christmas Ornaments by Ornaments4Charity

Each member of the Carlson family has a job (or two) in order to build, sell, and ship the LEGO Christmas ornaments. Eleven-year-old Brandon is the manager, spokesman, and LEGO Master Builder. He also tracks inventory, orders, and profits. Seven-year-old Aidan is the Assistant LEGO Master Builder specializing in Mini Diggers, Penguins, Tie-Fighters, Z-95 Headhunters, Bluejays, and Nutcrackers. Mom Kristy is responsible for website and product development, LEGO ordering, and super-glue application. Dad Eric runs the shipping department and motivates the LEGO Master Builders. Even Grandma and Grandpa helps out sometimes! 😀

Ornaments4Charity Carlson Family

Ornaments4Charity.com began in 2009 resulting in a $1,200 check to the Food Bank for the Heartland to fill 250 weekend backpacks for hungry kids. In 2010 the family donated kid-friendly hygiene items for 400 children at the Open Door Mission Lydia House valued at $4,500. Proceeds of $3,250 were used in 2011 for fleece blankets, tear-free shampoo, and kid-friendly oral hygiene items to support the Stephen Center. Last year profits of $3,770 benefitted the Sienna/Francis House who received winter gear for 300 children, 456 pairs of underwear, and 1534 pairs of socks. To date the Carlson’s have used almost 84,000 LEGO bricks and sold over 2,000 ornaments. Customers in 38 states and Canada have made purchases at their website for Christmas LEGO ornaments.

2013 marks the fifth year of the family project of selling Christmas LEGO ornaments to benefit others. This year 100% of the proceeds will benefit children supported by the Stephen Center homeless shelter and a local domestic violence shelter. The Carlson boys have set a fundraising goal of $5,000 for this season. Proceeds from the 2013 sale of the Christmas LEGO ornaments will be used to purchase infant/toddler supplies (diapers, wipes, formula, OTC medicine, clothing, mittens, and hats) for young residents and children in the community who are supported by these two local organizations. Stephen Center, Inc. has served the homeless and low-income men, women and children in Omaha since 1984. Stephen Center is the only “dry” emergency shelter in Omaha, focusing on assisting those who have made a commitment to overcome the life destroying effects of drugs and alcohol. You can read more about them here: StephenCenter.org

Ornaments4Charity LEGO Christmas Ornaments

If you would like to help out and support this LEGO project, Ornaments4Charity.com has a great selection of LEGO Christmas ornaments; some are traditional ornaments like a LEGO Santa, LEGO Christmas tree, LEGO candy cane, LEGO snowman, etc. Some are cute little LEGO sets like a car, airplane, penguin, cupcake, or even a Batmobile and Star Wars starfighter. Although most of the ornaments are glued to make sure they won’t fall apart during transit or while you are hanging it up on the Christmas tree, build-it-yourself LEGO ornament kits are also available. You can check out the full selection here: Ornaments4Charity.com

Ornaments4Charity Christmas LEGO OrnamentsIf you have any questions for the Carlson family about their LEGO project you are welcome to ask in the comment section below, and you can also visit their website for more information and frequently asked questions. Your thoughts and feedback are welcome! Happy Holidays!

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Unveiling of The LEGO Movie sets!

LEGO has been gradually unveiling The LEGO Movie sets at their website in a pretty creative way. All the sets are pictures, but with a red cloth over them. As we are getting closer to the official release, LEGO literally unveils one set at a time by taking off the red cloth. Today we will look at The LEGO Movie sets; both those that have already been revealed on LEGO’s website, and those that are still under wraps (thanks to the updated Brickset database we can take a peek). So let’s see what we got! 🙂

The LEGO Movie Sets

#70800 THE LEGO MOVIE – ESCAPE GLIDER: A smaller, Western-themed set with two robot badguys (Robo Sheriff and Robo Deputy), a horse, and Emmet with a glider. Notice the  mustache of one of the robots – which is a new piece – and the new color chicken on top of the weather-vane (I assume it suppose to be a rooster this time).

#70800 The LEGO Movie Set

#70801 THE LEGO MOVIE – MELTING ROOM: Another small set. Emmet doesn’t seem to be happy about whatever is happening here, and looks like Wyldstyle is in the middle of rescuing him from one of the robots. Notice Wyldstyle’s hood! Very sweet!

#70801 The LEGO Movie Set

#70802 THE LEGO MOVIE – POLICE PURSUIT: A medium-ish set where Emmet is in trouble again; this time with the police (Bad Cop) and two police alligators! The police vehicle reminds me of the ones in the now retired LEGO Space Police III sets.

#70802 The LEGO Movie Set

#70803 THE LEGO MOVIE – CLOUD CUCKOO PALACE: Revel with Unikitty in Cloud Cuckoo Land, the happiest, most positive and creative place in the universe! Join Emmet, Wyldstyle and all the master builders in this multi-colored playful paradise where the sun is always shining and a cute snail glides between the bright flowers. But beware! Unbeknown to Emmet, there’s a tracking device on his leg and Lord Business’ Executron has trailed him to the palace and is ready to handcuff him. Shoot flowers from the flower catapult to fend him off and help Emmet and Wyldstyle make a getaway! Includes 3 minifigures and accessories: Emmet, Wyldstyle and Executron, and 2 figures: Unikitty and a snail.

#70803 The LEGO Movie Set

#70804 THE LEGO MOVIE – ICE MACHINE: Another medium-size set with an ice-cream truck that transforms into a mech. I really like the look of this one. Shooting ice-cream? Yeah, bring it on! The three minifigures included are an ice-cream guy, ice-cream girl and a jogger.

#70804 The LEGO Movie Set

#70805 THE LEGO MOVIE – WASTE CRUSHER: What a great set! Who would not want a transforming garbage-truck with a giant mouth and big teeth? Minifigs included are a garbage-truck driver, a garbage collector, and a chef.

#70805 The LEGO Movie Set

#70806 THE LEGO MOVIE – CASTLE CAVALRY: Okay, so this is some kind of a small castle outpost that transforms into a viper… very strange indeed! Minifigs included are two crown-knights and a jogger. Also notice that this is another set where a black box-shaped robot is chasing some innocent citizen.

#70806 The LEGO Movie Set

#70807 THE LEGO MOVIE – METALBEARD’S DUEL: Arrr, me hearties! MetalBeard lost his body parts in a previous battle with Lord Business, but has rebuilt himself from old ship scraps to become more powerful than ever. Now, the giant Micro Manager is challenging him. Grab the pirate sword from the holster on his back and fire the cannons on his left arm. Protect his prized parrot and the treasure-chest containing his body parts, and act fast before the Micro Manager fires missiles and grabs the construction foreman with its claws. Includes 3 minifigures: Robo Skeleton, Robo SWAT, and Frank the Foreman.

#70807 The LEGO Movie Set

#70808 THE LEGO MOVIE – SUPER CYCLE CHASE: No time to waste! Use your Master Builder skills to help Wyldstyle assemble a two-seater, flaming-fast dragster from the materials she collects. Help Emmet to escape from the Robo SWATs. Rev up the engine to jump over the spike strip road block and speed away. Dodge the Robo Police guns and their 4×4 SWAT car’s flick missiles and deadly dynamite. Includes 5 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories: Emmet, Wyldstyle and 3 Robo SWATs.

#70808 The LEGO Movie Set

#70809 THE LEGO MOVIE – LORD BUSINESS’ EVIL LAIR: Bwahahahaha! Welcome to Lord Business’ Evil Lair! Record his broadcasts in the TV studio and plot how to control the world from the office. Lever open the large door and unleash the Kragle. Trap the Master Builders in the think-tank to extract their creativity. Dodge the trapdoor to avoid being sent spiraling into infinity then pull the plug on the battery and shut down the think tank before Lord Business carries out his evil plan! Includes 6 minifigures with assorted accessories: Emmet, Vitruvius, Ma Cop, Pa Cop, Lord Business and wrestler/Master Builder, El Macho, and BiznisKitty figure.

#70809 The LEGO Movie Set

#70811 THE LEGO MOVIE – PLUMBER VAN: Another vehicle that transforms into a mech – this time a plumber van – chasing after a black box robot, who is chasing after a citizen.

#70811 The LEGO Movie Set

#70812 THE LEGO MOVIE – WESTERN PLANE: There is so much happening here we really have to see the movie to make sense of all of it (or at least get the official written description). Looks interesting for sure!

#70812 The LEGO Movie Set

#70813 THE LEGO MOVIE – FIRE HELICOPTER: A fire helicopter that transforms into a mech! What more could we ask for? I really like the look of these transforming vehicles!

#70813 The LEGO Movie Set

Then there are of course also The LEGO Movie collectible minifigs, but we have talked about them already (see: LEGO Collectible Minifigs Series 12 Details). So what do you think? How do you like The LEGO Movie sets so far? They kind of remind me of an earlier LEGO theme that was also quite crazy called LEGO Time Cruisers. Yes? No? Are you looking forward to The LEGO Movie and the upcoming sets and minifigures? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below. I’m curious to hear your thoughts! 😉

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