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One of my favorite smaller sets this year is the #42669 LEGO Beekeepers’ House & Flower Garden set. This set is not just lovely on display, it also has nice play-features and educational quality.

This is in fact the first LEGO set dedicated to beekeeping, although LEGO did release other sets in the past that references bees and beekeeping as a side-accessory. The most well-known is the Beekeeper from Series 21 of the Collectible Minifigures lineup, and the Bumblebee Girl from Series 10 (although this is a costumed minifig instead of a beekeeper, the printed honey pot is a nice accessory). Another useful accessory related to bees and beekeeping is the large light-orange beehive that appears in numerous sets (the same piece is also used as cotton candy in pink).

But instead of getting a few bees here and there, the #42669 LEGO Beekeepers’ House & Flower Garden is full of beekeeping-related accessories! Bees, beehives, honeycombs, flowers, flowering trees – they are all now available in one set!

The story is that Paisley and Aliya are visiting Paisley’s grandparents who are beekeepers. They live in a picturesque little cottage surrounded by a lovely garden full of flowers and bees. Inside the shop, they sell seeds, candles, honeycomb, and honey. Above the shop, there is a cute little apartment where the grandparents live.

LEGO’s approach to actual bees is to print them on 1×1 round clear tiles. A cartoony printed bee was first released in 2021 and appeared in many sets since, and with this new set, LEGO introduced a more realistic looking bee, also printed on a 1×1 round clear tile. (To date, this piece is still very rare, only appearing in one other set.) This set also features two other little creatures printed on 1×1 round clear tiles; a ladybug and a beetle. These pieces are also still rare, only appearing in a few 2025 sets.

Another new printed piece is a 2×2 tile with honeycomb print. My guess is that LEGO replaced the previous 2×2 printed honeycomb tile to make the graphics of the individual bees and the bees on the honeycomb more consistent. And they look great!

Since we’re talking about printed pieces, another couple of nicely decorated elements are the little 1×2 tile seed packets. They are exclusive to this set (to date), and you get four of them! There are a few other printed elements in the set that are more common like the tree log and computer keyboard. All other decorated elements you see are stickers.

The set comes with three building instructions; one for the house, one for the beekeeping garden, and the other for the vegetable garden. This would be a nice set to build with family while discussing the important role of bees both in pollination and making honey.

Overall this is such a wholesome set! Yes, the lavender trim on the house may be a bit alienating for adult LEGO fans, but the house is still cute and the rest of the set is realistic and full of nice builds and useful accessories. If you want to check it out, it’s available at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.

If you really don’t like the trim, you can always change it to another color like nougat or brown and it would fit right into your medieval town, or countryside setup. Speaking of medieval, I found this alternate build of the set that adds an extra story to the building, making it look more medieval. If you like it, you can download the building instructions at Rebrickable.com.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Beekeepers’ House and Flower Garden? Do you have the set already? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO French Café Review & Modifications

The LEGO Icons Gardens of the World Series includes two beautiful and well-received sets so far; the #10315 LEGO Tranquil Garden was initially released in 2023 with a lovely Japanese garden (1,363 pieces, price: $109.99), and the #10359 LEGO Fountain Garden was released this year with a picturesque Italian setting (1,302 pieces, price: $99.99). Both of these sets are dense and parts-heavy with interesting and unique elements. Although they are expensive, these sets offer an engaging building experience for adult builders, and they look wonderful – even sophisticated – on display. They are sort of like more colorful versions of LEGO Architecture sets.

This year, LEGO started a second similar series called LEGO Icons Restaurants of the World with only one set so far; Café Fleur, also known as the #10362 LEGO French Café. This set is also parts-heavy with 1,101 pieces but the price is a bit better at $79.99 (LEGO is probably still testing what is the best size and price range for these types of sets).

The footprint of the French Café is wide but shallow; 38 studs wide (so a bit wider than a standard LEGO Modular Building), but only 8 studs deep. It is extremely cramped with parts and advanced building techniques. The building is full of unusual angles and parts-usage, and even the cobblestone base is brick-built.

Although I normally like working with such sets because I find them educational and engaging, surprisingly, I didn’t enjoy this one. I thought the cobblestone base was too complicated, took too long to build, and ultimately didn’t look realistic. And the Café itself is full of techniques I don’t really care for nor do I fully comprehend. The whole set is too clever for its own good is how I would summarize the experience.

The finished model has its plusses and minuses as well. The stonework about the entrance is interesting, although just like the cobblestone, I don’t think it’s that realistic. I do like the columns next to the entrance though. The interior is pretty much non-existent, but I like the color combinations. Outside, the planters look nice, and the chairs and tables are cute, but they will fall apart at the slightest touch. The lamp is a nice build.

Even though I’m not a big fan of the building experience or the finished model, the parts selection is outstanding! The set is full of beautiful and unique colors, and includes tons of exclusive printed elements. The Café Fleur sign above the door and the street sign are printed (the street sign is actually printed on both sides), and the door and window panels, as well as the little clear awning pieces, are all printed. This set is an amazing parts-pack, and I wouldn’t hesitate to get a second or even more copies just for the parts.

I don’t plan to display this set as is, but I do like sections of it enough to include in my customized version of the #10297 LEGO Modular Boutique Hotel. The two sets have a matching style and color-scheme, and interestingly, they are both sets I have a love/hate relationship with. My plan is to keep and combine the features I like and eliminate the ones I don’t. The beauty of LEGO is that we can do that!

Out of curiosity, I did look up what others are doing with this set and I found some really encouraging examples. My favorite is by BrickStudioArchitect at Rebrickable.com. He basically turned two copies of the #10362 LEGO French Café (plus extra parts) into a corner LEGO Modular Building. If you like this model, you can download the parts-list and instructions at this Rebrickable.com page.

Two other nice interpretations of the set are by Brick Artisan also at Rebrickable.com. These models use one copy of the #10362 LEGO French Café plus some extra parts. You can download the parts-lists and instructions for the first model here and the second model here.

To give you more details on the set, I’m also including JANGBRiCKS review below.

You might like the #10362 LEGO French Café as is, and that’s great! And if not, it’s still a worthy candidate for parts, building techniques (especially working with angles), and design options. If you would like to check it out, you can find the set at the LEGO Icons section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? Have you had a chance to build any of the sets from the LEGO Gardens of the World and LEGO Restaurants of the World series? How do you like them? And what do you think of the French Café? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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