how I built new colors of LEGO’s poppy

Three LEGO poppy flowers in dark red, orange, and black and yellow lie on a white surface.

Building new colors of flowers from LEGO’s Botanicals sets was a great stepping stone to building my own MOCs, and it’s still a small project I really enjoy! Since it took me a while to figure out how to go from building a LEGO set to building something new, here’s how I recolored the orange Poppy from the Flower Bouquet (10280-1) in dark red and black. (You can see them in my goth flower arrangement for spooky season!) I kept the yellow center the same for all three, since I liked the contrast.

Pieces of LEGO's orange poppy from the Flower Bouquet set carefully arranged on a white table, with stem pieces for two other poppies.

First, I figure out which parts I need in the new colors. (I use the set instructions and/or the actual built flower for this.) These are all the parts for the orange poppy build from LEGO’s Flower Bouquet set (plus the stem pieces for two more poppies, since I knew I’d be keeping those the same.) I wanted to change the petal colors and the color of the curved bricks that make up the bottom of the flowers. (You can see that curved bottom section of the build better in my other poppy variations.) So, I needed new colors for all the orange parts.

Then, I figure out what the part numbers are and what colors they’ve been made in. I use Rebrickable’s set inventory and parts info for that.

Unbuilt pieces of LEGO's poppy from the Flower Bouquet set in dark red, orange, and black and yellow are carefully arranged on a white table.

Then, I can buy the parts I need. For specific parts for a recolor like this, I use LEGO’s Pick A Brick website and/or secondary market parts sellers on Brick Owl. (BrickLink sellers are another option.) I also pick up parts from my LEGO store’s Pick a Brick wall and used open sets from online thrift stores (that’s where the extra poppy stem and center parts came from here.)

You can see that I went with black rather than dark red for the curved bottom sections, and I chose 1×2 plates with bars in a contrasting color to attach the petals, instead of matching the petals like the orange ones do. I also used some different colors for the parts inside the flowers base, mostly because that’s what I had, but they weren’t really visible.

Use your own taste here to choose from the parts you have or can get easily.

Three LEGO poppy flowers in dark red, orange, and black and yellow lie on a white surface in front of stem pieces.

When I have the parts I need, I follow the original set instructions to build them.

I hope this helps you build your own flowers in new colors! Enjoy all the possibilities!

See more recolors and color variations!

Poppy design by LEGO with alternate color variations such as red, yellow, azure, medium blue, and bright light orange, lying on a white surface

Simple black LEGO vase with LEGO flowers: red and black poppies, black and gray roses, pearl gold lavender and cornflowers, dark green ferns, and dark red leaves, on a white desk against a light gray background.