Lego is undoubtedly a rite of passage and, having spent many happy hours as a child painstakingly building small three-walled houses, I thought I knew what to expect once my children were old enough to leave Duplo behind and be trusted not to try and swallow the standard size bricks.
But things have changed a lot since I was a child - gone are ice cream tubs of mis-matched pieces, nowadays Lego kits come with instruction booklets, individually bagged and numbered sets of bricks and freestyling is definitely out , unless you're on TV's Lego Masters show.
I was given the chance to tackle the ultimate geeky flower arrangement, the Lego Creator Botanical Collection Bouquet which usually retails for £44.99 but has been reduced at stockists including Argos and Amazon to £30 in the run up to Mother's Day.
After helping my Lego-obsessed children with stray pieces and tricky sections for everything from cupcake shops to a Batmobile, I was excited to have a build of my own to enjoy for the first time in decades, although when I actually took a peek at the box I realised that Lego is pretty different to how I remember it in my day.
Adult fans of Lego (or AFOL) are big business and Lego has spent a lot of time, and seemingly done a lot of research putting together a range of projects grow ups will love.
From a £144 recreation of an old-fashioned typewriter to a £320 app-controlled Cat D11 bulldozer, it's clear to see that Lego is definitely not just a pocket money toy anymore.
My bouquet comes in at 756 pieces and the recommendation on the box is that it's for Lego fans aged 18 years and older - much to my seven-year-old's disappointment although I did let her help me find a few bits I couldn't find along the way.
As any Lego fan will tell you, a tray is your best friend here. So I busted out the instructions and bag one and started work on the daisies that began the bouquet.
As an arrangement it was a bunch of flowers I would have been very happy to receive. Three peach roses (you can choose how deeply in bloom they are and adjust the petals accordingly), daisies, greenery, a poppy and a snapdragon. The trickiest and fiddliest bit by far was a deceptively looking stem of lavender but my favourite to make was a stunning purple aster that was the kind of feat of engineering that when you'd finished it you looked at in amazement at how cleverly it was put together.
As my first foray into the world of adult Lego it felt like a great introduction. The flowers were mini projects in their own right but completed relatively quickly so you didn't get bored or - worse - find yourself realising that you'd taken a step wrong 20 pages before and have to go back to rebuild it.
The instructions were mostly easy to follow, except for the pesky lavender. It was also lovely sitting chatting with my children working on my own Lego project while they did theirs.
For children who might want to get involved in the build there are also smaller Lego flower projects of tulips (£8.99), roses (£11.99) and some cheery looking sunflowers.
When it was finished and I put it in my vase I was genuinely blown away with how amazing my bouquet looked. It now has pride of place in my fireplace and every time I look at it I feel a sense of achievement but also want to smile at just how fun it looks.
Having researched all the Lego aimed at adults I'm already dropping hints for a new project of a bonsai cherry tree for my birthday, not least because it too is currently a third off.
As someone who loves fresh flowers and plants but gets frustrated at how long they last, or rather don't, Lego seems like the perfect solution. And the relaxation and satisfaction you get from the build is just an added bonus.
* The Lego Creator Botanical Collection Bouquet is out now. It usually retails for £44.99 but has been reduced at stockists including Argos and Amazon to £30 in the run up to Mother's Day.
