Today, LEGOs are more than just a toy for young children— it's an emerging art form combining photography, stop-motion (brickfilms) and imitative models that portray today's pop culture as it is. It's something visual culture analysts are sure to be studying over the next decade, and Chris McVeigh (no relation to Timothy) from Halifax, Nova Scotia is sure to be studied for his LEGO mastery.
He goes by the pseudonym of Powerpig 
and has been churning out LEGO builds and photography for some time now, favoring Star Wars models. These marvelous creations should inspire us all to dive into the spiderwebbed crevices of our attics and basements to wipe the dust off of our old LEGO collection.
Once we resurrect our dead childhood building blocks, we can jump right into LEGO construction, thanks to McVeigh's thoughtful instructions on his blog.
His most recent LEGO creation— a Death Star Christmas Tree Ornament— is the perfect DIY tree garnish for the LEGO lover.
THE LEGO DEATH STAR ORNAMENT
The Death Star ornament is a fairly intricate build, but it’s a lot of fun. As with my other models, this one can be ordered direct from LEGO.com via LEGO Digital Designer. Grab LEGO Digital Designer 4.0 (if you don’t already have it), and then download one of the model files listed below.
If you're not interested and modeling the Death Star decoration in LEGO Digital Designer, that's okay, because you can simply throw your LEGOs on the ground and start building by hand. Just download the parts list and build instructions below.
Click here to see more about how to build your own Star Wars Death Star Christmas Tree Ornament.
Purchasing the parts through the Lego Digital Designer will set you back about $28 (plus shipping) for the Death Star alone, but you can shave at least $10 off that price tag by ordering the individual parts you need through LEGO's Pick a Brick store.
But the Death Star is just his latest creation. McVeigh has many, many more that you can learn to build yourself, and he's recently been on a holiday kick. Check out all the holiday fare below! Plus, it doesn't stop at Christmas, there's tons of LEGO creations, like the Apple iPod and a cool Facebook idea.
LEGO SANTA SLEIGH
Click through for directions on the LEGO Santa Sleigh Decoration.
LEGO CHRISTMAS TREE
Click through for directions on the LEGO Christmas Tree Decoration.
LEGO HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS
Click through for directions on the LEGO Holiday Christmas Tree Ornaments.
LEGO APPLE IPOD
Click through for directions on the Shattered LEGO iPod.
YOUR OWN LEGO "FACEBOOK"
Click through for directions on the LEGO Facebook.
OTHER COOL LEGO CREATIONS
If you want to see other cool LEGO models, check out McVeigh's Blog for more LEGO builds and his Flickr Photostream (Powerpig) for more inspirational photos.
