These £17 fairy lights were all I needed to transform this Ikea bookshelf into my dream Zelda shrine

Photo of some Legend of Zelda First 4 Figures statue boxes. — (Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

For the past couple of years, the best Legend of Zelda merch in my collection has been sitting like a lost relic of time on an Ikea bookshelf. I've amassed some really neat items over the years. I own everything from a promotional plastic Ocarina of Time, an official Zelda door chime that makes the treasure sound as you walk by, to a fully-fledged replica of the Master Sword itself, but the presentation of them has always felt lacking. There's only so much you can do with a white bookshelf and a limited budget.

With the 40th anniversary looming over me like the Majora's Mask moon, I made the decision to grab some £17 fairy lights as a last-ditch effort to pay proper credence to my collection and a series I hold close to my heart. Much to my surprise, that was all I needed to make my Zelda merchandise go from a dusty gathering of goodies to a Zelda shrine of treasures.

Inspired by the likes of TikTok user thecozybeastie, I had my mind set on ivy-style fairy lights for my collection glow up. My TikTok feed is chock-full of video clips online showing Zelda-themed gaming spaces intertwined with lit-up vines, so I was desperate to capture those same cozy vibes.

They also felt like the most appropriate choice. I heavily associate leaves and vines with the Legend of Zelda, whether my brain is linking them to the Lost Woods or the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time, which is one of my favorite dungeons in the franchise's 40-year history. By wrapping lit-up foliage around the edges of the Ikea Billy bookcase, I could make my collection appear like the Master Sword - a shiny beacon that's waiting for a hero to fully appreciate what it has to offer.

Photo of a shelf of Legend of Zelda collectibles with leaf fairy lights around it. — (Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

What's On My Shelf

Photo of a close up of the Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Tulin amiibo sitting in front of a Switch OLED. — (Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

Legend of Zelda Tulin amiibo | $19.99 (Best Buy) / £16.99 (Nintendo)
Legend of Zelda Triforce Light | £29.46 (Amazon) / $24.98 (Walmart)
Legend of Zelda Game & Watch | $49.99 (Best Buy) / £44.99 (Nintendo)

I ended up picking up this 10 metre set from the brand Auzonimics, due to the numerous 5-star reviews and their rechargeable battery pack. With some £3.97 Command Clips (Amazon) added to my online shopping basket, the setup was really straightforward. The clips easily adhered to the surface of the bookcase, and their transparent hooks are barely noticeable at a glance.

Due to the yellow-tinged lighting of my office, the before and after don't look as magical as they do in person, but I'm obsessed with my brand-new Zelda shrine. At the top, I've held the vines in place with the boxes of my Skyward Sword First 4 Figures boxes, which is lazy, and yet they still trickle down like edges exactly how I imagined in my head. I do wish there were a larger abundance of the fake plastic foliage, but it gets the job done.

Before and after photo of an Ikea billy bookcase covered in Legend of Zelda merch and collectibles. — (Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

There exist indie brands that provide glass inserts for Billy bookcases that I'd ideally like to upgrade the shrine with in the future. However, I don't quite have the budget to invest in anything that luxurious right now, especially as I want to save for the inevitable Zelda 40th Anniversary games or goodies Nintendo might be cooking up.

For now, what you see in the photos I've shared is enough for me, especially as my shrine of merch has always been a slow-burn project. Over the decades, I've never had a big budget to invest in new merch for it as I'd have hoped, never mind accessories to bring the entire display to life. Most of this Zelda Shrine consists of gifts lovingly handed down through family and friends.

From the piles of official Zelda calendars my in-laws have gifted over the years, to my original childhood cart of Ocarina of Time (which was also a cousin hand-me-down in the '90s), the bookcase is a testament to the years of wonderful adventures I've had not just with the 40-year series, but with feeling loved and seen by those I care about. That's why it felt pertinent to give it a glow-up, even if that just meant wrapping some £17 lights around each shelf.

Photo of a treasure chest from Zelda sitting on a shelf infront of other collectibles. — (Image credit: Future/Rosalie Newcombe)

Our guide to the best Nintendo gifts is full of top-quality Legend of Zelda and Ninty goodies that would look the part in any gaming merch collection.

CATEGORIES

Ever since I first held a NES controller in my hand I've been obsessed with gaming, and the hardware it runs on. I could hook up a NES and SNES to a telly, without instructions, before I could walk. Even now, nothing is more exciting then taking a console, or handheld, out the box for the first time and setting it up. This obsession transformed into a love of games and game music, which lead to my music degree and dream of becoming the Scottish Nobuo Uematsu. After sharing my love of games through music, I began to share my love through words on sites like TechRadar and iMore. This lead to becoming a Hardware staff writer for PCGamesN, and later the Senior Tech Writer for Dexerto, covering all things Steam Deck, PlayStation and Nintendo. With that experience, I was able to level up as Hardware Editor for GamesRadar+, where I'm still just as Nintendo, PlayStation and gaming tech obsessed as ever.

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