If you’ve spent any amount of time around us, you know that we are seldom content to leave well enough alone as regards technology. We even founded a White Rock Makers’ Club that you can join on Facebook if you are in the Dallas area and are interested in tinkering with electronics. For Halloween, we’ve rounded up our favorite projects to create a hacker’s guide to Halloween—while you still have time to purchase the components and assemble the final product!
Fiber Optic Fairy Wings
You definitely won’t find anything like this at a costume shop!
Using easily obtainable materials like wire, tape, duct tape, and tights, the wing substrate is made fairly easily if you have a little talent with shaping wire. The lighting module is created with LEDs, a battery, and a microcontroller that allows you to program the colors of the fibers, give them different patterns, or set them to fade on and off. Tools are mostly everyday items like a hot glue gun and pliers, but this project does include a soldering iron and a heat gun, both of which are fairly inexpensive (under $20).
The creator bought her lighting module components at various websites, but we’ve found that you can get most (if not all) of them through Amazon more quickly. For example, her fiber optic cable came as a jacketed wire, but since she ultimately removed the jacket, you could get this version at Amazon instead.
Read the instructions for creating Fiber Optic Fairy Wings
Automatic Candy Dispenser
When trick-or-treaters approach the house, they see an LCD screen with instructions to text, call, or tweet a code. They can also push a button, if you want to keep it simpler. Next, a few servos* mix your candy in a large plastic bucket and dispense the candy through a chute… preferably from a second-story balcony or window. The instructions even let you add fog, lights, and sound effects for a completely unique experience.
*A servo is a small device that incorporates a two wire DC motor, a gear train, a potentiometer, an integrated circuit, and an output shaft. Think of the servos in this project as little robot arms. One stirs the candy in the bucket to mix it up, and the other lifts a door to let candy flow into the chute.
Read the instructions for creating your own Automatic Candy Dispenser
Color-changing Pumpkins Controlled by Text
Oh, this one is fun and not as difficult on the crafting side as some of the projects above. A Twilio developer created a front-porch setup that he or his family members could control simply by sending a text message. A row of pumpkins in front of his house are fitted out with lights that change color in response to being texted a color… or if you text “chaos,” it switches on a fog machine, music, and the pumpkins rotate between colors.
Read the instructions for Color-Changing Pumpkins
Looking for a project that’s simpler still? Target has some excellent animatronic decorations this year. The “Try Me” button makes them perfect candidates for hacking; see a guide to control your decorations via remote control.
And, of course, if you end up using an idea from our Hacker’s Guide to Halloween—or any other Halloween hack—let us know!
