Make: Online: Halloween Archives

Archive: Halloween

October 31, 2009

Mark Frauenfelder on NPR's Science Friday

Mark, MAKE's Editor-in-Chief, was on NPR's Science Friday yesterday, talking about how to "Geek Your Halloween." You can hear the broadcast here.

Photo and pumpkin carving by Patrick Murray.

Anatomy suit one-piece zombie costume

Well, OK, I think it's really three pieces. But the head and body are a single piece which eliminates the neck seam and makes the effect way more realistic. Then each hand/forearm is one piece, but those seams are concealed by the tattered shirt. A commercial product from TheHorrorDome.com. [via Boing Boing]

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Quick and easy pumpkin cutter

From the MAKE Flickr pool Mark of Spikenzie Labs shares this simple recipe for a pumpkin cutter using a scroll saw blade and some duct tape. Looks like a good choice for those intricate/curved designs.

October 30, 2009

Thinkgeek Halloween pumpkin template contest

Our pals at ThinkGeek are having a contest to see who can design the coolest/geekiest pumpkin-carving template. You can view/download the entries at their contest page.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Chris Ware's Halloween cover commentary

Dale posted a tweet about the Chris Ware cover of the latest New Yorker magazine. I think the cover is a brilliant commentary on our mobile-connected, interrupt-driven, Twitter and FB-obsessed lives, and maybe on some of the "phoned-in" parenting that goes on.

It instantly reminded me of an incident at Maker Faire Bay Are three years ago. I was running a Mousey the Junkbot building workshop. People would buy parts bundles, sit at picnic tables, and I would guide them through building the bots from a workbench with a mic and overhead mirror, home expo cooking demo-style. A guy and his son, maybe 8 or 9, came up to look at the mousebots and parts bundles. I could already tell dad was bored, distracted, and slightly rude and dismissive (e.g. he baulked at the idea that the bundles cost money, like we were trying to rip him off). The kid said he wanted to try building one. Dad shelled out the bucks, grabbed the kit, and picked a spot at a table. As soon as dad sat down, he pulled out his phone and started playing a game on it. Now keep in mind, the Mousey build is rather involved, and includes using a Dremel and a cut-off wheel to hack a lot of plastic, requires a soldering iron, etc. It really requires some adult supervision. My teen son was helping out by circulating amongst the tables, making sure people had on their goggles, and showing them how to use the tools. He noticed this kid was basically unsupervised and went over to show him the ropes. Dad didn't flinch. He literally had his back turned to his son. The poor kid made a valiant effort to do what he could on the build. When he was ready to leave, he tapped his father on the back. Dad said: "Let's take a picture for mommy," took a quick pic of the kid posing with his roughed-out robot, and they made off into the crowd. As they were leaving, I saw dad pulling out his phone again, and his head go down. I've never in my life wanted more to give another parent a self-righteous lecture (maybe with some physical punctuation marks) about engagement, the precious value of attention, and basic parenting.

While I know the Ware image isn't necessarily that deep of an indictment (we all check our phones when there's a break in the action), it still reminded of this incident. I love how the reflected glow of the phone screens echoes the ghost/mask-like faces of the children at the door.

Remote control color-changing pumpkin

Ian Lesnet submitted this cool hack-'o-lantern to our Make: Halloween Contest 2009. There's an Instructable here, a Flickr set here, and YouTube video here. It's a color-changing pumpkin full-court media press! The build uses a ShiftBrite RGB LED module, IR receiver, universal remote control, and a PIC18F2550 as the brains of it all.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Talking Arduino Halloween skeleton

Samuel Seide brings us this animatronic talking skull Instructable. It's motion-activated and uses a Waveshield kit for sound. [Thanks, Sam!]

More from Sam Seide:

In the Maker Shed:

Arduino WaveShield Kit

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Zombie Preparedness Kit

And it makes such a lovely macabre objet d'art all the rest of the year.

Zombie Preparedness Box

Katamari Costumes

Halloween wouldn't be complete without a Katamari costume or two. Donovan and Ashly show off their Katamaris in preparation for the ensuing festivities. [Thanks, Donovan!]

I'm in the June [polka dot] outfit. Ashly is the Prince [in green]. I made the heads and my outfit. Ashly was in charge of her own dress. The primary materials are foam, posterboard and foamies, these 2mm thick colored foam sheets. That's what I used for the dots and the coverings on the heads. I liked the dimensional quality it gave rather than just using paint or paper.

Homemade King & Queen of All Cosmos Katamari Damacy costumes

Life-size Katamari controller

Katamari Damacy Queen of All Cosmos earmuffs

Crochet Katamari Prince

Katamari Wedding Cake

A look back at my Halloween-inspired builds

I'm not going to ramble on again about how I didn't make anything this year for Halloween. I'm over that thanks to my new friend, Robot Zombie Cat. However, I thought I would do a quick recap of my previous Halloween-inspired builds that I actually completed!

First up is my "Scariest Pumpkin Ever" build. I had a great time testing this project out on the neighborhood kiddies! HONK! Check out the link for complete build instructions. Just a word of warning, you neighbors are going to hate you! Trust me, I know. A big thanks to everyone who sent me links to your own builds inspired by this project. I really appreciate it!

Next up is my Gakken Mechamo Crab build with a few additional creepy parts. Again, this was a lot of fun to make, and has been very popular when I bring it to Maker Faire. Check out the link for another video of this creepy-crawler in action. Eeeeeeek, eeeek, blip, blip!

My last Halloween inspired build was the Animated Ghost kit from the Maker Shed. It's a really easy kit to make, and it always manages to freak-out anyone that gets too close! Remember, it's never too early to start working on next year's projects!

Speaking of Halloween, don't forget to enter our contest! Do it, or Robot Zombie Cat is going to come after you!

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

"Working" Ghostbusters PKE meter prop

From YouTuber peaugh. No details on the build, unfortunately. [Thanks, Billy!]

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

October 29, 2009

Comic book (makeup) costume

Comic-Re-1
Coolest Halloween make up / costume I've seen yet!

Remote control pumpkin

MAKE subscriber Ian writes in to share his Halloween project, a remote-control, color changing pumpking. To control the pumpkin, he built an infrared remote decoder, which allows him to use a regular TV remote to change the color of the pumpkin. The project also has an 'angry pumpkin' mode, which flashes a red color to scare away onlookers. Full source code, schematic and writeup are available on his website.

Front porch "prop dropper"

From Samuel Aaron Ward, this motion-activated device lowers a scarythang when it senses motion. It's built around a Microchip PIC16F684 and is based on plans from the October 2009 issue of Nuts & Volts magazine. [Thanks, Vern!]

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Silly-String-shooting Jack-'o-lantern

From Instructables user Eric Kingston comes this Arduino-controlled Silly String shooting pumpkin. It's motion-activated, makes a Goblin-esque cackling noise, and Tweets a report each time it squirts another victim. Eric also wins a thousand internet video style points for making his whole point in five seconds with no talking!

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

October 28, 2009

How-To: Spider web balloons

So, the stuff inside the balloon that makes the web is called HI-FLOAT, and it's a commercial product actually sold for injecting into helium balloons to make them retain their helium longer. It forms a skin on the inside of the balloon and keeps the helium from diffusing out so quickly. The "web" effect is created by applying the HI-FLOAT and letting it dry at one pressure, and then deflating the balloon, stressing it, and then re-inflating to a higher pressure, causing the film to detach from the walls (which, of course, means it's not working as a sealant anymore, but whatevs). I'm pretty sure this trick was developed in-house, by the company that makes it, to sell more HI-FLOAT. Still, it's pretty cool.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Flashback: Halloween Wounds and Prosthetics

If you haven't procured a Halloween costume yet, your best bet might be to just add some gaping wounds to whatever you're wearing and head to the party. Zombie-fy to simplify. With that said, this week's flashback is another gem from from Make: Halloween Special Edition, a 2006 collaboration between the editors of MAKE and CRAFT, our sister publication. Courtney Mault and Max Sparber, experts in horror makeup, wrote an entire Macabre Makeup DIY section for the issue, and this offering will teach you how to work liquid latex into a truly horrific wound. Also check out this week's flashback on Craftzine.com, which covers how to do gory ghoul makeup using bread crumbs. And finally, for tons more Halloween inspiration, pick up the full Make: Halloween Special Edition in the Maker Shed, where it's currently on sale for 5 bucks!

Wounds and Prosthetics
By Courtney Mault and Max Sparber

Liquid latex rubber is great for wound makeup, large and small. Courtney likes to use it to create small flaps of skin for a skinned knuckle, which are convincing enough that when she occasionally wears her makeup to work as a prank, employers have insisted she seek first aid and write a medical report, even after she has explained that her injury is just makeup.

Read full story

Scary shifty servo eyeballs

Todbot is at it again. Here's a creepy, simple, and effective Halloween effect -- a pair of glowing eyeballs that look back and forth at your victims. It's made with two ping pong balls, two BlinkM programmable LEDs, three servomotors, and an Arduino microcontroller. Stick ti in a pumpkin, or better yet, incorporate it into your costume, and you've got maximum spookiness.

Head to the todbot blog for more info, and to download the Arduino sketch.

In the Maker Shed:

Arduino Duemilanove

Blinkm Row

BlinkM - Smart LED

Giant animatronic Gomora costume

Is it too late to order up one of these for Halloween? But it'd be kind of lonely bounding around in the parking lot while the party rages inside. How do you say: "Hey everybody, come outside and watch me kick Ultraman's butt" in Kaiju?

Gomora Giant Animatronic Monster Costume

Ghostbusters proton pack with friggin' lasers

From instructables user depotdevoid comes this awesome Ghostbusters costume tutorial. Besides the proton pack, he made a trap, a pair of "ecto goggles," and the obligatory jumpsuit. "Aim for the flattop!"

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.