Alien Circuit Board Pillow

Tutorial on how to make a pillow with a moveable alien that plays music and lights up with the press of a button.

-Computer

-Fabric

-Scissors

-Fabric Glue

-Circuit Board and USB Plug

-3 AAA Batteries

-Needle and Thread

-Pillow Stuffing

Using Circuit Playground Express (CPE), I programmed my circuit to play the X-Files theme song when one button was pressed and to flash rainbow lights when another button was pressed. I have included a photo of the coding I used in order to make this circuit. I added each note to the song individually because you are unable to upload mp3 files onto CPE.

I created a ufo patch for my pillow with a pocket by cutting pieces of felt and fabric glueing them together. In order to create the pocket on the beam of light to hold the battery pack, I cut two pieces of felt that were the same size and then snipped a bit off the top of one of them. I laid the shorter piece on top of the other piece and sewed them together creating a pocket. I also cut out some star shapes with scrap felt for the background.

To make the pillow, I cut up an old pair of fabric shorts and sewed it together to make two rectangles that laid on top of each other. I sewed up three of the sides and sewed on my patch as well. I attached the stars with fabric glue. Once completed, I filled my pillow with stuffing/scrap fabric. To close off the last side of the pillow, I tucked in the sides of the edge and pinned them together. I then fabric glued the pieces together section by section until the pillow was complete.

To finish off the project, I cut an alien shape out of felt that was the same size as my circuit board. I then tied it to the circuit board with thread through the pins (holes). To cover the wires, I wrapped embroidery floss around them. I then tucked the battery pack into the pocket I made and pressed the buttons to make the pillow activate.