Halloween Maker Style

Halloween maker style is a collection of existing Instructables and a few new props I use for an annual Halloween party.

There are 8 LED strips on this outdoor trellance which are Arduino controlled in sync with an outdoor audio system. A fog machine mounted on the trellace adds to the effect.

Details on this project are in this Instructable.

This is an off the shelf Snow Machine from American DJ called the Snow Flurry. I added the red LED which adds a nice effect for night use. The red LED turns on when the snow is on and then off when no snow. I used Sugru to attach the LED to the chassis.

Unfortunately, the snow juice sensor broke, it's a sensor that will shut off the snow machine when the snow juice is low so the machine doesn't run when the snow juice is out. As a temp workaround, I had to clip the liquid sensor off and simply solder the two wires together which got the machine working again but it now has to be monitored and turned off manually when the snow juice is out.

The snow juice is a little on the expensive side at $20 a gallon and goes pretty quick so of course I ran out right at part time. A little googling returned how to make your own snow juice which is quite easy and produced the same results as the real stuff.

8 ounces rubbing alcohol
8 ounces bubble juice
16 ounces distilled water

The Haunted Mirror is the Magic Mirror project running in Hallloween mode. There is a proximity sensor mounted in the drywall. As the subject comes within range of the proximity sensor, the Haunted Mirror tells the subject to "come closer". Then when the subject comes closer, the Haunted Mirror reads a spooky Halloween message.

The Photobooth is a new feature I added to a previous project of mine called the Magic Mirror. In this installation, I used a small nook inside a playhouse I had built for my daughters. You can see the laptop in the picture which powers the Photobooth. Once the pictures are taken, the Photobooth strip will print out on 4 x 6 paper to a networked printer inside my main house. The screen back light is X-10 controlled and will turn on and off by the X-10 enabled Photobooth software.

See this Instructable which goes into more detail on how to setup the Photobooth.

Every party should have a Breathalyzer, here's one that talks. Here's the full Instructable on the Talking Breathalyzer.