Here is what we heard, over and over last night:
“Whoa, is that a real— Holy crap, those are real pumpkins!”
Yep.
Not as easy as we thought it would be, either. Nor as light. But here’s how to do it.
Continue reading Halloween Costumes: Mr. and/or Mrs. Pumpkinhead
We recently got a question about our flickering LEDs:
I’m wondering if it’s possible to wire these in series?
It’s a good (and not entirely uncommon) question, and the short answer is: “Yes, but not with each other.”
These LEDs have a little chip inside that turns them on and off in a flickering pattern. You can see it in the photo of the flat-topped white LED above. On the upper pad is the yellowish phosphor over the LED die. On the lower pad is the chip that turns the LED on and off.
If you put two of these in series, the first one turns the next one on and off repeatedly, interrupting the second chip and preventing it from executing its flickering pattern. The result is that you get momentary blinking, but not the nice flickering pattern. (So yes, both would in fact light up; they just don’t behave how you might hope that they would.)
So how can you hook up a bunch of flickering LEDs together? If you want each LED to flicker separately, you can hook them up in parallel. But there is a way to use these in series with other LEDs. We can even use this to combine multiple LED colors to create some fantastic LED “flames” that would be great for stage props or putting inside pumpkins.
Continue reading From the mailbag: flickering LEDs in series
A mermaid’s purse is the iconic protective egg case of certain oviparous (egg laying) sharks and skates.
Here’s another version, made of crepes, perfect for protecting your eggs at breakfast time. Continue reading A Mermaid’s Purse, for Breakfast
Sweet or savory– and slightly terrifying –these specimen jars are fun to make and will give your dinner guests something to chew on. Continue reading Halloween Cuisine: Sweet or Savory Specimen Jars
The Great Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories Halloween Project Archive!
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, and our collection of Halloween projects continues to grow. Every fall we update it to include our latest projects for the season. In the list that follows, we’ve organized dozens of our Halloween projects into categories: costumes, pumpkins, decor and food.
Last updated: 10/2019.
Continue reading Halloween Projects from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
In preparation for Halloween, we’ve gathered our tips and tricks for plotting on pumpkins with an Eggbot.
We first demonstrated printing on pumpkins with an Eggbot last year at Maker Faire New York.
Continue reading Eggbotting for Halloween
Awesome little LED Jack-o’-lanterns are quick and easy to build yourself, in the tradition of LED throwies.
Special bonuses: (1) Now with candle-flame flickering LEDs and (2) way brighter than those little LED tea lights!
Continue reading Basics: Simple LED Pumpkins
Well, almost— With a breath of new firmware, our Larson Scanner kit takes us on a trip to the late 1970’s.
In the old videos of electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk performing their classic The Robots, a prominent prop is the animated LED necktie worn by each member of the band. If you haven’t seen this, or it’s been a while, you can see it right here at YouTube. (Additional viewing, if you’re so inclined: Die Roboter, the German version.)
The Kraftwerk tie has nine red LEDs in a vertical row, and one lights up after the one above it in a simple descending pattern. And what does it say to the world? One thing only, loud and clear: “We are the robots.” Now, if you’re anything like us, the most important question going through your head at this point is something along the lines of “why am I not wearing a tie like that right now?”
The good news is that it’s actually easy to make one. And the starting point? A circuit with nine red LEDs and just the right spacing: our open-source Larson Scanner kit. With minor modifications– a software change and dumping the heavy 2xAA battery pack–it makes a pretty awesome tie. In what follows, we’ll show you how to build your own, complete with video.
Make repositionable googly eyes with sticky-backed rubber magnets, or promotional magnets and a drop of glue.
Continue reading Magnetic Googly Eyes: For the Benefit of All Mankind
One of our favorite low tech halloween decorations is a (tiny) army of mini jack o’lanterns. Here’s how to carve your own. Continue reading Your own private mini-pumpkin jack O’lantern army
