2014 Halloween Costumes

Gandalf and his staff 

Summary

For the Gandalf staff I cut a branch along a crack using a band saw and put in el wire. I also installed small blocks to ensure the el wire would not get pinched. While I still had everything open I installed wires running the length of the staff. Then I moved on to lighting effects using a Trinket with  neopixels at the top and led sequins at the bottom. The rest of the costume is gray cotton fabric sewn with large arms and batting in the hat. 

Parts

Stick with nice cracks

Blue El wire 2m - https://www.adafruit.com/products/408

Small inverter - https://www.adafruit.com/products/317

RGB LEDs  - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1612

White LEDs -  https://www.adafruit.com/products/1758

Trinket Microcontroller - https://www.adafruit.com/products/1501

Ham, the space chip

Summary

This costume is of Ham, a chimpanzee space test pilot. It is a spacesuit altered with a silicon jacketed neopixel strip around the neck line. Extra large articulated ears are made with a thick floral wire armature wrapped on the horn of sub-micro servos. A mint tin in the back conceals a Teensy 3.1 and batteries.