Mallika’s Halloween Costume Pt.2

Description of ‘Mine-crafted life’

The severed Minecraft head is a prop for a halloween costume, acting like a trick or treat basket. Constructed from acrylic/polyethylene/polypropylene sheets, the head is painted with the signature pixelated aesthetic and features internal RGBW LED strips sandwiched between inner and outer walls. The primary function is to express four distinct “moods”—Angry (red light), Sad (blue light), Disgust (green light), and Happy (yellow light)—by dynamically shifting the color of the internal lighting. The basket includes a red handle and a “severed neck” base, with black paint for the eyes and mouth, ensuring both visual impact and a clear pathway for the light to shine through. The shades of the pixels are created by painting multiple coats of acrylic paint on the surface to help create a opaque and translucent light dispersal.

Intention of ‘Mine-crafted life’

The prop’s intention is to blend the nostalgia of my brother and my shared love for Minecraft with a playful Halloween fright. By presenting the instantly recognizable Creeper head in a dark context—a “severed neck” basket—it introduces a darkly humorous twist on a beloved game element. The dynamic, shifting NeoPixel lights (from “angry” red to “sad” blue) use in-game visuals to create an eerie, mood-depicting glow, transforming our childhood interests into a uniquely personal and subtly unsettling costume piece.

Arduino techniques to be used

Using the colorWipe or crossFade function in Arduino to help transition between the 4 RGBW colors in the NeoPixel.

Materials and parts

• Translucent white Acrylic/Polyethylene/Polypropylene sheet (As the main material for the basket, its handle and neck.) – I’m having a little trouble finding Polypropylene sheets in the translucency, size and thickness that would be suitable for the 12″ x 12″ size of the basket head. Here’s a few links of what I found:
  1. Polypropylene sheets (TAP plastics) –
  Tap Plastics link
  (This seems like a clear sheet, I was going for a white translucent sheet)
  
  2. Polypropylene sheets (Amazon) –
  Amazon Link
  (The size limitation is 12″ x12″, I might need a bigger size for making the handle and top frame to cover the walls. If I get this, I will have to join multiple pieces together)
  
  3. Polyethylene sheets HDPE Plastic Sheet Board (Amazon) –
  Amazon Link
  (I read that this material also has similar translucency and light dispersion properties as acrylic, but seems a little expensive for the size I want)
  
  4. Acrylic sheets (Canal Plastics) –
  Canal Plastics Link
  (This seems okay to me, alternatively I could get the acrylic from the VFL and be careful not to break it)
  
• RGBW LED Strips – I was planning on getting either 8 shorter strips or 2 long ones that can span the entire cube.
  
• Poly-fill – To disperse the light well in between the inner and outer walls of the cube.
  
• Adafruit Gemma board – If its possible to link 2 separate LEDs to one board, I intend on doing that, otherwise, I will get another Gemma board.
  
• Breadboard + Electrical wires
  
• USB Battery Pack
  
• Acrylic paint – To paint the pixels on the surface of the sheet and create tonality.
  
• Solder

Tools

• Laser cutter
• Soldering Iron
• Hot glue gun
• Wire strippers
• Wire snips
• X-acto knife

To-Do list

• Figure out number and specifications of LED strips needed
• Finalise circuit diagram
• Tinker with Arduino code to get my color-changing motion
• Finalize on material for the main structure
• Test light dispersion on small pieces of acrylic to see light and shadows with white paint
• Make 3D model for idea, to ease construction
• Illustrator file for laser cutting
  

Thank you!