Spooky Halloween Candy Basket

Hi All,

This is a Halloween candy basket I made for my kid to use this year. My starting point was an ordinary fabric basket I bought. The front image on the basket inspired me to do something interesting to transform the basket into a more compelling object. I decided to replace the castle windows and the door with animated colorful LEDs to look amazing at night (which is when the candy collection takes place in our neighborhood!)

I hope you will find this project interesting and decide to build one for yourself.

Enjoy!

Following is what you will need:

1 - Fabric candy basket: (I used the one with the castle picture here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BRJ3L1T)

2 - 1x NE555 timer

3 - 1x 7.4V Li-Ion battery (I recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DNCK7V2)

4 - 1x 4.7 K resistor

5 - 2x N4001 diodes

6 - 2x 22 K resistors

7 - 1x 100 nF capacitor

8 - 1x BC327 PNP transistor

9 - 1x BC337 NPN transistor

10 - 2x 470 Ohm resistors

11 - 2x 3.3 K resistors

12 - 8x LEDs of multiple colors of your choice (following ones come with wires pre-soldered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAHYUBD)

13 - 1x 220 uF capacitor

14 - A roll of burlap fabric (for housing the battery - here it is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046UV3CO)

15 - A roll of Velcro (these will work: https://www.amazon.com/IHKFILAN-Fastening-Non-Adhesive-Interlocking-Fasteners/dp/B093PPXZHV)

16 - Small organza (or similar transparent) fabric (for covering the windows). (suggestion: https://www.amazon.com/Organza-Cristal-Wedding-Fashion-Decorations/dp/B0BSQPJXFK)

17 - A SPDT switch (something like this will work fine: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JWB89L9)

18 - 1 foot of 22 AWG twisted pair or plain wire (for connecting the electronics to the battery) (this is my preferred wire for such projects: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K9R9LBV)

19 - JST connectors for connecting to the Li-Ion battery above (see https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WGN56V2)

20 - Backing board for the box (I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M599S7L)

21 - Metal foil (ordinary kitchen foil will do)

22 - PCB board (I used the 4cm x 6cm board in this bundle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072Z7Y19F)

23 - Balsa wood sticks (you can use the 0.12 inch x 0.12 inch square ones in this bundle: https://www.amazon.com/Balsa-Wood-Sticks-Hardwood-Unfinished/dp/B09TK5L4X6)

24 - Male and female 2.54 mm headers (see: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CWSXY7P)

You will also need basic tools like

• Hot glue gun
• Soldering iron
• Scissors
• Exacto knife
• Cutting mat
• Elmers glue (for sticking paper)

You will need to print out a 1:1 scale version of the castle photo in front of the bucket. I prepared the above 1:1 color image which you can print out as grayscale directly.

Simply cut out the image of the castle as shown. The size of the cut out will be the size of the base of the box you will build in the next step.

Build an open top box using the backing board. The walls of the box need to be about 0.5 to 1 inch high. Glue the cut out castle picture to the base of the board.

Cut small pieces of metal foil according to the size of each window and the door on the picture. Make sure the foils are a bit larger than the windows and the door. Glue the metal foils at the center of the windows and the door and make sure the shiny side faces outward. The corners of the foil should be free to move in order to create a concave shape stuck to each window and the door (we will move these floating parts to increase the light reflection later on in Step 11)

Cut balsa wood sticks into quarter inch lengths and glue one piece (one square side facing upwards) to the top of each window on the castle picture. Each support needs to be glued to the paper NOT the metal foil ! (see the picture above) For the door, glue two sticks; one to the top and one to the bottom. Each wood support will hold one LED.

Split male headers into two pin sets. Each 2-pin header needs to be soldered to the cable of each LED. These headers will plug into their female counterparts on the PCB later on. In the photo above, you can see how the LED cables should look after soldering the 2-pin male headers on the right side.

Next glue one LED to the top of each wood support. Make sure you glue the LED at the leads so that it can easily be bent for positioning the light beam towards the reflective metal foil under it (in Step 11)

Build the circuit onto the PCB according to the diagram on the left above. This is a very simple flasher circuit that uses the famous 555 timer. This step should be a simple one for anyone with basic soldering skills. Note instead of the LEDs, I placed female headers on the PCB to plug the LEDs to it afterwards. Since we have 8 LEDs in total we will need two 1x8 pin female header strips in this step. Make sure the two header strips are aligned on the PCB so that we can plug in the male headers of each LED into two holes easily.

Position and hot glue the PCB to the top right corner, which should have plenty of space. Also plug in each LED male headers to the female headers on the PCB. While plugging the LEDs, pay special attention to the polarity as the black cable on the LEDs may not always be ground! (as I discovered personally during the build). I included a simple illustration above (see left image) to help you identify the correct polarity. When you hold the LED in the air, you should spot a thick and a thin metal part side by side. The thin metal part (i.e., the anode) needs to connect to +

Solder the switch and the power connector last and route them out of the top right corner of the cardboard box. Hot glue the power cable to the top right corner of the box for stability. Note the power connector that connects to the PCB is the male JST connector since the batteries come pre-assembled with the female JST connector.

Once the LEDs are in place and the power connector is attached. Plug in the battery for a quick check. Make sure all the LEDs are working. While the LEDs are working, if you spot any poor metal foil reflections, gently bend those LEDs towards the metal foil to maximize reflection from the foil. Spending time at this step will pay off upon completion!

The original candy basket has a black nylon lining inside it that you need to partially detach that to be able to access the fabric surface (which feels springy like foam) from inside the bag. Our box assembly will ultimately fit between that black lining and the front fabric to perfectly align with the castle picture printed on the front. Use an Exacto knife to remove the stitches slowly to separate the black lining first. (Be patient during this step!)

The fabric of the basket is too thick and does not penetrate light at all. Therefore, we will first need to cut out the windows and the door from the fabric to create holes. I suggest placing a small cutting mat or a flat metal plate between the black lining and the front fabric before starting to cut out. That way you will not cut through the back side of the basket, which we don't want!

The illustration I included above shows white background showing through the cut out windows. That is the marble plate I used to protect the back side of the basket.

After completing the cut outs, we need to replace the windows and the door with the transparent fabric as the next step. Simply cut large enough pieces and hot glue them to cover all of the holes completely (see picture on the left). While doing this, stretch each piece as much as possible to avoid sagging.

Once completed, you should have something like the picture on the right (I used a dark blue fabric. Looks beautiful, right?)

Picture on the left shows what you should have by now, i.e., an electronic box assembly and a candy basket with new windows and door. (You can also connect the battery and activate the LEDs to help with the positioning inside the basket) As the next step, carefully slide the box assembly through the opening you created earlier so that the box is placed between the black lining and the front fabric.

The critical thing at this step is to make sure the windows and the door on the front fabric aligns with the reflective metal foils on the box. You should be able to see through the transparent windows and the door to help with this adjustment. Alternatively, you can use the working LEDs to help you with your alignment.

Once you are happy with the box alignment in the previous step, try to stretch the front fabric across the box assembly as much as possible to achieve a sharp look and a snug fit. While the fabric is stretched, hot glue the top edge of the box assembly to the front fabric first. I suggest you take your time after gluing and keep the fabric stretched until the glue dries and firmly holds in place. Otherwise, you may need to repeat this step.

Once the top edge is fixed in place, hot glue the two long sides of the box assembly. You need to place your hand while holding a glue gun as deep into the basket as possible while doing this. Therefore, I suggest you use the smallest glue gun you can find to make this job a bit easier.

Note you will not be able to access to the bottom of the box assembly with the glue gun and therefore the bottom edge of the box will not be glued to the basket. However, given the strength of the hot glued three edges, this will not be a problem.

The basket should look like the picture on the bottom right after this step.

Now it is time to close up the basket. Move the black lining over the top edge of the box assembly and make sure the box is not visible at all. Hot glue along the top edge to firmly close along the original stitching lines.

While closing up the basket, make sure the power connector and the switch are sticking out on the top right side of the basket. These will need to be accessed to activate and power the box assembly during the candy collection phase. After positioning the power cable and the switch as needed, you can safely glue the power cable to the basket to avoid wobbling.

We are now close to the finish line! Cut enough burlap to go around the battery pack (see picture on the left). Make sure the fit is tight enough so that the battery can slip in and out easily.

Once the fabric is cut, place it around the battery and use hot glue to stick the two edges (see the top right picture)

You will also need to fold the bottom of the burlap housing and apply hot glue to create a sack (see image on the bottom right)

At this point, the top of the battery pack will still be exposed. Cut a strip of Velcro that will go half way around the housing over the top of the battery (see picture on the left) Hot glue this Velcro strip at a single point either at the front or the back of the burlap housing.

Then cut a small square or rectangular Velcro piece and hot glue it close to the top edge of the housing on the opposite side where you glues the long Velcro strip (see picture in the top right) If all goes well, the longer Velcro strip should comfortably go over the top side of the battery and stick to the smaller Velcro piece thereby preventing the battery from falling off the burlap housing (see the picture on the bottom right for the complete battery housing assembly)

This is the last step. We simply position the burlap housing to the same side as the power connector and switch that already fixed in the basket. After making sure you can easily connect and disconnect the power cable to and from the battery, hot glue both long edges of the battery housing to the black lining of the basket (see picture on the left). You may need to use hot glue a bit liberally here to fix the battery housing firmly.

After the battery housing is fixed, turn the switch on and enjoy the animated lights in a dark environment!

That's all I have until next Halloween folks!