Halloween 2026 — Rowan & Tristan's Costumes

Two boys, two costumes that complement each other: Rowan is the Star, Tristan is the Moon. Built from foam board prototypes, lit with individually addressable LEDs, ESP32-controlled via a phone app, with a candy-triggered celebration sequence.

The Costumes

Rowan's Star ⭐

Fully 3D, faceted geometric solid — worn like a poncho/sandwich board, sitting on shoulders
Top point forms a cone over his head, face cut-out in the centre
Arms completely free
Foam board prototype → rebuild final version in EVA foam (lightweight, waterproof by nature, ideal for the scored-and-folded faceted construction)
Colour: warm white / yellow

Tristan's Moon 🌙

Flat crescent shape with smooth curves and two pointed horns
Hangs like a rigid toga — shoulder pivot, hip stop, both hands free
Bottom horn section becomes a candy stash compartment
Foam board prototype → waterproof with Plasti-Dip (2–3 coats), keep the foam board rigidity
Colour: cool white / pale blue

Lighting

LED Strip — WS2812B IP65

Individually addressable RGB LEDs in a waterproof IP65 silicone sleeve. Every LED is independently controllable — full per-pixel animation. 60 LEDs/m gives good density for costume-scale perimeter lighting.

Recommended: BTF-LIGHTING WS2812B 5M IP65 — ~$28.99 on Amazon.ca (fastest delivery option, arrives Thu Oct 15)

One 5M roll covers both costumes comfortably. Cut to length at any LED boundary.

Placement

Star: perimeter of the five points — LEDs know which index sits at each tip and which at each valley, enabling radial animations
Moon: outer curved arc + both horn tips; inner concave edge optional (halo effect)

Glow-in-the-Dark Paint

Applied to the face panels of both costumes. The LEDs charge the paint while under any light. When the LEDs are on: perimeter glow. When lights are off or batteries die: faint whole-face glow. Two independent effects.

Sealing sequence: Plasti-Dip (2 coats) → glow paint → seal coat over paint → attach LEDs last.

Electronics

Per Costume

ESP32 — one per costume, BLE communication between them
LiPo battery — 1000–2000mAh each (size TBD once perimeter lengths are measured)
Small speaker + amplifier module — tucked inside the star body / moon's candy compartment
Audio: DFPlayer Mini MP3 module (micro SD card, serial control from ESP32) or ESP32 DAC direct to amp module

Phone App Control

One app controls both costumes over BLE. Features:

Independent animation selection per costume
Brightness control
Synchronised effects across both
Manual candy celebration trigger

Animations

Rowan's Star — normal mode

Slow gold pulse — whole perimeter breathes in and out in warm white/yellow
Starburst — wave starts at the inner valley LEDs nearest the neckline, radiates outward along all five arms simultaneously, all five tips light at the same moment. Fades back and repeats.
Animation is pure index arithmetic: map tip positions and valley positions once, interpolate in sequence

Tristan's Moon — normal mode

Moonrise sweep — wave travels from one horn tip to the other, cool white to pale blue
Breathing shimmer — slow pulse with random LEDs flickering slightly brighter, like light on water

Candy Celebration — both costumes, synced

Sensor triggers on Tristan's candy compartment
Moon ESP32 fires local celebration AND sends BLE signal to star
Star: rapid starburst firing repeatedly — warm gold burst radiating to all five tips
Moon: fast horn-to-horn sweep back and forth, bright cool blue
Both speakers fire matching sound effects simultaneously

Sound ideas: jackpot "ding ding ding" from the star, ethereal chime or "wooooo" from the moon — or a coordinated call-and-response jingle split across both.

Candy Compartment Sensor

Automates the celebration — no button press needed. The costume knows when candy has been scored.

Options (using hardware Paul already has)

Laser tripwire — laser + LDR/photodiode across the mouth of the compartment. Hand breaks beam, celebration fires. Clean and reliable.
PIR motion sensor — pointed into the opening. Simpler wiring, slightly prone to false triggers from Tristan's own movement.
Combined — laser as primary trigger, PIR as backup

Still to decide: open-top compartment or flap — this determines sensor placement.

Build Plan & Open Items

☐ Order WS2812B IP65 strip from Amazon (BTF-LIGHTING, link above)
☐ Measure perimeter of star (five outer points) and moon (outer arc + horns) to confirm strip length needed and LiPo sizing
☐ Decide: open-top or flap for candy compartment → determines sensor position
☐ Confirm amplifier module type on hand → determines audio wiring approach
☐ Plasti-Dip both foam board costumes (moon definitely; star if not rebuilt in EVA in time)
☐ Apply glow-in-the-dark paint to face panels
☐ Map LED indices for star tips/valleys and moon horn tips → needed before writing animations
☐ Write ESP32 firmware: animations + BLE sync + sensor trigger + audio
☐ Build phone app: per-costume control, brightness, manual candy trigger

Halloween 2026