Build

Make a box out of some plywood with 45° angles, glue, and brad nails. Find a pumpkin design you like and print it out. Transferring the image is the same principle as using a real pumpkin, but with plywood instead. Carve out the design with a jigsaw. Sand all over to round over sharp edges. Paint the box with an outdoor bright orange. I found a tree branch and sprayed that outdoor green. It’s held on with a screw.

The inside has an Arduino with three LEDs. Use two yellow and one red for a realistic fire effect. Copy and paste below into the Arduino IDE.

Lessons

Connecting a newer FartBook Pro with a USB-C adapter won’t communicate with Arduinos. It’s required to have a USB 2.0 hub in between. Lots of headache was involved figuring this one out. [Arduino] – [USB 2.0 Hub] – [USB-C adapter] – [FartBook Pro]

Code

// LED Fire Effect

// Change pins below to what you’re using – I recommend an Arduino Trinket

int ledPin1 = 1;
int ledPin2 = 2;
int ledPin3 = 3;

void setup()
{
pinMode(ledPin1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(ledPin2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(ledPin3, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
analogWrite(ledPin1, random(120)+135);
analogWrite(ledPin2, random(120)+135);
analogWrite(ledPin3, random(120)+135);
delay(random(100));