Halloween Project Contest!

Click here for the 2007 contest!

Click here for 2006 contest results!

Crisp, clean air and color changing leaves signal my favorite season, Fall. And with Fall, comes my favorite holiday, Halloween. Take a moment to consider just how awesome Halloween really is. We dress up in costumes like monsters; cut oversized gourds into gruesome, head-shaped laterns; and go door-to-door demanding candy as bribes not to cause mischief- trick or treat! We build elaborate displays to cause a fright; stay out all night dancing surrounded by ghosts, demons, vampires, witches, zombies, and ghouls; and with the lights turned down low, nothing is as it seems. You can buy a costume, but everybody knows that the best costumes are always homemade - our kind of holiday!

Whether it's a realistic alien costume complete with articulated wings, a flame-throwing jack-o-lantern built with powertools, or the best pumpkin seed recipe, everyone appreciates the DIY-er on Halloween. Halloween is the best time of year to be the friend who can sew and decipher patterns, weld, glue, tape, or find stuff in dumpsters.

So, to celebrate autumn, Halloween, and do-it-yourself, Instructables is sponsoring a Halloween project contest! We'll give prizes to the best Halloween-related projects documented and published during the month of October.

Need some inspiration? Check out the Halloween keyword. There's some great stuff already here including fake wounds and lacerations, costumes, melon and pumpkin carving, and even thoughts on candy.

First Prize
The best three projects will win Make controller kits. Beyond being just plain cool, these controller kits would make great brains for computer controlled haunted houses.

Second Prize
Five projects will win Wild Planet Toys Digital Spy Cameras.

Third Prize
10 projects will win one year magazine subscriptions to your choice of Make (digital or print version), Craft (digital or print version), or ReadyMade.

Honorable Mention
25 Projects will be selected for honorable mention and will win an Instructables patch to sew onto your bag, jacket, or wherever.

To enter, publish your project during October and add it to the Halloween Group. Extended deadline! Knowing that everyone will probably be building their projects right up until they go trick-or-treating, we've extended the deadline. You now have the whole weekend after Halloween to publish your project. So, projects must be published by Nov. 6, 12:00 AM ET (midnight Sunday).

Step 1 Contest Overview

How do I enter the Halloween Project Contest?
Any project related to Halloween posted publicly and entered in the Halloween group on the Instructables website during the month of October 2006 will be automatically entered in the Halloween Project Contest. If you have questions about specific project ideas, post them as comments and we will respond publicly. Users who wish to post a project and not be considered for the contest will be given the opportunity to decline any award they might win.

How to Win
All contest entries will be judged for merit. Projects will be evaluated for at least the following:

• instruction quality, including:
• completeness (photos and text for all important steps)
• clear, concise text description
• clear photographs (2+ megapixel preferred), use macro mode for close up shots
• use of photo-notes where appropriate
• list of parts and tools required (if appropriate)
• safety notes (if appropriate)
• usefulness
• originality
• technical merit

See: Tips for Project Authors

Projects not written in English will be considered at the discretion of the judges.

Project Contest Prizes:"
3 Make Controller Kits
5 Wild Planet Toys Spy Cameras
10 Subscriptions to Make Magazine, Craft Magazine, or ReadyMade Magazine (winner's choice)
25 Instructables logo patches

May I submit multiple entries?
Yes. You may submit as many entries as you want. Each project posted to the Instructables website during October 2006 that is related to Halloween is a separate eligible entry in the contest. Entries may also be split into multiple Instructables Projects when appropriate.

Who is eligible for the contest?
The Contest is open anyone who is 18 years or older as of their date of entry, regardless of your place of residence. (see notes in contest rules for foreign entrants).

Comments

[ewilhelm]

The results are out!

http://www.instructables.com/id/E2CH7OUWRJEUKIKKXA/

[ewilhelm]

Use think link instead:
http://www.instructables.com/community/Halloween-Project-Contest-Winners_1/

[CementTruck]

What's the timeframe on releasing the Halloween Instructables winners? I'm jonesing over here. :)

[ewilhelm]

Nov. 15.

[CementTruck]

Does Istructables(Squidlabs) have Instructables bumper stickers? That might be a cool way for memebers to display their support of this site, and have a little bit of advertising on the side.

[ewilhelm]

Good idea. I'd bet most people would put them on their computers though!

[zachninme]

I couldn't find the date these projects must be published. So far, everything is coming along at the last minute. :-P

[ewilhelm]

"So, projects must be published by Nov. 6, 12:00 AM ET (midnight Sunday). "

[zachninme]

Thanks. Sorry I'm blind :-P

[zachninme]

Hey, I was wondering. Say I wanted to post (an) instructable(s) on a haunted house system. For staters, say a flashing light and music triggered by a motion sensor. However, both the flashing light and music systems are large enough for thier own instructble. Should I make 3 instructables, 1 on the lights, 1 on the music, and 1 on putting it all together? Or just do one big, long one. (I was thinking about 5 different aspects, conplicated ones, I just didn't want to give away any secrets :-P )

[ewilhelm]

Multiple Instructables that link together, Voltron-style, to form one massive project are awesome. But, you should just present your project in the clearest and most understandable way. It doesn't matter if that's multiple Instructables or a single Instructable.

[zachninme]

Thanks :-) (I need to start to use spell check more!)

[trebuchet03]

Out of curiosity.... does it have to be 100% Halloween? Or could it be autumn related (the whole celebrate autumn line)? I just finished a proof of concept for a rather useful, low cost and fun to ride bike hack... and as autumn is when the biking season gets more active (at least for those of us in the southern regions) - it is somewhat related... Just thought I'd throw that out there...

[ewilhelm]

I'm totally with you on the biking. With the summer thermal winds gone, October and November are some of my favorite biking months. As for the Halloween contest, it will be best if we only accept projects that are clearly and obviously related to Halloween. So, unless you're building a haunted flaming skeleton chopper, I don't think it's going to make the cut. I do look forward to seeing the project, though.

[trebuchet03]

no worries - I figured as such (it was a stretch anyway :P) I decided to paint (inspired by the recent bike painting instructable)... So I'm going to delay until then - which might be one or two weeks :D

[Jacob S.]

cool, I'll get started!

[Jacob S.]

aww man!!! I'm not 18!!! not fair. and I really wanted a make controller too

[FrenchCrawler]

As ewilhelm said: "Ask your parents for permission. If they're ok with it, go ahead, post your projects, and enter. If you win, I'll ask for a signed permission slip or something."

[trebuchet03]

Bugger... I wish I knew this earlier. I would have taken more pictures of building my costume (still in progress)... yes, I said build :P

[FrenchCrawler]

Just "paint" us a picture ;) My parents used to have us make our costumes. I remember one year when I was little, I wanted to go as a robot. So I took 2 cardboard boxes (a small one and a large one) and made arm holes in the larger one and used the smaller one as a helmet. I then hooked up "Christmas" string lights that ran on batteries to make the costume look like it had circuits. It was quite good for only being like 9 or 10 years old and not having alot of materials to work with. It was also cold that year, but for some reason I wasn't cold....

[leahculver]

Awesome! The robot costume is a classic! I'm planning on making the robot costume this year...

[fungus amungus]

My fave robot costume was a woman who was Optimus Prime. She could even transform from the robot mode to the truck mode.

[FrenchCrawler]

I've got some creative and inexpensive instructables on the way...

[fungus amungus]

You're recommending pics at 2MP+? Yow. I've started making my images smaller because I don't feel that many steps need a super huge image and it dramatically cuts down on the upload time. With dozens of pictures per project this gets to be a big issue. Also, you have conflicting info. One says 18 as of Jan 1, 2006 and another says 18 at date of entry.

[ewilhelm]

Whoops! Fixed now!

[thecorinthian]

If we are under 18, are there options we still have, like all the paperwork being in a parent's name or something? I love halloween but am only 17.

[ewilhelm]

Ask your parents for permission. If they're ok with it, go ahead, post your projects, and enter. If you win, I'll ask for a signed permission slip or something.

[zachninme]

We've been adding electronic "scares" to our house for years. Now that I understand this more, and that there is a controller kit involved as a prize, I will have the most electronic house on the block! Scare off the 2-year-olds and keep the candy for me! ]:-)

[ewilhelm]

The two Halloween related Instructables posted during September are in the contest. Thanks for getting ready early!