Spice up your doorstep this Halloween with an interactive Jack-O-Lantern to give your trick-or-treaters a surprise (or a scare!).

This smart pumpkin will greet your visitors with custom audio and vibrant lights. With just a little tech there's endless combinations of audio and light patterns to make it your own.

Step 1: Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to build your own automated Jack-O-Lantern:

(1) Jack-O-Lantern

(1) MESH Motion Sensor (Grab one here: http://amzn.to/2dnp52N) + MESH App (Free on iOS and Android http://apple.co/2eKO9pg)

(1) Philips HUE Bulb + Light Bulb Socket (E26)

Optional: Bluetooth speaker

Step 2: Add Your Philips HUE Light Bulb

With a Philips Hue light bulb, you'll be able to bring hundreds of colors to this Jack-O-Lantern project. To get started grab your Philips Hue light bulb and a light bulb socket:

Place the Philips Hue bulb inside the pumpkin

Pro tip: The Philips Hue light bulb can be switched with any other type of connected light bulb that is compatible with the IFTTT automation platform. This sort of switch is possible because the MESH Motion sensor is compatible with all IFTTT compatible devices.

Step 3: Setup MESH Motion

Now it's time to give your pumpkin a brain using MESH Motion!

MESH Motion is a programmable motion sensor that you can use with everyday objects to instantly add smart features like automation. It's easy to program the sensor with the drag-and-drop MESH App which requires no coding or electronics knowledge.

In this project, MESH Motion is programmed to trigger the Philips Hue light bulb if motion is detected. Here's how:

Drag the "Motion" icon onto the canvas in the MESH App
Tap the "Motion" icon to open settings and select Detected mode
Add a new "Philips Hue" extension tag (pre-installed) to the dashboard and drag it onto the canvas
Connect the "Motion" icon to the "Philips Hue" icon

Step 4: Connect Philips Hue + MESH Motion + Add Sound

Let's give your pumpkin a voice and flashing lights.

We'll also use MESH motion to detect movement and trigger a custom greeting and flashing lights to make the pumpkin truly interactive. Use the MESH App, you can create this custom setup up with a few taps.

First add custom audio:

Drag the "Speaker" icon onto the canvas
Tap the "Speaker" icon to open settings in the Play mode and select a pre-recorded sound clip or record your own
Connect the "Motion" icon to the "Speaker" icon

With the custom audio now set up, you can also add a flashing effect to the Philips Hue light bulb.

Single color flashing light:

Tap the original "Philips Hue" icon to open the settings and select Alert mode and choose a light color
Drag a "Wait" icon onto the canvas and tap to open the settings to set Duration to at least 3 seconds
Connect the "Philips Hue" icon to the "Wait" icon
Add a second "Philips Hue" icon to the canvas and tap to open settings to select Off mode
Connect "Wait" icon to the second "Philips Hue" icon

Step 5: Bring on the Trick-or-Treaters!

Your automated Jack-O-Lantern is now ready for action! When Trick-or-Treaters arrive at your doorstep on Halloween, MESH Motion will detect their movement to trigger audio and flash the Philips Hue light bulb, welcoming your visitors with a custom greeting and spooky flashing lights.

Happy, happy Halloween!

Step 6: (Optional) Maker Challenge:

Try adding multiple audio clips and multi-color, flashing lights to take your interactive pumpkin to the limit!

Start with just the "Motion" icon in Detected mode on the canvas.

Add multiple audio clips:

Drag a "Switch" icon onto the canvas
Tap the "Switch" icon to open the settings and select the Random mode and choose how many audio files you'd like to use in the Number of Output setting (In this example we are using 3 audio files)
Connect the "Motion" icon to the "Switch" icon
Drag a first "Speaker" icon onto the canvas
Tap the first "Speaker" icon to open settings in the Play mode and select a pre-recorded sound clip or record your own
Connect the Out1 of the "Switch" icon to the first "Speaker" icon
Drag a second "Speaker" icon onto the canvas
Tap the second "Speaker" icon to open settings in the Play mode and select a pre-recorded sound clip or record your own
Connect the Out2 of the "Switch" icon to the second "Speaker" icon
Drag a third "Speaker" icon onto the canvas
Tap the third "Speaker" icon to open settings in the Play mode and select a pre-recorded sound clip or record your own
Connect the Out2 of the "Switch" icon to the third "Speaker" icon

Add multi-color flashing lights:

Drag a "Philips Hue" icon onto the canvas
Tap the "Philips Hue" icon to open the settings and select Alert mode and choose a light color
Drag a "Wait" icon onto the canvas and tap to open the settings to set Duration to 1 second
Connect the "Philips Hue" icon to the "Wait" icon
Add a second "Philips Hue" icon to the canvas and tap to open settings to select Alert mode and choose a light color
Drag a second "Wait" icon onto the canvas
Connect the "Wait" icon to the second "Philips Hue" icon and tap to open the settings to set Duration to 1 second
Drag a third "Philips Hue" icon onto the canvas and tap to open settings to select Alert mode and choose a light color

You're all set and your interactive pumpkin is complete!