A fusion of technology and materials and a philosophy of re-use and re-engineering is known as steampunk which inspires the assembly of this Steam Pumpkin. As shown in the image below, it consists of a fog machine controlled by the ioBridge IO-204 and lit by BlinkM RGB LEDs. When motion is detected by a passive infrared sensor, the fog comes out of its ears. The image of the completed project is shown below.

To re-purpose to decorate the pumpkin, some materials from around the house were gathered as shown below. Some of the things found include an old purse covered in fake leather with gold chain and some brass loops. Also found in the house is a candle stick holder, door hinge, door knob covers, lampshade, and the things are held together using some brass brads. The metal parts were cut off and reshaped using a Dremel tool.

The pumpkin was carved and decorated with a free formed design but still in line to the steampunk spirit. A big cut was made out of the top as shown in the below image. The washers and parts of the pumpkin were attached easily by the brass brads. The Hobart welding goggles were used as inspiration so the goggles were recreated using the door knob covers and straps from the purse. In order to attach a door hinge to the top and bottom parts of the pumpkin, the back part was made flat. Using the flap of the purse, an improvised aviator cap was added. The mouth was created by tearing apart the metal lampshade using the Dremel tool while the candle stick holders were used to make the ears.

Some techno enhancements were added using a passive infrared sensor to detect motion where a steam would shoot out it its ears when someone approached the pumpkin and lit with different colors. The fog machine turns ON when the pin goes high and from the fog machine to the ears of the pumpkin, tubing is run. The machine is a 400W wireless controlled fog machine where the buttons are replaced with relays for easy control. A pulse width is sent to each color channel to change the RGB colors. The setup of the enhancements is shown below as well as the video and photo showing the steam pumpkin in action.