How can your fairy costume be complete without a glowing pixie dust bag?! It sparkles and blinks, and you can squeeze the touch sensor wire to change the colors on the beautifully twinkling NeoPixel ring! This fun, sophisticated-looking prop is easy to build with absolutely no soldering required.

This project updates and simplifies the classic GEMMA-based build by using the Circuit Playground Express -- what used to use multiple pieces of hardware is now built into a single board! Plus, all of the programming is done with the user-friendly graphical interface of MakeCode, so no need to type code or use the Arduino IDE if you don't want to.

Besides the Circuit Playground Express, you also need:

  • 3 AAA battery pack with on/off switch, or
  • 3.7V Lithium Ion battery with charger for a more compact build
  • short wire alligator clip test leads
  • translucent pixie dust bag
  • small plastic bag
  • flake salt, such as Morten's Kosher salt, used to as light diffusing "pixie dust"

This guide was first published on Jun 30, 2017. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Jun 28, 2017.

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