Flower, gleam and glow
Let your power shine
Make the clock reverse
Bring back what once was mine

- Rapunzel, Tangled

Let your power shine with this DIY light-up Rapunzel wig. The Circuit Playground Bluefruit uses its onboard microphone to listen for your voice and creates a golden light animation when it hears a sound. Sing your heart out, and the sound-reactive lights will make your hair glow with a warm magic light, reminiscent of Rapunzel's hair from Disney's Tangled movie.

This is a great project to do with kids, who will not be able to get enough of this fantastic cosplay prop. It's a fairly easy project involving just a little bit of tricky wiring. Example CircuitPython code is included so you can copy and paste to make the hair light up in a golden wave. The code is easy to customize, so it suits your cosplay character if yellow is not your color.

Parts

These NeoPixel slim LED dots are perfect for cosplay projects or kids' projects. They're lightweight and very tough. They're water resistant and can be flexed again and again without breaking. I used 3 strands of 20 lights, wired together in parallel.

There are a lot of battery options out there. If you're making this project for a child, it's a good idea to steer away from Lithium Polymer batteries since they're easy to break, and can be dangerous if they get punctured or wet. 

One option is an AAA battery holder. It comes with an on/off switch so you don't need to add a separate one to the project. 

Another power option is a USB battery pack. These are fantastic because they're rechargeable and really sturdy, but they are considerably more expensive. However, you won't need to keep buying batteries when your child forgets to turn the wig off, so it will save you money in the long run.

These batteries don't generally have on/off switches built in, but you can solve this problem by adding an inline power switch tail. The one linked below is a little bulky, but will work great with a USB battery.

Smaller switches with a shorter cable do exist, and you can find them online with some hunting. Be sure you're buying one that has a USB micro male connector on one end (to plug into your Circuit Playground Bluefruit), and a male connector on the other end that's compatible with the port on your battery. Many of these switches come male to female, so be sure you're buying the right one.

Additional Materials

• A Rapunzel wig. I used this kid-sized one from Amazon.
• A silk flower that's at least 3" across
• Hair clips or barettes
• A twist tie
• E6000 glue
• Needle & thread
• Alligator Clips for testing