It’s no secret that we really like our blinky kits here at the Maker Shed. With the Holidays in full swing, there’s no better time to pick up some LED-related products to add a little extra joyous spirit to your home (or your boring Christmas Tree).
New Wearables from the LED Artist
Aki the LED Artist has contributed to MAKE in a variety of ways: he built a great weekend project, has built gorgeous displays for showing off at Maker Faire and has been providing us with awesome products to sell. New in from the LED Artist HQ in Brooklyn are two new wearable LED kits. The R48, pictured below, comes with 48 SMD LEDs pre-soldered in place, and can cycle between a variety of light show modes with a press of the button (take a look at this video for a quick glimpse). 
The A12 is similarly beautiful to watch, but comes with RGB LEDs instead of single-color ones. Since these are both combo packs, they both come completely assembled and with a USB Battery charger so you can keep them juiced. These are the perfect gift for your friend or family member that needs a little extra bling in their life, or a great blinky ornament for the tree!
Clock/Visualizer Shield for the Mojo
FPGA development is not for the faint of heart. Thankfully, the MOJO FPGA Development Board makes the learning process easy, with a huge number of available pins for prototyping and a powerful chip to handle your needs. Embedded Micro has done a fantastic job of adding new tutorials on their website as well, making it an even better product for learning with. New in from them – a Clock/Visualizer Shield meant specifically for the Mojo. Check out this video for a look at what it can do. 
This FGPA “shield” is great for putting on a light show at the same time! It comes with two 8×8 RGB matrices of LEDs already assembled on the board, along with other useful parts like a few buttons, a light sensor and a microphone (perfect for audio feedback and music visualization). Pick one up from the Shed today.
Neopixel Goodness from Adafruit
Like Embedded Micro, Adafruit has done a fantastic job of creating tutorials for the most recent addition to their already-impressive electronics lineup. The Neopixel line, comprised of a host of boards in a variety of shapes, are supported by a variety of neat project tutorials. MAKE Labs’ Sam Freeman made a fancy pair of goggles, which he embedded the rings inside – glowy! 
The Neopixels come in 1m-long strips as well, and can be individually controlled by just one pin on the Arduino. The breadboard-friendly version is great for prototyping with, and the grids (which also come in a shield form-factor) are insanely bright, for when you really need to get someone’s attention or want to show off some cool graphics.
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