Hardware

What do you need?

• A NodeMCU development board, based on the ESP8266 (you can get this for under $5 from eBay). A standalone ESP8266 or an Adafruit Huzzah should work too.
• A WS2811 or WS2812 led strip that you can get in many sizes and forms. I'm using a ring of 12 LEDs. When you use more than about 15-20 LEDs you may have to use a dedicated 5V power source.
• Power via USB

Wiring

Assembly when using only a limited number of LEDs:

Alternative assembly with level shifter (something like this) for more LEDs:

Be careful when Assembling. The LED strips are quite sensitive concerning power supply. See the Neopixel Uberguide for more information.

Parts via:

• https://github.com/squix78/esp8266-fritzing-parts
• https://github.com/adafruit/Fritzing-Library/