LED's
[How To Wire them]

I've got a link to a web page below that has some pretty good general instructions on the how's and why's and what's-to-avoid when wiring up your own lighting units out of raw LED components. I've priced loose LED components on the "superbrightleds.com" website (link below). You can see that the prices at this website are not "dirt cheap" but I assume that there is a wide range in quality in LED components and these are of the higher end of that range.

You've got to start with some leftover "wall-warts", those big black voltage adapters that come with all manner of electronic devices. I have a lot of them from various items that I just don't have anymore or I don't use anymore. They usually have a voltage rating printed on them along with an ampere rating (usually Milliampheres). That's the starting point for figuring how many LED's and (most important) the resistor that must be put in series with everything else to keep the transformer from burning out the whole circuit. The author of this web page explains this process much better than I. Follow the link below. Superbrightleds.com also has a calculator for figuring the resistor needed for your circuit.