So the original plan was to keep it small, have 48 LEDs and the standard ws2812 neopixel RGB. You can get these prewired on a strand of 50. After testing one of these, it just didn't feel bright enough, there wasn't enough resolution for any of the animations that the original had, and the white (Full power to all three channels) didn't look quite right.

The solution to most of these problems is obvious - MOAR LEDS!!! I found out that keeping it at a multiple of 12 made life easy for having a roughly even number of lights per month, and the LEDs got too close at anything beyond 96 within the limits of the X-Carve that I had access to. So, the choice was made by the constraints - 96 LEDs it is.

The whiteness of the light is solved by changing from WS2812 to SK6812 RGBW LEDs. 

An early 48 LED design with a high aspect ratio.

Closer to the final design layout, still with 48 LEDs:

The Final design concept:

A strip of the SK6812 LEDs