Last night I started coding and testing the shift register.  This was the first time I have ever used a shift register and was surprised how easy it was.  There is a nice tutorial at http://arduino.cc/en/tutorial/ShiftOut . I used the toner transfer method to make a quick test board with 8 LEDs and a shift register while I wait for my boards to come in. I took a piece of lexan and glued to the top if the LEDs to act as a defuser. I shot a quick video of the result.