Pebble Pixels, also know as Seed Pixels, are a fantastic innovation in smart pixel technology. They're affordable and really robust. With silicone coated wire and resin coated pixels, you'll find that it's very hard to break these things, which makes them perfect for cosplay projects. 

They can be a little tricky to solder to, so take a deep breath and give yourself plenty of time. 

Which Wire is Which?

Take a look at your NeoPixel strand. It ships with a male connector on one end an a female on the other, but no markings telling you which wire is which or how to hook it up. Also, this stuff comes in long strands and you may want to use it for more than one project. You can cut between any two pixels and connect a controller, but that means soldering to these tiny, tricky wires.

NeoPixel strips and strands are directional. There is a data IN end and a data OUT end. The red and black wires could connect at either end, or somewhere in the middle, and the strip will work fine, but that data wire must be connected at IN end or the pixels won't light up.

There's no industry standard for which connector comes on the IN end. Some strands of pixels have male on the IN, some have female. This is kind of annoying, since it means we've got a 50/50 chance of guessing right. Here's how to improve those odds.

Step 2: Find the data wire and determine the IN end. The data wire is nearly always in the middle of the 3 wires. This is the tricky one, since if you connect to the wrong end the pixels won't work. These pixel strands are all different, and different lots from the same factory are not consistent either.  

Here's a good first-guess: with the connector pointing up, arrange the strand so the resin bump is facing you. Find the end that has the striped (5V) wire on the left. This is very likely the "DATA IN" end. The final remaining wire is ground (GND).