[jonathonf]

So you could: a) use a half-rectified supply b) halve the count.

A) would be easier. :)

[smoyer]

True ... not so good for efficiency and you'd need a bigger smoothing capacitor. (I'm assuming since this is all discrete, there's no need for a fully regulated power supply).

[morcheeba]

You'd want a fully regulated power supply for this, /especially/ because it's discrete. You want the LEDs to remain constant brightness, but, more importantly, you don't want an unregulated power supply to overvolt and destroy all this hard work.