Wiring LEDs

[kcoleman]

First off, I am a total newbie with respect to electronics at this level.

[cholin]

You want a resistor right on your power line?  Sure, it's possible, except, you better know how you plan to wire the LEDs.  If you wire in series, you will have to know EXACTLY how many LEDS you will have hooked up at all times.  If you wire in parallel, that will work fine as long as the LEDs are all the same color.  I recommend, for future expansion, that you spend the extra pennies and buy enough resistors for each LED just in case.  It's not like it's going to kill your wallet.

[Trimoor]

The resistor doesn't need to be "protected", the shrinktube is to prevent the exposed solder joints from touching other things.

Yes, just put the resistor inline.  The amount of heat it produces for LED circuits is neglegible, so don't worry about it.  Also, there is a chance the button has a built in resistor.  Be sure to observe the polarity.