Another couple of options would be to use either 2x MAX7219/MAX7221 chips or 4x WS2803 chips.
If you don't want to fade individual LED's (just turn them on/off) and they are single colour (not RGB) then the 2x MAX7219's will drive 128 LED's (64 LED's per chip). If you want to fade individual LED's then 4x WS2803 chips will drive 72 LED's (18 LED's per chip).
You don't need to create a circuit board as you could mount the LED's in some form of frame (wood/plastic with drilled holes) and run (a lot of) wires to a small protoboard with the chips on. The problem would be accurately drilling 72 holes for the LED's unless you have access to a CNC mill.