One thing I have learned to loath building these projects is wiring up LCDs,  It sucks and I hate doing it.  A few years back I saw an adapter for going from a 16 pin SIL header to a 16 pin IDC connector but have not seen anything like that since and never bookmarked the link.   Solution: DIY.  these are $1.75 each at OSH park http://misw.us/sil2dil.zip