I'd start with the arduino. It's super easy to program, there are a million tutorials for it and best of all it's more power than you'll need at a very reasonable price.
No soldering (that I'm aware of at least) required but be forewarned: soldering is an essential skill. There's only so much you can do without it.
p.s. Willerwolfbot, I'm pretty sure that's what private messages exist for.