Sure you can! this page will help you with all the good pointers I got when I was a kid check it out at
http://www.mtechnologies.com/building/atoz.htm

My addition to the soldering iron part:
Don't buy cheap, Weller or similar high quality brands offers a much better product for not that much
higher price. of course you can solder with the cheap stuff, but not if your learning, I'm sure a
soldering pro can solder with a box of matches, but you are not that pro (yet) so get a soldering iron
that keeps warm, elements that loose a lot of heat wile soldering will make your first soldering so
much harder. You do not need a soldering station either! buy a cheap Weller or similar for your first
soldering iron, still today I don't have a soldering station at home (just at work) and I do a lot of
soldering.