I got a book from the library on home tanning leather, in this case, cow hide. A very long (and dirty) process, involving a lot of nasty chemicals.
Brain tanning is easier from a chemical standpoint, but still too complicated for me.
As an aside, a cousin of mine has a sure fire way to tan snake skins. Skin the snake and put the hide in a new gallon of anti-freeze, and wait a year. Hide comes out perfect. I haven't tried it yet, but it's worth a shot.