I have seen haircutting books at the library. You might also try to google hair-cutting tips and see what comes up.

The next time you are getting a haircut, watch other stylists. You can learn alot by doing that.

Ladies, thanks for your input! To anonymous, I do agree that sometimes it's worth a little extra investment to have the job done right, and haircutting certainly fits that category. It's actually not the full-head haircuts I'm trying to do, but just the bangs. Even the cheap places are $8 for a child's bangs trim, plus tip (and I believe in tipping well for good service), and with three girls and one on the way, just a quick bangs trim adds up fast! Plus, the TIME involved, finding a time when I can get them all there, wait our turn, have the trims done (usually one at a time, so it takes a while) just chews up so much of an afternoon! I will definitely give these tips a try and let you know how I make out (maybe I'll post before and after shots on our blog!).
Becky :)
http://allmysisters.blogspot.com

The most important tip on cutting bangs is to cut them dry. My sister cut her husband's bangs when they were wet. She carfully combed them down and cut a really neat straight line. And as his hair dried, his bangs shrank up to about an inch. I believe it resulted in a summer buzz cut :)

Tools: I was given a pair of professional shears, and purchased a set of clippers from a beauty supply store. Many of the ladies who work there also work at local salons, so I got great advice on which ones to buy. My Mom also gave me a pop out hair catching thing that goes around the kids necks and catches all the hair. :)

You may want to start out cutting the bangs slightly longer than you'll wnat them to be...that way you'll have room to fix it if you make a mistake or get it crooked. Bangs can be cut straight across or more rounded. Either way you choose, just be sure to cut only small sections at a time, step back often, re-comb, and keep things symetrical.

Technique on bangs:
Comb the hair straight down. Run a fine toothed narrow comb down a narrow section (a little over an inch) of the bangs until it's close to where you want to cut. This holds the hair in place while you get your scissors under it and lined up straight. Trim, still holding the comb in place by sliding your scissors under the hair, and carefully trim in a straight line. Now move to the next section, intentionally picking up some of the freshly trimmed hair as a built in cutting guide. Work your way across from one side to the other (frequently re-combing, stepping back and double checking your 'line'). Comb through again, and trim up any strays and even out any boo boos.
A hairdresser showed me this final tip:
After cutting all the bangs, gather them in a pinch them between your 'scissor' fingers (pointer and middle). Lift the bangs straight up and centered over the forehead. Slide your fingers almost to the end of the hair (some of the hair will fall back down, and this is OK.) You should see that the ends of the bangs are kind of squared off. The squared edge that is closest to the face will be the straight edge of the bangs that lay against the forehead. Clip off the point of the squared edge that faces back toward their hair. This bevels the the top 'edge' of the bangs. The stylist told me that this gives a soft beveled look to the bangs, and helps to soften the 'home-cut' chopped look (especially for thick hair).

Hope this makes sense! I do better drawing pictures :)

It's not really that difficult, per se, but it is a skill (like anything else) that gets easier and faster with practice.

Best of luck, and long live the well-coiffed Thrifty-mizers ;)

Gwen

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? –Milton Berle