It looks and sounds more complex than it really is!
First you would need to know ohm's law (Current x Resistance = Voltage)
You would need to understand what resistors do (this is first few days at uni work, very simple) and how they relate to each other.
You need to pick, if your using LED bulbs or lamps, and then pick a LED out of a catalog or a electronics wholesaler, as each LED and lamp require different currents.
Then it's a case of looking at the 555 times data sheets, ignore more of the info there, just look at what each pin does, and connect it tells you.
Even with all that, if you find a few good websites, you could do it in half a day, it wont be brilliant, but it should work, and even more importantly, you will understand how and why it works!