Basically, it's straightforward, but one can run into minor issue. First, you need all the prerequisites for building debian packages like dpkg-dev, C compilers, the full set of autotools and more. While building, dpkg-buildpackage
is verbose enough to indicate missing dependencies. Should that happen, apt install
them and restart the build process.
http://developer.linuxmint.com/reference/git/cinnamon-tutorials/building.html
Follow them step-by-step.