Illuminated Manuscript Cover
"Christian monasteries helped preserve manuscripts of religious works, from the Bible, and writings from ancient Greece and Rome. Monks copied and produced many manuscripts in special workshops within their monasteries, called scriptoria. The covers for Medieval manuscripts were highly decorated to show that the book inside was important."
-Artistic Pursuits by Brenda Ellis
I bought some foam shapes with Christian symbols. I gave them a book-sized piece of cardboard and they arranged the foam shapes as they wished. I also provided string that they could cut to the length they wanted and glue down. This is really good for making borders. Once they have their shapes arranged to their satisfaction, I had them cover the cardboard with aluminium foil. The piece of foil needs to be large enough that it can wrap around to the back of the cardboard and be a little loose on the front. Carefully, using fingers or the eraser end of a pencil, rub around the shapes, making the foil wrap around them. 
This makes the shapes raise up as the rest of the foil recesses around them.
I thought at first that I would need to water it down to get the effect I was looking for, but as it turned out, I didn't need to. 
This gives the surface a tarnished look. 
Next we glued some jewels on the cover. 
The jewels have a flat side which either comes with a sticky back or can be glued to the book cover. These pictures don't show the whole effect very well because of the flash, but they came out as a good imitation of the silver gilded Medieval Missal covers.If you have any, playing Medieval music in the background while these are being made adds to the atmosphere.
To see what the illuminated pages inside would look like, Plot 55 has a wonderful post on seeing a facsimile of the actual Book of Kells.
