the look for less-inlaid mother of pearl

I've been spotting lots of gorgeous pieces lately with inlaid mother of pearl. 

I love the timeless and bohemian look of these pieces, but their price tags usually leave me running the other direction. 

The other day when watching HGTV I was reminded of an awesome project that Kim Myles of Myles of Style did when she was a contestant on design star. She used tiny sticker labels to block out a design on simple white coffee table and then painted over it. Once the labels were removed it gave the effect of an inlaid piece. 

SO genius. My mind is spinning, too many ideas, gotta go!