Planning for a Mosaic

I want to do a mosaic project of some sort with our current section of Story of the World, covering the Byzantine Empire. Apparently the Hagia Sophia had some pretty awesome mosaics. Here's a video from some tourists about their visit to the church. There's ome weirdness at the start, but then some awesome pictures of what the present-day structure looks like.




So, I want to do a mosaic project, only I don't like the plaster of paris project that the Activity Guide suggests. I've never worked with the stuff, and it looks like a huge mess. With the house on the market and a baby on the way soon, I just don't want to mess with it. But I would like to do... something. Hurray for the internet! Here are some ideas under consideration:

A simple mosaic project. With examples. And it points out to emphasize the need for contrast between the picture and the background. Glad they mentioned that.

Mosaic flowers. Kind of out of season, but still pretty. Might be able to do something like this with snowmen or trees or something a bit more like January. We haven't had snow long enough for me to be sick of it yet.