One of the first set of props I ever made at university was a set of religous items. As seen in the image left there is a battered old cross and a destressed bible. The most interesting techniques learnt was how simple this final product could be made. For instance the bible is actually made out of an old argos catologe cut down to size, covered in leather from an old pare of trousers with it's page edges paint gold. from this it was then learnt how to destress the leather in such a way, to make it look worn and old, which I found to be a key element to this course in making props look relistic. This technique would use a combination of using a old book as reverence to see where its had been worn and then replicating this onto the leather of the bible, using sand paper and other rough materials, to wear out the edges and other elements.
The cross was also very simple to make, this entailed cutting 2 pieces of pine wood glueing them together, nailing metal pieces to the ends and tying with string. This was then painted a dark brown destressed with sand paper to give it a worn and use look.