I think theres a ebay seller that sells those inlay looking stickers with PET material . I believe its razor thin. try ask him if you can put a finish over it. seems like you can. also not as nice as the real abalone or MOP but very close. still can tells its fake looking tho.
I had a sign company cut me some logos out of a pearl vinyl material then I applied to coats of shellac over it followed by nitro lacquer. The nitro on its own will melt the adhesive and the vinyl will start to peel away. The shellac seals it. You can get slide decal kits for color printers from most hobby stores. I have also used the "thin" logos from Custom Inlay. http://shop.custominlay.com/Logos_c169.htm Just requires extra coats of finish to offset the thickness of the inlay.
Pretty easy. Just plan ahead and make sure you place it where you want it.
Here's a pretty little fake inlay rosette on my LU21T. Was a little too plain before. I also bought some dots and a headstock sticker, but decided the rosette was all it needed.
Here's another source for stock and custom vinyl decals. No adhesive required. Building enough coats of lacquer will obscure the edges. I used one of their custom decals before switching to real inlay, and it worked well for me.