Lately I have been looking at kits to recycle paper to make your own as a fun activity to do with my son. There are many kits that are very affordable and that will probably give better results than our coarse paper, but we wanted to try to follow the basic procedure without the use of readymade kits so we embarked in what turned out to be a very messy, fun and rewarding craft.

Materials: shredded paper, shredded coloured construction paper, water, a blender, a flat sieve or a fine net, cookie stamps.

1. Shred 4 or 5 sheets of used paper and a piece of blue construction paper(or preferred colour)

2. Put the paper in the blender and cover with water; blend to a pulp; add more water until the pulp is rather liquid.

3. Place the sieve (or net) over a basin and pour the blend onto it. Let the water from the blend run through the sieve and suck the rest of the liquid with a sponge. You are left with a wet sheet of grey paper.

4. Blend the blue card following the same process as before.

5.  Place one of the cookie shapes on the wet paper pressing down forcefully; pour the colourful blend inside the cookie cutter and help the water fall through as before. Get rid of the last moisture with a sponge.

6. When all the water is gone from inside the cutter, remove it and press down the edges to flatten them without ruining the shape.

7. Leave to dry. Remove from the sieve before the paper is fully dry to avoid sticking and place the wet sheet on a dry surface until it has completely dried out.

8. Iron to flatten the curvy surface.