There's another recipe for a better "paper mache paste" (we call it "engrudo" in spanish. Almost every pro alebrije-maker -you can always google "alebrije" if you don't know what does it mean - use this paste in their works). You need the following:

- Cold water (better if it's purified water, since the paste is perishable)*
- Wheat flour*
- A recipient you can put over fire or a small pot
- A stove

(*) You don't need much of these, just a cup of water and half a cup of flour will be enough for a medium-big sized figure

First, mix the flour and the water (its temperature must be less than warm, but not very cold either) in the pot, but don't add all the flour at once, drop some and stir with a spoon, when all the flour is dissolved, add some more and repeat until you're out of flour. Now you must put the pot on the stove, but -and this is REALLY important- on LOW FLAME, if the pot you're using is medium sized you can put the flame on MEDIUM at the start, then change it to LOW once it's hot, but never stronger than that. Use the same spoon you used before to slowly stir the mixture, it is important that you never stop stirring nor let it alone while it's on the stove because you may ruin, the mixture must cook as one, otherwise the paste won't be as strong as we expect it to be.

Once 5 or 8 minutes have passed, you must stay alert since your mixture will start to get thicker, this is absolutely normal (and that's precisely what we want ), so at this point, put the flame as low as you can and don't stop stirring yet 'cause you are more closer to the final result, pay attention to the appearance of the mixture since it will change from an opaque look to a more translucent one, yet its color will be the same, once it has that translucent texture, turn off the stove and stop stirring, let it cool and there you go: good quality home-made paste! This thing is waaaaaaay more stronger than it looks once it's dry (a small piece made of 15 or more layers of paper mache pasted with well-cooked "engrudo" can become as sturdy as a stone, you could even give it a kick and it won't get broken at all -depending on its shape-)

This paste must be kept refrigerated if you're not using it (for example, every time you must let a paper mache layer dry), this paste is technically food, so it can spoil quickly if it's not well preserved. Do not worry, if you used purified water, your paste would last from 1 to 2 -or even 3 if there's cold weather- weeks with no problem

If you try this recipe, do it with care, if you're also not very experienced at cooking, do not hesitate to ask someone else for help. Be careful and good luck!