What do you do with your daily newspaper once you’re done reading it? Do you throw it in the recycling bin, or maybe use it to line a birdcage? Designer Meike Meijer takes newspapers back to their origins by turning them into a wood-like building material called NewspaperWood.

As a design student, Meijer started out experimenting with the act of gluing sheets of newspaper together and letting them dry. But she quickly realized that there was a real potential in this new material – not just for artistic experimentation, but for building real-world objects.

After it is cured, Newspaperwood can be cut, milled and sanded just like real wood. Thanks to its many layers of newspaper sheets, it even seems to display wood grain-like lines.

Teaming up with Dutch design group Vij5, Meijer began doing spectacular things with her creation. Furniture, decorative objects and even jewelry look spectacular when made with the artificial wood.