Paper mache experiment

I was thinking -  what else can I use to make my blocks light but sturdy? I decided to try paper mache imagining that little paper pieces would be held togeteher by some kind of glue. Maybe I did something wrong because it didn't work so well...

First of all I had to make yet another mould... 4 units 6x6x6cm :

Then I had to prepare some shreded paper. I used really thin newsprint but I had to cut several A1 sheets for 1 small mould which took ages and was annoying. 

Time to make "glue" - 1 glass of flour, 1 glass of water, 2 spoons of table salt. Looked like mixture for pancakes. Maybe it was too thick, I don't know, but something didn't feel right. Maybe I should have dilluted it or use different recipe (one American houswife on youtube was suggesting to mix ordinary school glue with water, maybe that would work better).

Now I had to cover my mould with shreded paper, what wasn't easy, because the mould was tiny. In the middle of doing this I have realised that the block can't be hollow, because it won't be strong enough, so I just filled whole (well 3/4 of it, not enough filling) with paper and pancake mixture.

It looked horrible. I left it for couple of days, and it was still wet. I decided to open the mould anyway - now it looks even worse:

The experiment has officialy failed. Paper mache in NOT a good idea.Making 1 little brick was soo time consuming, also it was waste of paper, waste of flour, took ages to dry and last but not least - it just doesn't look good.