An adult cuts the potato in half. On the flat cut face of one half, carve a simple crescent or star shape in relief with the craft knife, cutting away the surrounding potato so the shape stands proud by about 4 mm. Keep it bold: a 3-4 cm motif at most.

Pat the potato stamp dry with kitchen paper. Dab the flat paintbrush into the gold paint and apply it to the raised stamp surface. Press the stamp firmly onto the side of a cork and lift straight up. You may need to press two or three test corks to get a feel for how much paint gives a clean impression without bleeding. Alternate gold and bone-white stamps across the 20 corks. Let every stamped cork dry flat for 30 minutes.

Thread the tapestry needle with the waxed cord. Push the needle lengthways through the centre of each cork (in at one end, out at the other). This is the fiddly part: hold the cork firmly and ease the needle through slowly; rushing splits the cork. Space the corks about 6 cm apart by tying a small overhand knot on either side of each one once it is in position.

Hang the finished garland by tying the cord ends to two small hooks.