"Tunnel Book" Tutorial

As promised, here is a tutorial for a fun little "Tunnel Book."
If the photos look awkward, it's because I'm a right handed gal, but I needed my right hand to use the camera, so the photos are from a "lefty's" point of view! Ha ha! Enjoy!
You will need: 3 pieces of chipboard cut 5" x 4 3/4" In one of the chipboard squares, you are going to cut a hole out of the center about 2 3/4" x 3" creating a "frame" that is one inch wide on all 4 sides.
(I hope that makes sense!)

You will also need:(Left to right in the photo) One 11.5" x 4 3/4" strip of patterned paper (this will be the outside cover of the book) One 10 1/4" x 4 1/2" strip of patterned paper (this will be the inside cover.) One 6"x6" piece of patterned paper (this one will cover the inside "frame")two pieces of black (or a coordinating color) cardstock 4 3/4" x 3 1/2" and two 10" pieces of ribbon. Your papers should be a good cardstock weight so that the spine of the book will be sturdy. I also recommend a good strong adhesive, such as Sobo glue to put the book together. (These papers are from We R Memory Keepers' "Urban Window" collection.)

Glue 4 3/4" x 5" pieces of chipboard to the 11.5" x 5 3/4" piece of patterned paper, leaving a half inch space between them for the spine of the book. (I used a half inch strip of chipboard as a "spacer" to make sure my spine was wide enough. Remember not to glue the spacer down!)

Remove chipboard "spacer" leaving the 1/2" spine exposed.

Fold in the corners of the patterned paper and glue down.

Fold up the outer edges and glue in place.


Flatten the corners of the paper with a bone folder.

Glue the ribbon ties to each end of the book, making sure to center it and make sure it matches up with the other side. (I used 2 glue dots on each ribbon to make sure it was secure.)

Glue the 10 1/4" x 4 1/2" patterned paper over the exposed chipboard creating the inside of the book.

Gently crease the "spine" of the book next to the chipboard on each side using a bone folder.

Fold your book cover, leaving that 1/2 inch "spine".

Glue the chipboard frame to the 6" x 6" patterned paper (the right side of the paper will be facing out)

Draw and "X" in the center of the frame (from corner to corner diagonally.) You will be cutting this in order to open up your frame.

Use your bone folder to crease the edges of the paper if you wish, to make it a little easier to fold over the chipboard frame.

Cut the "X" in the center of the frame. (I used a craft knife and my cutting mat.)


Snip the corners of the triangles so they don't overlap your frame.

Fold the triangle cuts to the inside of the frame and glue in place, then fold and glue the outside edges in the same manner as the book cover.

Smooth the folds on the back of the frame to make sure it lays flat.

Fold the 2 black papers "accordion" style, with the folds being at 1/2 inch intervals.

Glue the background photo to the back of the book.

Choose and cut out the photos that you want to layer over your background, and cut out as closely to the subject as you can (the strips that I left on the outside photos are there for the purpose of attaching to the accordion folds.)

Glue the accordions to the back of the book (I glued mine under the edges of the photo to insure it doesn't show when I apply the frame.)

Attach the photos to the different levels of the accordian (I glued the back 2 to a strip of clear mylar and then to the accordian - this way I don't have a strip of photo showing all the way across the background.)

Glue the frame to the top fold of the accordian pieces (a little tricky, but not too much...)

Double mat the photo (this one is wallet sized) and adhere to the front of your book.

Finished product: