Save keeps your ticked steps. We email you a link, no password.
Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step from Lostinpaper's video (opens YouTube) (7:53). Published .
A tunnel card looks flat from the front, then you open it and the window frames pop up into a little box with a scene inside. Therese from Lostinpaper made this one for her sister's 50th birthday, following a method she learned from Jennifer McGuire. It takes two sheets of cardstock, two window dies and some strong tape. There is no engineering degree required, only careful scoring.
These sizes make a standard A2 card, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches folded, so it fits an A2 envelope. The card base is a portrait card scored down the middle at 4-1/4 inches. Trim about 1/2 inch off the back panel so the box sits flush. The window panels are 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 inches, with a sliver trimmed off the top and one side so they nest inside the frame without buckling.
Any nesting die set works. Therese used stitched rectangles. Jennifer McGuire used circles. The rule is the same either way: the window gets smaller as it goes deeper, so you see every layer at once. A darker shade on the inner frames adds depth. Two pinks and a pale teal back panel give this card its shadow-box look. Stamping a pattern on the back panel works too.
The box takes a lot of strain every time the card opens, so the joins need a strong hold. Therese used 1/8 inch score tape for every seam because it grabs at once. Liquid glue holds too, but you have to clamp each fold and wait for it to dry before moving on. A regular tape runner is the weak choice here. It can peel loose after a few openings.
Think of the inside like a stage. Put background pieces, such as leaves, low and behind. Put the star of the scene, here a colored owl holding a coffee cup, near the front window. A speech bubble tucked at the top edge of the frame ties it together. Keep the front of the card fairly flat if you plan to post it. Therese skipped foam adhesive on the front for that reason.
New to handmade cards? Start with how to make a card. If you like cards with a surprise inside, try a pop up card or a slider card. For another fold that opens like doors, see the gatefold card.
Free printable
One page you can take to the table. Free with a free account, no password.
Free, for this project
Make a tunnel card that opens into a layered window box. A medium project: about 1 hour 15 minutes. Materials cost about $2 to $5. You need 14 things, including pink cardstock in two shades, 1/8 inch score tape and low tack tape. The 10 steps start with cut the Cardstock for the Tunnel Card Base, score the Tunnel Card Strip at 1/2, 4 1/4 and 4 3/4 Inches and fold and Burnish the Tunnel Card Score Lines.
10 steps, about 8 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Start with two pieces of cardstock cut to 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches. Therese cut both from an A4 sheet of pink, since her sister loves bright pink. One piece becomes the card base. Score it down the middle for a portrait side fold card. Then trim about 1/2 inch off the back panel. The second piece becomes the tunnel strip that folds into the box.
Letter size paper works the same way. Cut it to 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches.
Lay the second piece on a scoring board with the long side across. Score three lines: one at 1/2 inch, one at 4-1/4 inches and one at 4-3/4 inches. Those lines split the strip into a narrow tab, a main panel, another narrow tab and a second main panel. The narrow tabs become the sides of the box, so precise lines matter here.
Press the stylus firmly. A deep score folds cleaner and squarer.
Fold along each of the three score lines. Then run a bone folder over every crease to burnish it flat. Sharp folds help the box stand square when the card opens, and they keep the layers from bowing outward. Take your time on this one, because every later step stacks on top of these folds.
Burnish from the middle of each fold out to the ends.
Cut two more pieces of cardstock to 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 inches for the window panels. Therese used a darker pink here for contrast. Trim a thin sliver off the top and one side of each so they sit a touch smaller than the frame. Then score each panel 1/4 inch in from both long sides and burnish the folds.
A darker color on the inner panels makes the tunnel look deeper.
Pick a set of nesting dies. Place a die on each window panel, using a smaller window on the panel that sits deepest in the tunnel. Therese lines them up by eye and holds each die in place with low tack tape so nothing shifts. Run the panels and the main tunnel strip through your die cutting machine to cut the windows.
Circles, ovals or arches work too. Keep each window smaller than the one in front.
Glue a pale teal panel to the back section of the tunnel strip. This is the backdrop for your scene, so you could stamp a pattern on it first. Run 1/8 inch score tape along the first narrow tab. Peel the backing, line the window panel up with the first crease and fold it over so it sticks down.
Score tape grabs at once, so line the panel up before it touches.
Repeat with the second window panel. Put the smallest window at the very back and the largest toward the front. That order gives the cascade effect when you look in. Peel the release paper from the tape and fold each layer down firmly. Once both are in, you can see three layers stacked inside the box.
Check the order before peeling the tape. It is hard to undo.
Pick up the card base you trimmed in step 1. Add score tape to its back panel. Line the fold of the box up with the center fold of the card and press it down. Therese used 1/4 inch tape here, though any strong double sided tape works. Open and close the card once to check that the box folds flat.
If the box catches when closing, the fold lines are not aligned.
Add two strips of 1/8 inch score tape on the box frame along the card's center score line. Peel the backing and fold the top layer of the tunnel in so it locks against the card base. Now the front frame holds the whole box square. Burnish along the tape so the seam stays put after many openings.
Press each seam with the bone folder for a stronger bond.
Now the fun part. Therese colored stamped leaves, flowers and an owl with alcohol markers and colored pencils, then fussy cut them. Glue the leaves low in the tunnel and the owl near the front window. A speech bubble tucked at the top finishes the scene. Decorate the front with stenciled dots and a big number for the birthday.
Small dabs of glue on enamel dots keep them from sliding off.
Keep going
How to Make a Christmas Slider Card With Santa's Sleigh
More on this topic, picked for this tunnel card.
You reached the last step
Your ticked steps, the free printable and your other saved makes, together in My Projects. Free, no password.
Free printable
The bonus is hidden until you sign up.
Free with a free account, no password. Every step above stays open to everyone.
How to Make a Tunnel Card (Inside Tunnel Card With Measurements)
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links on this page may be affiliate links - clicking them and buying doesn't change your price, but helps support Crafting Step by Step.
The Crafter's Weekly
One short email with the week's best step-by-step guides. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Did this work for you?
Curated theme pages that include this tutorial.
Hand-picked next reads based on the one you just finished.
Card Making
8:46 video · 10 steps
Based on a video by Emilia Sieradzan
Card Making
15:49 video · 7 steps
Based on a video by It's Me, JD
Card Making
9:12 video · 9 steps
Based on a video by Sam Calcott UK - Mixed Up Craft
Pick the crafts you want to hear about. One email every Sunday with new step-by-step tutorials. No spam, easy to unsubscribe.
Weekly digest. Pick the categories you want. Unsubscribe anytime.
Send me tutorials about
