When the first month of the year seems to last for ever, here are instructions for how to make a January tunnel book to get you through! A sweet and simple project that takes a very short time to make – and you only need a strip of paper and a needle!

You’ll need:

• A strip of thick soft paper. I’ve used Khadi handmade cotton rag paper
• A needle (or something similar to make holes with)
• Glassine envelope for presentation (optional)

Fold the strip in to four – a very simple concertina.

On the first page, prick a small circle with the needle.

Then prick holes in between the others, until the fibres separate and you can push the tiny shape out of the paper.

Then move on to the second page. Lightly mark where the hole on the first page shows through to the second.

And again prick more and more holes, so that the perforated circle can be removed.

I like keeping the leftover bits…

Here’s the beginning of the third hole in the tunnel!

THIRD hole perforated and removed.

For the fourth and final page – a heart! Prick a few holes to form the shape, and then fill in along the lines.

My heart is defined!

Love at the end of the tunnel!

A simple, satisfying, evocative sequence.

Reads well against the light.

I love the depth and texture created by the uneven pricked edge and the cotton-rich paper.

Keep your January Tunnel Book in a glassine envelope to keep it safe, as a reminder that there IS a way through.

Inspired by the Rag & Pulp: Book Review, this project uses paper in its most elemental form.

Please share your creations on the socials, tagging The Travelling Bookbinder and #januarytunnelbook

Maybe this idea will become a Valentine or Galantine?!