I’ve been obsessed with the Come Des Garcons heart logo for what feels like ever. The design is bold, striking, and something that not everyone has. Fast forward to this weekend, when I’m sitting in my office painting a Come Des Garcons giant valentine. Who is it for? unknown. Is it cool? Hell ya. Oh, and this is day 4 of my 10 days of DIY.
Check out my beaded turquoise jewelry dish, my painted decorative dice, and my 90s Gemstone Mirror.
Because I’m all about the easy DIYs these days (especially after the pom and pageantry of the holiday season), I’m very pleased to present a super easy tutorial for a Comme Des Garcons Giant Valentine. You could easily make smaller ones, or make them in different colours, but I think the impact of a giant one is unmistakable.
How to Make a CDG Giant Valentine
You’ll need 2 foam core boards (one of my 10 days of DIY materials), red paint (I used Fusion’s Fort York Red), black & white paint (doesn’t matter which brand), paint brushes, duct tape, a measuring tape, and scissors. For those last two I used my Fiskars brand tools, because I trust their reliability and precision.
Start by cutting one of your two boards in half down the middle. Use your measuring tape to first find the middle, and then use your power cut snips to score the board on both sides until you can snap the piece in half. Easy peasy!
Next up, use white duct tape to attach the halves to each side of the other board (along the long side). From there, trace the outline of a heart, and repeat the scoring process on both sides of the boards. You may need your scissors to cut parts of the board if your scoring isn’t solid.
I then used discarded foam core to reinforce the “flaps” of the heart so that they wouldn’t fold backwards. You could add tape to both sides, but painting over it will be awkward, and no one has time to mess with glue.
Once you’re happy with the heart shape, it’s time to paint! I chose Fusion’s Fort York Red because it was the truest red I could find, so it was as close as match as I could get. That being said, feel free to experiment with colours of all kinds!
Once the red base is dry (I used a paint roller for an easier application), it’s time for the eyes! As you can see from the picture, they’re not particularly well defined or precise, so have a little fun with it.
Start with the white, and then add the black pupils. The points to focus on here, are making them sort of oval as opposed to perfectly symmetrical and circular.
And that’s it! Your giant CDG Valentine is done! Let ‘er dry before gifting or displaying.
Because our house is currently upended with a master bedroom reno, I figured I’d stash the Comme Des Garcons Giant Valentine in the living room for now. All the bold primary colours go so well together! I’m also having fun moving it around to suit my whim and to annoy Dan.
