Cooler Painting

The best tips and tricks to make your weekender cooler a success!

Many fraternities go on weekend trips and invite a date to go along. In return for a free trip, the girl will often make a cooler to store all of the snacks and drinks for the weekend. Seemingly simple, yet so complicated.

Step 1: Sanding

In order to have a flat surface to paint on, you must sand the cooler. Expect this to take at least an hour, if not longer...and it's one hell of an arm workout. If sanding by hand, first purchase rough sandpaper. Then, use a finer sandpaper to create the smoothest surface possible. If possible, use an electric sander to save you a couple hours...trust me you'll need all the time you can get.

Step 2: Filling

Most coolers come with a logo indented into the surface. Some of the fillers can become extremely expensive, so I opted for a cheaper version: modge podge. You will be using this product later as well, so it saves tons of money!

Lay the cooler flat on it's back, with the intended logo facing upward. Pour the modge podge into the indent, allowing it to fill to the flat surface. This will take about 8 layers, as the modge lodge shrinks each time it dries.

Step 3: Painting

Begin with a base layer of paint, coating each side thoroughly. Be sure to use painter's tape to create a sharp line when dividing the paintings that will be on each side. In order to make complicated designs doable, I use white tissue paper. Display your design on your computer screen, and lay the tissue paper flat across. Trace your design in pencil. Then, lay the tissue paper with the design in the desired area on your cooler, and trace it again in a fine-tipped black sharpie. This will bleed through the tissue paper, leaving the traced design on the cooler. Simply paint within the lines, and you'll have your date amazed!

Step 4: Printed Images

So...odds are, you're in a time crunch. We all know boys tend to act last minute, which means they probably waited last minute to invite you. In this case, painting may not be convenient or even possible in a short amount of time. Gluing images to your cooler are a sure way to fool your date into assuming you're the Bob Ross of this generation. First, print your image and cut it out. Then, apply modge podge to the cooler where it will sit, and to the back of the image. Simply press the image on, and apply another layer of modge podge on top of the paper.

With extra time, you can even paint over your printed image, in order to make shading and color matching more accurate. The bottle pictured on the left is painted over a printed picture, which made the shading much more doable. I also glued the ice cubes onto the cooler, since I'm not an actual picasso capable of painting ice.

Last but not least, apply 2-3 coats of modge podge over the entirety of your cooler and you are all set! Fill it with your date's favorite snacks and booze, and you're ready to pop off the weekend!

A Few Tips and Tricks

• Do not use sharpies to paint, as they will bleed when applying sealant

• Avoid paint markers; they tend to look messy

• The modge podge will appear white during application, but dries clear. Don't worry :)

• Paint the bottom of the inside of the cooler for a little surprise once your weekend is over and the snacks are gone!

• Personalize it. It's easy to scroll through Pinterest for ideas, but it's likely everyone saw the designs as they scrolled through too.

Happy Painting!

xoxo,

SKY