How to: Hand-painted coolers!

During my freshman year at Baylor I noticed a trend that I had never seen before, hand-painted coolers! Girls would paint coolers for fraternity events, vacations or just for fun. I love to craft so I decided to paint my boyfriend a cooler for our trip to Destin, FL last spring break! I had never done it before so I Googled basic directions and it turned out pretty well!

This summer I had a lot of free time on my hands, so I decided to put it to good use and paint another cooler. I planned to give my cooler to my future Theta Little, but I loved it so much that I have to keep it!

So, if you want to paint your own cooler, just follow these easy steps!

1. Find a cooler that is the right size for your time commitment. If you have a ton of time, get a big cooler! If you have a short deadline, a small cooler will still impress your date or your girlfriends. A cooler with smooth sides is best.

2. If you can't find a super smooth cooler, you can sand the sides down with a sand paper block. You may also want to fill in the indented logo, like Igloo, if you want it completely smooth. To do this you can fill it with grout.

3. Your next step is to prime your cooler. In order to get your paint to stay on the cooler and to show up well, you want it to be primed white. I have found that the best primer is Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Plastic Primer in White. You will want your entire cooler covered, no red or blue showing. It helps to tape off the inside of the cooler to make sure no primer gets inside or seals the lid tight.

4. Once you have your cooler primed, you can begin to paint. I found that using  basic acrylic paints from any craft store work best. I like to plan out what design will be on each side of my cooler before I begin painting. This way, you can paint background colors and big details and get more done at once!

Painting tips: 

• Paint background colors first! It is easier to start painting with the colors in the back
  of the design and move forward.
• Use tissue paper to trace designs that are difficult. For example, I traced a difficult Lilly Pulitzer print onto tracing paper, and then taped the tracing paper onto the cooler. You then use a Sharpie to trace the pattern onto the cooler. The outline shows up faint, but perfect for painting in the lines!
• Don' t worry about the teeny tiny details being perfect. They are difficult to see. Focus on the bigger elements of the cooler.

5. After painting all sides and the lid of the cooler, you can seal your cooler. The first step in sealing is to use outdoor ModgePodge. I usually apply two or three coats of the outdoor ModgePodge to make sure that the paint will not chip. You can find the outdoor ModgePodge at any craft store. 

6. Once the ModgePodge has dried, the last step in sealing is to coat the cooler in MinWax Polycrylic. This is a final seal and makes your cooler smooth and shiny! You can find MinWax Polycrylic at any craft or home improvement store. A little goes a long way with this stuff!

Good Luck and have fun!!

xoxo Steph