How to Paint a Killer Formal Cooler

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1. Buy Your Cooler

Go to your local Target, Walmart or other super store and purchase your cooler.   I opt for the 48-quart size, as do most people.  These are the easiest to paint, you have no wheels getting in the way, and all sides of the cooler will be flat to paint on.

2. Prime

Once you have your cooler, you’re going to need to do lots of priming. Buy sandpaper, lots of sandpaper. Along with sandpaper, purchase plaster to fill in any logos you have on the cooler, and a priming spray paint. Once you get back, fill any of the indents on your cooler with the plaster and wait 24 hours for it to dry. Now comes the dirty work. You have sand that cooler down until it feels like freshly shaven legs out of a shower. An electric sander makes the process a lot quicker and easier, but if not you’ll get a fantastic arm workout in. After sanding away all the bumps on your cooler, wash it off to get all the dust that will have been left on the cooler and then use your spray paint to prime the cooler for painting.

3. Painting

After the cooler is primed, the most fun part begins, painting!!! Find the designs you want to use on each side by either coming up with your own ideas or finding examples of coolers painted online. It’s best to have the cooler be personal to the person it is getting painted for, so include their name, hobbies, favorite sports teams, anything. If you’re artistically gifted feel free to freehand the designs right onto the cooler! Since most of us (including me) aren’t artistically gifted, copy design onto white tissue paper, and then tape the design to whichever side you want to paint. Take a black sharpie and trace over the design and then once you remove the tissue paper, the design will be on the cooler ready for you to paint! Once all the sides are painted and you love the cooler you just designed, seal it with a layer or two of Mod Podge. This will prevent the paint from chipping off the cooler and that it will last a long time. 

Still feeling stuck? Check out this link for a more detailed guide!

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