Painting a cooler is a fun part of the college experience, whether you are doing it for spring break or a frat formal, you will find yourself wanting to paint one. I decided to paint one for my spring break trip and while there was a lot of content about college cooler painting ideas, a lot of them were preppy ones from 2014. Now if bowties, Vineyard Vines and seersucker designed coolers are your thing, that’s great, but you won’t find that here. This college cooler is trendy with Spotify codes, Bitmojis, and the University of South Carolina football stadium. Let me tell you how I made it.
Buy Supplies
- $15 48 quart cooler from Walmart
- Spackling Compound
- Rustoleum Ultimate Ultra Matte Primer Adhesive To Plastic
- Acrylic Craft Paint- Matte Finish (only buy one 2 fl oz bottle per color)
- Modge Podge
- Paint brushes (if you don’t already have them)
- 1 foam paint brush
- Plastic Drop Cloth
- Acryclic Sealer Gloss Finish
- Sanding Block (I had grit 180)
Sand The Cooler
Take the cooler outside to sand it so that the paint will adhere to the plastic better. This step is essential.
Add Spackling To Cover Logo
I used the spackling to cover the logo on the cooler so that it is less distracting. It also allows you to paint over it much easier as well. When you buy the spackling, make sure to buy the spatula to help spread it. A knife should work but the spatula is much easier. Once it dries, sand the spackling to be even with the cooler side.
Spray Primer
My cooler was red so I chose a white primer for a fresh start. It is super important that you choose a matte primer that is adherent to plastic or else it will not stick. Without primer, your paint will not last on your cooler and you won’t have a clean background.
Begin Painting!
Before I began I decided on what designs I wanted to paint on my college cooler. Some of which are inspired by Pinterest, but some are my own ideas!
Front:
The front is a painting of the University of South Carolina football stadium, William Brice Stadium. It is super fun to personalize your college cooler not only to the occasion, but also where you go to University. I love how the crowd turned out, the lines on the football field not so much… perfection is overrated anyways.
Side 1:
This side is inspired by a popular 90s geometric pattern. The shapes were easy to paint but it took SO many coats of paint.
Back:
I came across an image like this on Pinterest and I loved it. I tried to do it justice but mimicking the shape of the beer bottles and perfecting the logos was very difficult. The person who did it before me may have used trace paper or modge podged an image to get the shapes and logos perfect.
Side 2:
This is my favorite side because I came up with all of it myself! This trendiness is what makes my college cooler stand out from ones made ten years ago. I got the Bitmojis of all of my friends going on the trip, cut them out and Modge Podged them. Additionally, my friends and I made playlists for our beach weekend, so I printed out the Spotify codes to add on the cooler. If you don’t know what a Spotify code is, it is a barcode that your phone can scan to take you directly to the playlist.
Top:
NOW THIS ONE WAS HARD. The Las Vegas welcome sign is so cute but sooo particular with the shapes. At first I forgot a circle for one of the welcome letters so then I had to add one and redraw the diamond around it. There were so many pencil and eraser marks that I had to paint over it in white over and over and over. It was worth it though, because it looks so dang good.
The worst thing about painting the cooler is that you HAVE to do multiple coats. It will not look good if you don’t go over your lines and smoothen it out.
Seal The Cooler
I only had a small can of Acrylic Gloss Sealer so I did a coat of Modge Podge on each side and let it dry before I used the final sealant. I wanted to make sure that everything got covered so that the cooler was waterproof and scratch proof.
Final Thoughts
After the cooler roughed it at beach weekend I learned a few things:
- You can speed up the paint drying by using your hair dryer on the cool setting.
- My painter’s tape ripped off the primer on the edges, not really sure how you can prevent that.
- You can’t sit on the cooler lid just like your friend does with their Yeti, you will dent it.
- A packed car, and super active beach weekend will scratch your cooler. It’s okay if the corner gets scuffed, it still will look good.
- Don’t stress too much about perfection and pleasing everyone. Paint what you love, and be proud of your hard work.
Did you like this post? Check out my post about a day trip to Charleston on a college budget
