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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks

March 1, 2017 by Taylor 3 Comments

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition

Today’s post isn’t about something that’s incredibly relevant to me personally right now, but given that it’s about to be fraternity formal season back home and I often have friends coming to me with questions about coolers, I figured it’d be an appropriate topic to write about. There’s a number of posts about painting coolers (and endless Facebook groups), but I figured I’d share some of my collected wisdom over the 6 or so coolers I’ve painted in recent years. I like to think I’ve struck a nice balance that allows me to put in the minimum amount of effort while still creating a cooler that’ll hold up decently well and look nice.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it’s a tradition among most southern US universities that, when a girl is invited on a guy’s fraternity formal, she paints him a cooler. It’s kind of a thank you for the fact that the guy is essentially paying for your entire weekend in another city.

 

1. Priming

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition

First of all, pick a cooler that’s relatively devoid of any indented logos and textures. The less you have to fill in, the better. However, if your cooler of choice has some indents in it, fill them in with Bondo. It’s a filler designed for cars (so it’s a bit more effective than the more common choice of Spackle). However, *major warning* do this step outside. I don’t care if you’re in a dorm room and don’t want to drag the cooler down a ton of stairs. This stuff is incredibly potent and if you’re somehow stupid enough to do it inside despite the instructions, you may or may not give yourself chemical poisoning and pass out twice in the middle of the dorm hallway the next morning. I definitely don’t speak from experience or anything.

The next step in priming is sanding. Get an electric sander for this because sanding by hand is the biggest waste of time and the most painful arm workout. I generally do this in two steps: one with 60-grit paper and one with 150+-grit. The first gets the shiny layer off the cooler (which is crucial for making sure the primer/paint stick), and the second smooths it. Then, go in with a spray primer. Krylon makes the best ones – just make sure you pick one specifically designed for plastic.

 

2. Painting

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition
When in doubt, school spirit is always a safe choice.

Ah, the fun part. Or so you’d think. It’s also arguably the most stressful. It’s best to go in with a clear idea of what you want to paint, although this is certainly easier if you know the guy pretty well. If not, stalk him on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter (as if you probably haven’t already) and see what he’s into. This also applies if you’re just painting a cooler for yourself or a friend or your family. Pick your sides and go for it.

As the lazy person I am, I generally prefer painting solid backgrounds and then doing any sort of designs on top of that, rather than making the background intricate as well. When it comes to the actual painting, there’s two methods you can go with: tracing and free-handing. I’ve done both – the first cooler I did (the larger one) was mostly traced, while the second one was entirely free-handed, with the exception of using straight edges to ensure that my lines were even. Ultimately, the free-handed one looked pretty close to if it had been traced, and took way less time. If you think you can pull off free-handing, it saves a ton of time in the long run.

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition
Tracing versus…

 

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition
Freehanding.

 

3. Sealing

Cooler Painting Tips and Tricks - Espresso and Ambition

I actually don’t even have a consistent method for this – it kind of depends on what materials I have available. However, my most preferred method is a few coats of outdoor Mod Podge, followed by a coat or two of polycrylic, and then a spray coat of polyurethane. It’s pretty durable and only ends up taking a day or two to add all the coats and let them dry fully.

My biggest tip for protecting your new masterpiece from getting damaged? Threaten that boy’s life if he decides to treat your hard work with reckless disregard. I’m only somewhat joking. It’s pretty effective.

 

This is probably the most #srat that this blog has ever been, and probably the most that it ever will be. In any case, I hope this is helpful.

xo, Taylor

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Filed Under: College, Etc., Lifestyle

Comments

  1. Indya | TheSmallAdventurer says

    March 2, 2017 at 5:18 am

    Wow, what a random thing that I had no idea existed! I don’t know anything about fraternities, nor do I even drink, but having a personalised painted cooler would be awesome. I love the Friends themed one and the one with the Taylor Swift lyrics in particular 😊

    http://www.thesmalladventurer.blogspot.com.au/

    Reply
  2. Alyx says

    October 26, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    This is actually super helpful! Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Tim says

    November 30, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    Have never even thought about this, but love the idea, I going to make this a project with my kids, thank for the advice

    Reply

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A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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