Congratulations! You’ve been asked to a Fraternities Formal and you’re about to have an unforgettable weekend, but before you can get dressed up to get messed up you have to make the dreaded cooler. At one point in time, someone thought it was a great idea for a girl to paint and design a cooler for their formal dates and to whoever that person is, I am not a fan of yours.

Sure, coolers sometimes look awesome if you’re crafty, and it is a very personalized sentiment for your date, but it causes frustration and probably a few tears. But until we girls stand together and refuse to make coolers, since only a small percentage of us know how to paint better than a first grader, or until boys say they have had enough of storing these large only used once coolers, we have to endure the process. Do not fear though, I am here to help you not entirely hate your life while creating an amazing cooler your date will totally fall in love with you for.

First things first, mentally prepare yourself and manage your time. Pinterest is an absolute life saver, search "Fraternity coolers" and you will be able to spend hours finding designs and getting inspiration. Read articles and get others advice, tips, tricks, on how they mastered their project.

Then make sure you know what your date is into. Maybe you’ve only met this guy a few times at a party or your friend set you up but this is HIS cooler and you want it to be as personalized as it can be. I would start by asking what his favorite beer or alcohol is, sports team, brand, color, and what he is into. You can also ask his friends because they’ll probably give you more legitimate ideas.

Now you can plan out each side. An easy formula is to do one side about the event you’re going to, like if you’re going to Las Vegas you could do the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, cards, black jack, etc. Do one side that involves some sort of alcohol. A side with yours and his letters. Two sides of something he is into such as sports or a brand. Also, don’t forget about small designs for the corners. Coolers take a lot of time! Hopefully your date was considerate enough to not ask you three days before the event because you’ll need at least three full days, preferably four to five to finish it. Now that your mind is organized with ideas, you can actually begin!

What you'll need:

Purchase your cooler from someplace such as Walmart, get sandpaper and priming spray paint.

1. Sanding

First comes probably the most tedious and painful part, sanding. Sandpaper will work fine but ask around to see if you can borrow a sander because it will make your life about 10 times easier. If not, then start blasting your favorite music and go to town on sanding every bit of your cooler, don’t forget the top. Trust me, sanding is crucial and important because the paint will chip right off if not sanded correctly. Once you think your cooler has been sanded enough, sand a little more, and then make sure to smooth it out so your paint goes on nicely.

2. Priming

Now you can prime the cooler, I would purchase two cans so you can do two coats. Once it is coated Leave it to dry overnight and get prepared for the fun and stressful part of actually painting and designing!

3. Tape it up

So by now you’ve gone to the store, you’ve collected all the items you need such as, painters tape, sponge brushes and paint brushes, a variety of colored acrylic paint, sharpies, stickers, and every other little thing you think you might potential need but probably won’t (keep the receipt so you can return the extra items). I would highly suggest getting stencils if you’re doing any quotes and also an easy alternative to painting every side is ‘Mod Podging’ pictures. In the words of my roommate, "Mod Podge is God’s gift to art." So print off pictures on photo paper of something such as alcohol bottles and then there is one less thing you’ll mess up by painting. To begin, Start by taping all sides and edges you don’t want covered in paint and then slap on the first coat of your base colors, wait about an hour and do another coat. Patience is something you’ll acquire over this coolers making process. Now that your cooler is dry and ready to become a master piece, it is time to do the most important part which is putting the designs on.

4. Call your friends and start painting

Support is everything for this stage. Call your best friends and bribe them with cookies to help, or tell your mom to fly in, but going into the process with help is important. It gives you more confidence about what you’re doing, more heads is better than one, and if you completely screw up you’re all in this together and they can help you from having a mental breakdown. To begin, of course, make sure the base coats are completely dry then start to lightly trace everything with a pencil before you do anything permanent and keep in mind some things you see on Pinterest look a lot better than it actual will on your cooler but also some things could turn out better than you imagined.

5. Have fun!

TADA! Your cooler is completed and I bet it looks awesome. You’ll feel a sense of pride knowing you put blood sweat and tears into something that didn’t turn out half bad and if it did turn out bad just fill it with great snacks and I’m sure your date will forgive you. Don’t forget to seal it with either a sealer spray paint or what I did is three coats of Mod Podge. Now you can go on with your daily life and look forward to one crazy memory filled weekend that you’ll never forget or maybe not even remember.