Springtime usually means one thing: It's formal season. Along with formal season comes the painting of coolers. If you've never been to a formal yourself, you haven't experienced the thrill of going. It's a weekend getaway, most of the time to a beach, with lots of partying and a fancy dinner. Of course, when you are asked to a fraternity formal, you also have to paint a cooler. If you're an artistic person, painting a cooler can be fun. However, if you have little artistic ability, you may find painting a cooler to be quite the difficult task. Have no fear, though. I have gathered a couple tips and tricks to help those who are novice when it comes to the art of painting coolers.

1. Tracing is a major key.

Hate to quote DJ Khaled, but tracing really saves your life. Find whatever image you want on the coolers, and use tissue paper and sharpies to transfer the image. It's really simple and easy. You want to use a projector or a computer screen. Being on a college budget, I don't have a projector, and I don't have accessibility to one, so I use an HDMI cord to broadcast an image onto my TV screen. From there, I use painters tape to put up tissue paper and a pencil to trace the image on. The next step from there is to tape the tissue paper onto the cooler, and use a Sharpie to transfer the image. Super easy, and definitely a lifesaver.

2. Always, always, always remember SSP: Spackle, Sand, Prime.

If you don't spackle, sand, and prime, your whole cooler could suffer. It's important to know how to start and how to finish your cooler. Spackling the logos will make your life much easier. Trying to transfer images onto bumpy logos is a pain in the butt. These steps are really tedious and annoying, but will make your cooler stay perfect.

3. Get to know your date before painting it.

My first formal date was a guy I didn't really know too well. Unfortunately, that means painting him a cooler is kind of a guessing game. Now, over a year later, my boyfriend of almost a year is my formal date. I know him very well so I know exactly what to paint. Knowing the basics about your date is crucial because this cooler is going to be a gift for them to show off for years to come. It commemorates their formal experience and adds onto the awesome memories you two will create.

4. Know that you don't have to be super artistic to paint a rockin' cooler.

Nobody is going to paint a cooler like the one above on the first try. However, I've seen some girls who have little to no artistic ability paint some really incredible coolers. If you trace your images on, the painting is really just filling in the blanks and staying in the lines. Just remember that no matter how annoying it gets at times, the cooler is a gift for your formal date. I promise it's worth the pain and struggle. The memories you make at formal will last a lifetime.