Cooler Painting: Boyfriend Edition

I've been wanting to paint a cooler ever since I saw people doing it on Pinterest. Usually girls paint them for frats when there's something special to celebrate like mountain weekends and formals. During my spring break I was in a super crafty mood so I decided to paint a cooler for my boyfriend. 

The Process: We bought an Igloo cooler from Walmart for around 16 dollars and spray painted it white. Some people on Pinterest spackled their label on the front so they could paint over it but I decided to just spray the whole thing and paint around it. I first started with the top. I took painters tape and made angled stripes. To prevent bleeding through the tape try to be sparse with the paint. I put too much paint and mad the lines look a little blurry. Then I painted the Southern Proper dog with his red bow-tie. I traced the dog on card stock paper and cut it out. I gave it grey shadowing and a bow-tie and added my boyfriend's name first and middle name. I hand painted the rest of the cooler and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. The paint I used was acrylic craft paint. When I finished I sprayed it with a clear coat spray paint numerous times and it seems not to scratch but if I did it again I would use something stronger.

 

The edges are shotgun shells, golf balls on tees, and a firefighting axe.

Easy Way to Curl Your Hair

I am obsessed with BuzzFeed.com and I check it daily to take fun quizzes and read interesting articles. The other day while I was checking it I came across the article "26 Lazy Girl Hairstyling Hacks." I've seen numerous articles like these every day on Pinterest but this one was different. Almost all of the hairstyles are unique, I hadn't seen them before but they are also easy and super cute. I straighten my hair every single day so I was tired of straightening my whole head and then it looking like I just woke up because most people have straight hair and go straight to class. I have a lot of layers in my hair so when I curl my hair it turns out really good but it looks like I'm going to prom or competing in a pageant. Just good ole southern teased hair, but I don't even tease it. For school I want to be able pull off a tousled and loose curl so I don't look so formal. Today I did number 2 of the article and I loved the way it turned out! I couldn't get a good picture of how it turned out but it's exactly the tousled look I wanted. Curling your ponytail is so strange and not as attractive as in the picture below haha. After I took it down I curled a few pieces that didn't get curled and sprayed a bit of Kenra hair spray to make it last. I've posted the picture from the article below but I don't want to take any credit for it or steal anything. Again, I loved this article and plan to the other hair ideas!

Love It or Leave It: Lilly Pulitzer Coffee Mug

First of all, I love all things Lilly Pulitzer. From the prints to the dresses to the jewelry, I love it all. However, the one thing I'm not loving is the mug. I've had a couple Lilly tumblers and I loved them and they always keep water in. I didn't have the same luck with the mug. My mom bought me the mug off an Etsy store with the monogram already on it as a Christmas present. Ever since I've had it it has spilled coffee all over me and any table I sit it on. It doesn't have a hole or anything, it spills from the top when I try to drink it. I've tried and tried to screw the top on as tight as possible but nothing seems to help. I know it could just be a fluke or maybe the Etsy company dropped it or something but I want to let everyone that thinks about buying one my experience.

(Lilly print on cup is in "First Impressions" and fleece pullover is from Vineyard Vines)

Mani Monday: The Best Neutral

I love the nude lipstick and nail polish trends but both completely wash me out. I wanted the perfect neutral nail polish because there's nothing I hate more than wearing colors that clash. I don't know if I'm the only one, but it bothers me when I'm wearing a green t shirt and my nails are bright red, etc. So I finally found my niche, OPI's "You Don't Know Jacques!" from the 2008 La De France collection. It looks good on just about everyone's skin color and it matches just about everything. It also looks professional and trendy.

(Arm Candy in picture: Lilly and Laura bracelet, Alex and Ani oyster and sailboat bracelets, and 173 bracelet)