1. Excitement: Congrats, you’ve scored a date to the hottest event in town; what a great time to put your crafting skills to use!
2. Shopping: This is the best part. It’s like you’re a kid in a toy store all over again—paints, glitter, stencils, oh my!
3. Planning: Right, so you probably should have done this before buying the wrong colors for your theme, but your many Pinterest boards will come to save the day.
4. Determination: You repeat, “This cooler will be beautiful,” to yourself as you spackle, sand, and prime with more focus than you devote to your studies.
5. Fear: If you move your wrist too quickly, your paint stroke will be off and the whole cooler will be ruined. Truly, your best bet is to hold your breath the entire time.
6. Frustration: Whether its mixing paint colors, an off brush stroke, or your lack of block lettering capabilities, something is bound to go unchangeably wrong, much to your dismay.
7. Pain: Your back is practically deformed from being bent over your cooler all night, and your fingers are permanently cramped from holding paintbrushes. The Hunchback of Notre Dame has nothing on you right now.
8. Delusion: The paint fumes have finally gone to your head. Are the letters moving in circles? You haven’t slept in days; maybe the top of the cooler is a good place to rest your head…
9. Defeat: At this point, you’re thinking that stickers from the dentist’s office would look better than whatever you’ve painted.
10. Acceptance: All surfaces are painted. Your car leaves in an hour? Time to run to Safeway and grab some treats to fill the cooler. No turning back now.