Sophomore Dorm Room

I'm finally moved into my dorm room and settled down! I'm absolutely in love with how my room turned out and how homey it feels!

Here are some before pictures:

And AFTER!:

My awesome headboard is from Artist Tree

I actually painted the wall piece by myself! I'm super proud of it!!

You can find my wall monogram at Southern Proper Monograms

How cute is my monogrammed owl door hanger?! Another awesome Artist Tree product!!

How do you make your dorm room feel more homey? Share your ideas in the comments!

Cooler Jug Crazy

I FINALLY finished my cooler jug. I have been through quite a lot with this particular cooler, and I'm so glad to be finished with it. The first time I painted it, back before Christmas break, I had to completely redo it. I had seen everyone on Pinterest painting coolers, and I thought this would be a great way to start. Plus, it was only $5 at Dollar General! I should have read more into it, because I did not know to sand it. I primed it, taped it off and began to paint. I got one side completely done, and that's when tragedy struck. The painter's tape completely peeled off my primer and all of the paint. Being me, I got upset and didn't touch it for a few more months. I was bored one day while off at school, so I decided to get the cooler jug back out and sand all of the paint off and get it ready to paint again. I ended up not touching it again for a while due to painting a formal cooler and finals, but I finally got it out a week ago to finish it. I painted Lilly Pulitzer's You Gotta Regatta on one side with my monogram, and I got the inspiration for the other side from a shirt I found on the Chi Omega Shirt Swap. I freehanded everything on the cooler jug except for my monogram (and the mermaid, but my brother drew that so it still counts right?) So you don't end up like me the first time I tried to do this, here are a few tips.

1. SAND THE COOLER!!!
2. Prime. I use Krylon for plastic primer in white. (It says no sanding required, but you have to sand to get the smooth finish off so the paint has something to adhere to.)
3. Pick out your designs. I love Lilly, and You Gotta Regatta seemed fairly simple to paint. But be warned, it was a lot more time consuming than I thought. The trick is to pick something that will work with your skill level so you don't get frustrated. I am a decent painter, but I don't do anything super intricate because I get frustrated with myself if I don't get it exactly how I imagined it. (I'm also a bit of a perfectionist…)
5. Paint! Below I'll show you the progress of painting my cooler. I forgot to take pictures of some parts, so just bear with me!
6. Seal it so the paint doesn't chip off!

To do this side, I just used the white primer as my background color. I went to The Printable Monogram and printed out the monogram that I wanted, and used the circle to draw a circle on the cooler where I wanted my monogram to be. (This is the actual monogram I used.) Next, I painted the waves, and then the sailboats.

To do the monogram,  I traced it onto tissue paper (the cheaper quality, the better!)

I licked the corners of the tissue paper to get it to stay in place without having to use tape. Then I used an ultra fine tip Sharpie to LIGHTLY trace the monogram. If you do the Sharpie to dark or thick, it can be hard to cover with paint, especially if you are using a lighter color of paint.

This is what it should look like. ^^^

It's going to take a few coats of paint, so don't get frustrated if it doesn't look like you want it to right away.

This is after three coats of paint, and what I was happy with.

To do the silver dots around the circle, I took a clean pencil eraser and dipped it in paint. Super easy and all of your dots will be the same size.

For this side, I didn't want a solid, plain background. Instead I took the colors that I used on the other side and made "waves". My brother then drew the mermaid for me (he got all of the artistic talent). Then, I did all of the painting and lettering.

I freehanded all of these letters. I used Simon Script from DaFont as a go-by for the big letters, and the small letters are just my regular cursive.

I used a paint pen to go over the letters. I deviated from my normal brand of paint pens because this brand had the color and size I wanted in stock. The paint pen was absolutely awful, but nevertheless I finally got it all outlined.

For the pearls on the side, I traced the lid of a bottle of nail polish onto a piece of copy paper and cut it out and used it as a template. After I traced out all of the pearls like I wanted, I painted it white. After 375823794 coats it seemed (more like 5), I used a silver Sharpie to outline the pearls.
If your cooler jug has ridges around the bottom like mine, it's easier just to paint it a solid color that coordinates with both sides instead of trying to paint on them.
Once you're finished, just Mod Podge and clear coat. On The Cooler Connection people suggest using MinWax polycrylic to seal, but I haven't tried that yet. I just use a Krylon clear coat spray over the Mod Podge.
Here is the finished project!!

I would love to see your projects! Just send them to me on Pinterest or leave a comment with a link to the pictures!

What Every College Freshman Needs To Know

Now that freshman year is over and I see all the new little freshies getting ready to move in the fall, here's a list of things that I learned over my freshman year of college:

1. Buy a lot of athletic wear. You probably won't actually use these for working out, but you'll wear them to every single class. Seriously.

2. Buy a planner. Use it. Write down EVERYTHING, even if you think you'll be able to remember it. You'll thank me later.

3. Call your mom, or at least text her. She's having a hard time with her baby moving out, and she'll be glad to hear from you. Keep her updated on your life, it will make things much easier for her. Eventually she'll get over her separation anxiety…eventually.

4. Don't bring lots of t-shirts from home. You'll get TONS in college, especially if you're in a sorority!

5. This might seem silly, but don't forget toilet paper on move in day. That's pretty problematic.

6. Learn how to study and take advantage of tutoring resources ASAP! It's too late to try to learn a whole semester of stuff when you have finals the next week.

7. Go to the library to study. You won't look like a nerd and you'll be able to get a lot more done in there than if you just tried to study in your room.

8. Get to know your professors. Don't be a creep and go add them on Facebook, but if you're having trouble they have office hours for a reason. Go talk to them, and if they see that you're actually trying they might give you a few extra points if you need it ;)

9. Don't let your social life interfere with your grades. Find a balance.

10. Don't forget to have a social life, either.

11. College is a time to meet new and exciting people, take advantage of it. Thankfully, my sorority introduced me to a diverse group of wonderful girls and guys! Even if Greek Life isn't for you, there are plenty of ways to meet new people.

12. Don't sit in your dorm room or apartment the whole time, and don't go home every weekend either.

13. I never really got homesick, but if you do, call up your girlfriends, go watch a movie, just don't sit and mope by yourself. The likelihood of you going home for good increases drastically if you don't get out and hang out with friends.

14. Walk everywhere that you can. This will keep you somewhat active and keep you from gaining ALL of the Freshman 15.

15. Unless you are a super health freak and work out twice a day, gaining at least some weight is inevitable.

16. I'm not sure why this didn't make it higher up on the list, but learn to LOVE coffee. And buy a coffee maker. You'll need it when you're having to pull an all-nighter and the coffee shop isn't open at 3 A.M.

17. Go to McDonald's at midnight for breakfast with your friends. MAKE MEMORIES.

and last, but probably the most important,

18. In the words of my mother, "TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!!!!"

Sigma Chi Derby Days cooler

For Sigma Chi's Derby Days, each sorority had to paint a cooler for a competition. Once all of the coolers are submitted, they auction them off to the brothers and the money raised goes towards their philanthropy. You only get 5 days (Mon-Fri) to sand, prime, paint, and seal the cooler, so the pressure is on! This is my sorority's cooler for Derby Days. It was a collaboration between me and 3 of my sisters. (Can you find Snoop Dog?)

Formal, Dresses, and Coolers…Oh My!

This semester I got to experience my first "formal season". Between my sorority's formal and then going out of town for a fraternity's formal, it was so much fun! My sorority's formal was themed "Once Upon A Formal" and it was a blast!

My awesome date

 The Photo Booth was my favorite part!

In addition to my formal, I went to Chattanooga, TN for ATO's spring formal. It was absolutely amazing! (Just a few pics from my trip because I am absolutely in love with Chattanooga!)

And with the invitation to a fraternity formal comes the responsibility of painting a formal cooler for your date. Luckily, my date and I are really good friends ;) and I didn't have a hard time coming up with ideas for his cooler. I spent a LOT of hours on this cooler, and I am so happy with how it turned out! My date (and ALL of his brothers) were so impressed with it.

I filled his cooler with his favorite snacks and drinks, and even added bow ties (so he would match my dress) and even put one of our favorite StepBrothers quote on the inside of the lid.

This is my absolute favorite part! It is two of the bridges over the river in Chattanooga and a steamboat (since we had the actual formal dinner on a boat). This side took the longest, but turned out incredibly well (especially considering I've never even done ANYTHING like this). It's always good to include little details that reflect something about your date. I named the steamboat "Lucy II" because he calls his car Lucy, and he couldn't believe that I thought to put something like that on there. On one corner I put the American flag, the Alabama flag, the Texas flag, and "'Merica". On the other corner I put "Ruh Rah Rega" because it is part of their chant.

My favorite part about this side is that he wore this color combo suit and bow tie to my formal.

I literally did this side like 12 hours before I had to give it to him. It turned out pretty well though! The ATO and the Jack Daniels parts were a lot harder to draw than I thought they would be. I also put one of his favorite brands, Southern Tide, on the corner and I painted Cotton Snaps and a Luxley & Bernard bow tie (they are awesome brands AND they were having a cooler painting contest!)

This side is special to my date because he drives a blue Mustang (he LOVED this side, too!)

The top is his fraternity's flag.

The most important part of painting a formal cooler is making sure it reflects your date and his personality. It is really easy when you know your date really well, like a boyfriend or best friend, so you can add in small details that he will notice and appreciate. It can be harder if you don't know your date that well, but formal is fun and awesome time so try to get to know your date a little more before formal. I hope this could give you a few ideas on formal coolers! Follow me on Insta for more pics (especially if you want to see more pics from formal)! @haydenlee13

My date and the bridges that I painted on his cooler behind us :)

The view of the bridges on his cooler. 

P.S. If you have a chance to go to Chattanooga, make sure you take advantage of it! It's an absolutely beautiful and amazing city! I'm hoping to go back soon! :)