Cooler painting (as in "the painting of coolers")
 

http://pinterest.com/kjbama14/cooler-connection/

I haven't seen this in California.
Where is this a trend?
There's a column on TSM (Total Sorority Move) that makes it seem mandatory to craft a masterpiece when you get asked to a fraternity formal.

This is definitely a trend in the south...and it basically is mandatory to craft a cooler for a fraternity formal on campuses where it's popular

They do it in south Georgia for sure!

ETA: my son has an ADPi/Sig Ep one that someone gave him--maybe he went to an ADPi formal? His fiancee is a Phi Mu and I don't think she cares for it too much.:D

The trend has migrated to Ohio. Both at Cincinnati and Miami, I know such gifts were given this semester.

Cooler painting is pretty popular here in Florida colleges, but not so much with my chapter. For formal its not really a mandatory thing but some girls do it. The ones who are in sororities usually paint one.

Everyone at Mizzou does it. If a guy asks you to his fraternity formal, it's basically mandatory that you make him a cooler.

I know some sisters from Virginia Tech who own decorated coolers, and it was the first I had heard of it.

Pledge moms (similar to the old-school Little Sisters) give painted coolers to the new fraternity initiates at my son's school. My friend said the Big Sister Thetas at UGa gave them to their Littles when they initiated as well.

Painted coolers are pretty big at Clemson too-one of my friends in a sorority was working on one in our hall the other night. If you walk by one of the sorority dorms on a nice day you can usually see a few girls painting them on the outdoor tables.

I was at a hotel in Tennessee when two winter weekends were being held, and one painted cooler was better than the next! One that I thought was skillfully painted had ice cubes on the sides, with cans of beverages riding along on the ice. Here are some ideas.

The trend is starting to pick up at ASU. Hopefully I'll get one at our next formal!

It's starting to pick up in Oregon too.

I don't understand how these cooler painters who are presumably in college to study have time to make these creations. Beyond the actual designing and painting, there is a ton of prep work to prime the plastic and then to seal the designs. You have to wait for one application to dry before putting on another so I suppose these crafters are studying while waiting for layers to dry.

The designs seem to be evolving as well. Many of the more complicated designs are actually color pictures decoupaged onto the cooler. Again, these need to be sealed multiple times to prevent damage from normal use. Some coolers have bottle caps lining the entire floor of the cooler and I saw one clever woman who incorporated a waterproof sound system into hers.

All about time management. We all learned that through pledging and being an active how to best manage our time.

We did similar stuff in college...party cups. Igloo used to make large insulated cups that we decorated for EVERY party. You made one for you and your date. By the end of college, you'd have hundreds. I used to be the resident painter for AOII and literally spent days prior to a party painting dozens of cups, each set with a different design.