A mom is wearing a Buzz Lightyear helmet to run errands because she couldn't find a face mask at home

• After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised everyone to wear masks out in public, one mom turned to her children's toys.
• Now, a Buzz Lightyear helmet joins Kelly Hogan Painter on all her errands.
• Hogan Painter told Insider she's glad to give people a reason to smile during these challenging times.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Kelly Hogan Painter served oatmeal for breakfast, it was a sign she needed to restock her pantry.

"I realized one morning that we were eating oatmeal, and none of us like oatmeal," she told Insider. "So I knew I needed to go to the grocery store."

However, a trip to the grocery store looks different than it did a few months ago. Now, errands require more than just a grocery list, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised everyone to wear a mask when leaving their home.

But Hogan Painter didn't have a mask.

Looking around her home, she saw a Buzz Lightyear helmet and figured that would work

"Honestly, it was put a plastic bag over my head or wear the helmet," the mother of three said. "We don't have masks in our house. Who keeps masks in their house?"

She had the Buzz Lightyear toy within arm's reach, so she grabbed the helmet and went to her grocery store in North Carolina.

At the store, she got plenty of laughs, stares, and caught a few people discretely taking videos, she said.

"They might be laughing at me, or they might be laughing with me," she told Insider. "I really don't care either way, as long as they're laughing."

Hogan Painter couldn't have imagined that a few months ago the helmet would be used on her weekly errands.

She got it on sale at Walmart for $25. "I go to Walmart for milk, and I come home with a big, old Buzz Lightyear helmet," she laughed.

So far, it's gone on about 15 errands. From McDonald's to the gas station, Hogan Painter brings the Buzz Lightyear helmet everywhere.

Once she's home, she cleans it with Lysol and stores it back in her car for the next errand.

'I don't go anywhere without it,' Hogan Painter said of the helmet

Hogan Painter said she hopes her family can reflect on this time with a little laughter.

"I hope my grandkids and great-grandkids can Google me one day and be able to say, 'Yeah, I guess she was cool,'" she said.

Hogan Painter has started to record her trips to the store in hopes of catching people's reactions.

People will stop her to ask for a picture, and others will slyly take videos.

"It's really crazy that people are laughing so hard about it," she said. "I think it's neat that everybody is trying to share the smiles."

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