Who's an idiot.? That would be me!

Apparently I read instructions very well. But I only chose to follow half of the instructions I read. A while ago I bought letters to spell out Patches' name to hang in the nursery. No, the letters don't actually spell Patches...there will be a blog post soon about her real name. I finally decided to paint them white with pink trim. I figured I should keep something looking simple, since I have some busy art projects in the room. So I bought my can of spray paint, and on my day off last week I headed outside to paint the letters.

I glanced at the back of the can and it states "Do not use in with high humidity and temperature greater than 80 degrees." Well crap. I live on the East Coast...we are known for high temps and humidity in the summer. In fact, we were in the middle of a full blown heat wave and the temperature reached 106 that day. So I decide to paint the letters in my basement. My basement has no windows that can be opened. The sliding glass door is also broken and cannot be opened. And while I have a million fans in my house, I didn't think to bring even one of them down with me while I ignored probably the most important instruction: "use only in a well ventilated area."

Not only did I spray at least 5 coats of paint in my cool, dry, yet unventilated basement, but I also hung out in the room between coats working on other art projects since that is where my desk is located. I didn't really notice the odor after a while. However, when S came home, he looked like he was going to pass out. Wait, how did the lovely acetone smell permeate the whole house??? Oh, I'm really an idiot and didn't make sure the AC vents were closed. D'OH!

It took several days, lots of candles, an entire bottle of Febreze, and bowls of vinegar* placed strategically around the house, but eventually the smell is gone and I can stop feeling stupid. If Patches ever develops asthma or any other lung condition, I'm pretty sure I will blame the Great Spray Paint Incident of 2010. You would think it would be a no-brainer, but I learned a valuable lesson that day: If you are going to ignore certain instructions, make sure they are NOT the ones that could cause you or your unborn child bodily harm.


*I thought the vinegar thing was weird, but I read it on the interwebz, and everyone knows the interwebz doesn't lie. It actually worked. There was a room we didn't do anything else in except leave the vinegar, and the next day the smell was completely gone.