20 DIY Enthusiasts That, Um...Tried Their Best?

Daniel Mitchell-Benoit
Using a frontloader to tip back a pickup truck and dump the contetnts.
reddit | Arborix

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to take a crafting or home-improvement project into your own hands. Making things on your own is great fun, and you can learn a lot! However, that doesn't mean they'll always turn out how you hoped.

This list shows off some less-than-stellar DIYs that still made it into existence. At least whoever made them tried their best, right?

"Repurposed jeans."

Pairs of jeans filled with dirt and used as planters.
reddit | Regallybeagley

Well, there's no denying that the dirt filled out those jeans nicely, but that wouldn't stop me from being terrified were I to stumble across this in the dead of night. They're just weird enough to be creepy.

"Local antiques store is selling a jofa!"

A chair made of jeans.
reddit | aarsavage

Sorry, did I miss some sort of trend with denim lately? The jean planters followed immediately by this? Why can't we just donate old jeans like normal, who said we need to skin them and create new life from them?

"Why pay a whole $20 on a new mailbox when you can just repurpose a toaster oven instead?"

A toaster oven being used as a mailbox.
reddit | sundstrom193

I mean, it's a metal box with a hinged door that can hold mail and protect it from the elements. By that definition, a toaster oven is a mailbox, as is a stove, a washing machine, and a full-sized locker! So this could be worse.

"My buddies outdoor set up for the playoffs."

A TV mounted on some wooden slats, held in buckets held down by dumbells.
reddit | 15delpiero

Your friend sure has a lot of faith in those dumbbells, more than I could have in anything holding my TV up like this. Is it just me, or is it already leaning forward a little...?

"Ants in your pants? Try this fancy soap that my sister's hippy friend sells out of the back of her Pontiac Sunfire."

A bar of soap with ants in it.
reddit | TypicalCricket

Using the word 'fancy' in that sentence sure was nice of you, as there is nothing even remotely fancy about a bar of soap packed with bugs. Are they supposed to be good expholiants? Eugh, gross.

"Found this gem at a rural gas station!"

A sink made out of a tire.
reddit | greatchicagofire

Tacky, sure, but at least it's functional and doesn't want to make me gag upon looking at it like the ant soap. Actually, you could put the ant soap here for people to use, it'd be a great way to deter returning customers!

"I’m actually reasonably pleased with myself but I admit it’s a wtf."

Reupholstered headphones.
reddit | SeizureHamster

At least you can admit it. Realizing you're making an abomination but doing it anyway just means that you know what you like and won't be judged for it even if you should be.

"I made a candle out of Babybel Cheese wax covers."

A candle made out of Babybell cheese wax in a tinfoil container.
reddit | redhandfilms

You proved that it can be done! Now, during your next power outage, make your family eat all the Babybel out of the fridge and construct yourself a little candle army. You'll never be without light again!

"Ahoy! I humbly submit a photo from my redneck pirate ship build."

A pirate ship made out of 2x4s.
reddit | JodyShackelford

Alright, alright, this one's pretty cool. Even though it is obviously shotty and not a particularly well-shaped pirate ship, they still built a whole boat, which is more than any of us could say.

"Redneck dumptruck courtesy of my grandpa."

Using a frontloader to tip back a pickup truck and dump the contetnts.
reddit | Arborix

When you don't have a dumptruck, you make a dumptruck. Someone in the comments said, "[This] right here is why if you own a large property, you always keep a truck around that you don't mind beating on," advice I'd never considered before but that makes a lot of sense.

"Should we tile the cabinets, too? Yes, yes we should."

A completely tiled bathroom.
reddit | stevie7

People like tiled bathrooms, right? Okay, okay, then get this, what if we added more tiles? They already love how they look, I'm sure they'd love some on their counter and cabinets too!"

"Landlord 'fixed' nice hardwood floors."

A photo of the hardwood floors before, then after where they're painted over.
reddit | cquinn32

This is like a reverse landlord special. The landlord special, if you don't know, is when the landlord paints over all the walls between tenants to cover up blemishes, usually doing so sloppily and dulling the details. This, on the other hand, is just atrocious all around.

"Why would anyone BUY a weedeater?"

A handmade weedwacker.
reddit | acidmine

Because they're too scared to try and construct one themselves, like I am? Kudos to this guy who certainly has more courage than I do, but I don't want to try and put together anything that could then come apart and sever my Achilles tendon.

"They fixed it."

A door handle put on backwards.
reddit | alex_int

In a sense, yeah, I guess. If it works, it works, I won't get on their ass for this one, it's hard out there these days, do what you can to stay afloat folks.

"Hmmm."

Concrete steps with iPhones and iPads embedded in them.
reddit | ubreakitifixit

Is this an Apple store, the home of an Apple fanatic, or is this someone's own Apple collection that they've managed to destroy throughout their life?

Also, what did Dolly Parton say again? "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap?"

"Skylight mosaic."

A bad moasic wall.
reddit | spatula-tattoo

Hmmm. Like, yeah, it is a skylight mosaic for sure, but I certainly wouldn't call it a good one! Or a safe one, actually, some of those 'mosaic' pieces look ready to pop out of the wall at a moment's notice.

"I wonder why this [DIY] ended up at a thrift store?"

A mirror at a thrift store with a sprayfoam frame.
reddit | urbinsanity

The brief moment when foam mirrors were all the rage, but so many people did them incorrectly so they wound up with these ugly yellow messes is a time in internet history I'll look back on fondly.

"DIY baby entertainment panel."

A panel with lock hardware on it.
reddit | RealBiotSavartReal

Why buy your baby toys when you could get them started on lockpicking at an early age? They'll join the family line of crime in no time as a break-and-enter expert, while dad remains the weapons guy and mom's all about the getaway.

"My neighbor is building a retention wall. I told him AFTER I took the pic!"

A retaining wall full of gaps in the bricks.
reddit | catdogwoman

As best put by someone in the comments, "Has he ever...seen a wall?"

To which the uploader responded, "I HAVE a retaining wall six feet from where he was building his! All he had to do was look left!"

"I can't blame them when gas is damn near $5 a gallon."

A smart car with a truck frame.
reddit | Lotus_Stalker

Huh. I would almost say this is more trouble than its worth, but if it does actually save on gas, then maybe it's just the right amount of trouble.