11. Christmas Cupcakes
Est. Cost (New): $7*
Est. Cost (DIY): $20*
‘Tis the season to be jolly…until your neighbor ruins it all by turning up on your doorstep with these ghastly cupcakes. Baking has become more and more popular this year thanks to the pandemic, with more people trying to entertain themselves at home by stirring things up in the kitchen.
Christmas Cupcakes @Pinterest
God loves a trier, but you have to draw the line somewhere. You can buy 24 gorgeously decorated festive cupcakes from stores like Target for just $7, so why shell out $20 on ingredients – or in this case, mostly icing – when this is the result? It’s a no from us.
On the plus side, put enough booze on the table at the Christmas party and someone will eat them. It works with the Jello salad your aunt brings every year, so it’ll work just fine with these. Just don’t expect any compliments.
12. Car AC Knob Quick Fix
Est. Cost (New): $50*
Est. Cost (DIY): $3*
Dads are great for all manner of things, especially when it comes to vehicle maintenance. Some like to think they know more than they actually do, which might be why one loving papa thought this was the only way to mend a broken control knob.
Car AC Knob Quick Fix ©u/gorld / Reddit.com
While the fix was a cheap one, it’s only putting off the inevitable. You’re never going to be able to sell the car with this giant blue handle sticking out, so it’s going to have to be fixed properly one day. Even used Ford’s need the proper dials, dad.
However, there are those that might think this is a funny enough solution that they might want to keep it. Squint hard enough and you can convince yourself it’s a new custom flower design knob that’s all the rage these days.
13. Pool Sound-System
Est. Cost (New): $40*
Est. Cost (DIY): Unimaginable
Every now and then a picture pops up on the internet which has an impact that can be felt around the world. We’re not talking about melting ice caps, but three guys sat in a pool using an extension cable to power a stereo.
Pool Sound-System / Foter.com
A floating pool speaker can be purchased from Amazon for the very reasonable price of $30 – but the potential cost of this quick fix is unimaginable. When the water seeps into the plug the entire pool is going to be blown sky-high, men, electrics, and sliders included. How can you put a price on idiocy?
That’s not to mention the price of the wasted beer that’s innocently sitting on the precariously-placed table. Won’t someone think of the Budweiser, if nothing else? It’s a crime waiting to happen in more ways than one, but that’s what happens when you don’t have a brain.
14. Stuffed Animal Preservation
Est. Cost (New): N/A
Est. Cost (DIY): $30-50*
Pickling things is a time-old tradition that dates back centuries, so it only makes sense it’s a practice that’s alive and well today. This DIY project is more of a deplorable prank gone wrong, but you have to give props to the maker for sheer duplicity.
Stuffed Animal Preservation @Pinterest
Stuffing teddies into pickle jars is one way to preserve them, but it’s not exactly the cheapest joke on the planet. When you factor in the cost of the jars, the juice, and the price of the stuffed animals that would need to be bought again, it makes good old-fashioned cling film on the toilet seat look like a much easier alternative.
There’s no doubt that the maker of these was going for a wow-factor, though. Imagine walking into a room only to see your childhood best friends stuffed into jars. Kermit the Frog looks distressed, but then again, when doesn’t he? His eyes pop even more in pickle juice.
15. Upside-down Ikea Chair
Est. Cost (New): $49*
Est. Cost (DIY): $49+precious hours*
Ikea’s Ingolf dining chairs are popular with buyers for a number of reasons. They look chic and they aren’t all that expensive at just $49, but as with anything from Ikea – there’s a downside. You have to build it yourself.
Upside-down Ikea Chair @Daily_Express / Twitter.com
That’s all well and good if you actually follow the instructions, but in this case, something went drastically wrong. Hopefully this fail was corrected, but those are precious hours that this homemaker is never going to get back. If it couldn’t be fixed then that’s a straight-up waste of $49.
It’s easy to laugh at, but we’ve all thought we didn’t need instructions at some point, only to discover we were severely mistaken. Let this be a lesson to any DIYer out there: no matter how experienced you are, you’re never above reading the booklet.
16. Beer Shower Head
Est. Cost (New): $149*
Est. Cost (DIY): $5*
Getting plumbing problems fixed can be a costly business that no one wants to deal with, but it’s also a necessary evil. Living in a home without a working tap can be a drag, but what about a home without a working shower head? That’s another level.
Beer Shower Head @beercanshwrhead / Twitter.com
Clearly, one homeowner thought it better to just punch a few holes in a can and stick it on the pipe with tape. Compared to the $149 it costs to get a new shower head fitted it’s definitely a cheap fix – but it’s not going to last forever.
Plus, what if the pressure got too much mid-shower and this can popped off at high speed? Not only would you be dealing with plumbing costs, but a potentially hefty medical bill. We admire the spunk it took to use this, but we simply can’t condone it.
17. Iron Hot Dog Stove
Est. Cost (New): $20-$40*
Est. Cost (DIY): $40*
We’ve seen our fair share of weird and wonderful kitchen gadgets, but this one really takes the cake – or should we say hot dog. No frying pan? No problem. Have you ever been so desperate to grill meat that you’ve decided to use your clothes iron to cook it?
Iron Hot Dog Stove ©imgur.com
The answer is probably no, but in this house, it was a resounding yes. The price of a new pan is around $20-$40 on sites like Amazon while the price of a new clothes iron is about $40. If this savvy user could get the smell of pork out of the iron maybe it wouldn’t have cost them a dime in the long run.
Taking that into consideration, we would still like to think that this is a practice that won’t become commonplace. We love a hotdog as much as the next person, but there’s something unsettling about this entire scene. Better to avoid it than end up with meaty shirts, right?
18. Makeshift Car AC
Est. Cost (New): $600-$1000*
Est. Cost (DIY): $300*
Rewind a few decades and having AC in your car was the epitome of luxury. Not every car came with it, but these days it’s nearly always standard. The heat in some states can be so unbearable that it’s near impossible to drive without it.
Makeshift Car AC @u/Pantelima / Reddit.com
There are many solutions, like splurging $600-$1000 on getting AC installed, but why do that when you can do things the hard way? Not only did this person likely spend a couple of hundred bucks on the AC unit, but they also had to butcher their car and cause expensive damage to it to fit it. Was it worth it?
Only the owner knows the answer to that question, but we can’t help but feel like the cops wouldn’t like to see this contraption flying down the highway. It doesn’t look like it would take a bump in the road well, and no one wants to drive behind that.
19. Mary Had A Little Lamb Cake
Est. Cost (New): $20*
Est. Cost (DIY): $40*
Every child wants a gorgeous birthday cake for their special day, but not every child gets one. In this case, the poor unsuspecting recipient got something that resembles a naked mole rat rather than a sweet nursery rhyme farmyard animal.
Mary Had A Little Lamb Cake @Pinterest
You can easily pick up a decent birthday cake at stores like Costco for around $20, so why spend $40 on ingredients if you know it’s going to turn out like this? Somewhere out there, Mary is taking this little lamb to the slaughter.
Perhaps it tastes better than it looks, but photos last forever. Mary will be looking at these pictures well into old age and wondering why mama didn’t simply give it up and go to the store. Some things are never forgotten – no matter how hard we try.
20. Basket Ball Poop
Est. Cost (New): $10-$20*
Est. Cost (DIY): $15*
Wall-mounted basketball hoops aren’t all that expensive to buy, with cheaper models coming in at around $10-$20. In this case, someone thought they would save themselves a trip to the store and just take a trip to the bathroom instead.
Basket Ball Poop @hmmm / imgur.com
Half an hour and a lot of unscrewing later and there’s a new hoop on the wall. Not only would it have been just as effective to buy a new hoop, but there’s now a toilet out there without a seat, so there’s an extra expense. When it comes to this one, no one is scoring any points.
It also begs the question, will the basketball fit through the hole? We would like to think this idiot savant checked first, but given the entire situation, it seems highly unlikely. The only thing slam-dunking here is the sound of complete disappointment.