This is one solution to a problem. The creative minds behind these solutions reveal some of the most unusual and unconventional ways to solve little issues in life.

  • Blog Parent Influence shared 50 methods household items can be fixed
  • To stop the dog from getting trapped in a gate, the owner of the dog placed a wooden spoon over his pet.
  • One other used the fizzy bottle cap as a temporary shower head.










If a household item fails to work properly it can cause a lot of frustration.

Sometimes you only need temporary solutions. These amateur engineers around the globe have some really creative ideas for solving your problems.

The Parent Influence blog posted a collection of funny snaps that showed how household items could be fixed in an unconventional but efficient way. 

One British pet owner used a wooden spoon to prevent their sausage dog getting stuck in the gate. A second creative user used elastic bands for their Xbox controller.

In Duluth, 300 Amish men gathered together to move a barn for a friend.  

It's a dog's life! This little pup's British family attached a wooden spoon onto a harness to stop him trying to squeeze through the gate

It is the dog’s daily life. To stop the little dog from trying to get through the gate, his British family strapped a wooden spoon to a harness. 

What a plank! In order to stop losing their remote control, someone decided to attach it to a long piece of wood

This is a plank! One person decided to attach the remote control to a length of wood so they wouldn’t lose it. 

This person put a wheelbarrow on the water of their blow-up pool to bring the water temperature up to scratch - the metal of the tool conducts the heat of the kindling and transfers it directly into the pool water

To bring up the temperature of their pool, this person placed a wheelbarrow in the water. The metal of the tool conducts heat from the kindling and then transfers it into the pool.

Staying in control! When this gamer's Xbox controller broke, they came up with a quick fix using rubber bands

Stay in control They came up with an easy fix for the Xbox controller that broke during a game. 

With no proper tools to hand, this man used a block of wood and stuck a flat piece of metal into it to create a reliable screwdriver

This man didn’t have any tools so he used a block made of wood to make a screwdriver. He also stuck a piece of flat metal in it.

With a little help from my friends! 300 Amish men gathered in Duluth, Minnesota to help move a barn

I had a lot of help from my friends. To help move the barn, 300 Amish men met in Duluth Minnesota.

This person's air conditioning was not working - so they took a long plastic bag to redirect cooled air from the AC to different parts of their home

Because the air conditioner was failing, this individual used a bag made of long plastic to direct cool air from their AC to various parts of their house.

Using nothing but PVC pipes and a huge plastic bag, this person made a DIY swimming pool

 Using nothing but PVC pipes and a huge plastic bag, this person made a DIY swimming pool

If you know someone who struggles to use the remote, forget about trying to explain it. Just grap some sticky tape and a marker pen

Don’t try to help someone with a difficult problem using the remote. Use sticky tape and a pen to explain it. 

After finding that the touchscreen on his phone broke, this amateur engineer put the mobile's micro-SD card into a USB, connected it to the Bluetooth on the phone, and connected that to a computer mouse to use the screen again

This amateur engineer discovered that his smartphone’s touchscreen was broken and connected the micro-SD card to Bluetooth to connect it to a USB. The USB then connected to the computer to allow him to use the screen once again.

Older TV's used to be huge and stick out way behind the screen, but instead of buying a new flat-screen, this family made their own by putting the TV in the room behind and cutting a hole

The older TVs were often large and hung far behind the screen. This family decided to make their TV by placing it in the back of the room and making a hole.

This person wanted a stand for their tablet to watch things handsfree, so cleverly bent the prongs of the fork to keep it at an angle

To make sure their tablet was always on the right side, this person bent the prongs so that it would stay at an angle.

Innovation at its finest... when this man's parents realised they didn't have weighing scales to hand, they used the Nintendo Wii games device to find the weight instead

This is innovation at its best… The man’s parents discovered they did not have any weighing scales on hand and decided to use the Nintendo Wii gaming device instead to calculate their weight.

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