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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.