40+ DIY Flops That Budding Artists Bravely Shared Online

The world of handmade crafts is an extremely creative and exciting one. Handmade items make for the best gifts and invoke a sense of pride in whoever makes them. Whether it’s knitting, sewing, crocheting, sculpting, or painting, the journey of bringing their ideas to life must have been an extremely exciting one, but sometimes the outcomes can leave much to be desired.

Call it a lack of expertise or whatever you will, but for some reason, the bulk of handmade crafts turn out to be useless junk. Some of those that had this experience came up with the brilliant idea of posting the disaster on social media and we’re glad they did. Thanks to all those people on the internet, here are some of the biggest DIY fails ever shared online.

Bootleg Stevie

Getting someone a gift is one heck of a tall order. Finding the right present can be hard. Usually, handmade items tend to be more heartwarming, worth cherishing — that is if they’re in a good state — and of course, well made.

A girl tried to make a painting of the legendary Stevie Wonder for her dad on his birthday, but it didn’t turn out to be the greatest. The skin tone is a bit off (and that’s us being nice) and the proportions are as well, but we’ll give her an A for the Attempt anyways.

Knock-off China

As beginners in artistry, it can be pretty hard to decide what to create. Our minds are either overflowing with so many ideas, that it becomes difficult to choose, or we have none at all. How can we pick what to work on, you ask? Just recreate a ready-made piece!

Here is the perfect example of someone attempting an artwork that’s a little above their ability. They might not have gotten their bird to look exactly like the original, but hey, it’s kinda cute. Looks more like a duck but it’s still cute.

Dred Bed

You might be searching for a companion but pets can grow to be members of our family. We can sacrifice life and limb for them, and even go to great extents to keep them comfy. This owner did just that by using their hair to create a bed for their furry friend.

It’s astonishing the many different beautiful hair types there are in the world, and how many ways we can manipulate them into the most interesting of styles. Although people may have their reservations, we believe dreadlocks are wonderful — just not as cat beds.

Didn’t follow the instructions to the T

If you’ve got some inspiration for a craft you want to create or even looking for some, the internet is the one-stop for all your searches. There are loads of ideas to choose from and best of all a ton of instructions to guide you, too.

Here we see someone who wanted to make a bucket hat, but whose own handwork seems to be yielding a much different result from that of the tutorial. Either the instructor isn’t good at their job or the learner is terrible at theirs.

RIP Frosty

Ah, the holidays. School’s out, people get time off work, and there’s so much cheer and loads of presents, making Christmas truly one of the jolliest times of the year. One staple of this season is the fir tree and what could decorate them better than our very own crafts?

This artist created a small Frosty the snowman figurine to hang (no pun intended) on their tree, but it didn’t turn out the greatest. The snowman isn’t in any way shabby himself, but the way he’s placed on the tree is beyond suspicious.

Uncanny Solution

Older people are known to be wiser, but that doesn’t mean their ways can’t be deemed questionable sometimes as well. In fact, some old people are known for doing some of the most bizarre things you could ever imagine, just like this lady.

The handles on her door were probably either poorly fitted, too old, or got destroyed, and they fell off. Rather than getting the help of a specialist, she decided to take things into her own hands by nailing espadrilles to the door. How bizarre.

Horror Sculpture

If you’re an artist, one of the worst things you could probably discover is your artwork getting senselessly destroyed, just like this sculpture did. A sculptor left their still-wet project lying around and a cat turned it into a scratch post.

The internet is filled with all sorts of inaccuracies, so we have our doubts about this particular entry. First, why are some scratches diagonal, and would a cat actually get something sticky and wet stuck in its claws? We don’t think so either.

The pockets aren’t the only issue

The world evolves every day — flora, fauna, societies, and trends are never static. For instance, fashion. It’s always changing. Old trends can come back in style and new ones fade away, while some just don’t catch on, and we’re guessing this pocket-gown was one of them.

Tens of pockets were cut out and stitched together (poorly, if we may add) to create the lower part of this denim dress. It isn’t the best idea and we hope whoever made it did it as some sort of silly joke.

Human garden gnome

When starting out a new skill, a good practice would be to start off with the basics. If you’re learning how to write stories, start off with short ones. Learning how to sew? Start with a tote bag. And for knitting, try a beanie.

Although beanies are some of the easiest articles to knit, there’s always a chance things can go wrong, just like this one here. The bottom photo is what the beanie at the top is supposed to be, but unfortunately, it just makes the man seem like a life-sized garden gnome.

Hope it washes off

Artistry is difficult, and while undertaking the harder tasks can strengthen your skills, you still have to know not to bite off more than you can chew. Start with the basics, and you’ll get to the tough stuff in due time. Don’t make the mistake this person did.

A poor guitar owner was lied to and probably duped when a painter told them they could recreate the pattern from the mirror (left) on their instrument. The picture looks nothing like the one on the left and we sincerely hope that washes off.

The eyes tell the tale

Whenever we see something beautiful, our first thought is to get out our phones and cameras to sort of immortalize the moment so we can treasure it forever. Some people, however, tend to take that a step further, just like the guy who made this painting.

A photo just wasn’t enough, he wanted to bring that image to life. Although the product of his hard work and efforts leave a lot to be desired, we can’t help but confess that this is actually a pretty wholesome painting.

Mega Slippers

Whether it be food, any functional household item, or even a piece of clothing, creating something from scratch for oneself is a very fulfilling experience. Looking back at the finished product can make you feel proud, disappointed, shocked, or amused.

This person must be feeling all those emotions (especially the last one) with this slipper they made. They either created this for someone whose feet are large and needed them specially made, or they just suck at crotcheting and measurements.

All ears

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery and we agree. But what do we say if the person you’re trying to imitate is yourself? That’s right, a lady loves her ears so much, that she decided to make a replica of one.

Unsurprisingly, she did this when she was bored out of her mind and we can’t blame her too much — boredom makes us do crazy things. What we will do, though, is commend the piercings of her actual ear. Those are absolutely phenomenal!

Ear muffins?

Did you ever get a present so horrendous you knew you were never going to use it, so you just gave it away? Well, that must have been the case between these two cute pooches because the beanie hat thing the Whippet is wearing was actually meant for the Bull Terrier.

Granted it’s their owner who made the switch, we’re pretty sure the Bull doesn’t mind lending his pall the knitted wear. We can’t imagine how it would look on the Bull, but it actually looks quite cute on the Whippet. It really brings out his big ears and eyes.

Hand paint fail

Look, we’ve tried a ton of arts and crafts and none of them really worked out the best for us, but one we had a particularly difficult time with was painting. It was a real pain to get the proportions we had in our heads and the effects we wanted.

This artist seems to be having a similar issue as they tried to create a dripping effect on the piece they were making and, as you could probably tell, it was an utter failure. It isn’t great, but we hope they still keep trying. Everything takes time!

Babies of the yarn

Only a few things in life can compare to the happiness felt when you get something done for a good cause. When you don’t have something to donate, the best way forward is to raise money to do so, and this lady had a very creepy approach to doing so.

Lola thought it would be a good idea to get a pair of crocheting hooks and a truckload of yarn to create these utterly adorable freaks. Maybe they can be used to make low-budget stop-motion horror movies because gifting this as a child’s toy should be a crime.

Night or patient gown?

One reoccurrence we tend to see in failed DIYs is a craft ending as a mildly salvageable catastrophe. What do we mean, you wonder? Well, they might not have turned out the way the maker planned, but they might still serve a function.

Though that function isn’t what was intended. This amateur seamstress might not have expected her gown to turn out this way, but she can still wear it to bed or donate it to a hospital in dire need of some gowns. Either way, it was a great attempt; kudos to her!

There was an attempt

Ah, origami; it’s one of the many types of art that excite us. Paper crafts in general are cool but there’s nothing quite like creating three-dimensional objects out of a flat piece of paper. It can be a bit difficult, so it’s common to see crafts ending up like this.

It seemed like they were following the instructions well, but they just made a slight mistake that led to a big disaster somewhere along the line. Some unfolding and a few more folds should do the trick, or at least we hope so.

Pope pup

Pets provide us with a bounty of joy, amusement, and companionship. In exchange, we ought to be loving and caring owners, giving them what they love and providing them with comfort, so they can continue to be our loyal friends.

This pup is one loving friend that just couldn’t make their human feel bad about their crocheting skills, allowing her to put the failed beanie she made on them. The dog doesn’t seem too pleased with what’s going on, but as long as she’s happy, their happy.

Bad bunny?

Ceramics and all other forms of pottery aren’t the most difficult to learn and within a day or two of intensive practice, a newbie would how to make something as easy as a cup. This means that clay isn’t that hard to manipulate once you get the know-how.

While that might be true, people can still have some difficulty creating unique pieces, just like this artist who was trying to make an Eevee (we believe), but everything ended up cracking and falling apart. And since it’s glazed, it’s hard to fix those mistakes.

Mushroom Beret

Snazzy accessories can make our outfit look a billion times greater. Clothing items like scarves and headgear can spice up our look. And while shopping is fun, you walk with a bigger aura of confidence when you made those things yourself. 

This lovely lady attempted to make a beret for herself, and now she looks like a giant mushroom. From the looks of it, the item still seems pretty salvageable. Maybe she can knit/crotchet a shoulder strap and turn this into a grocery bag!

But why, though?

Some things are just hard to let go of, and this is especially true when it comes to memorabilia and clothes. Instead of this guy replacing his torn corduroy pants with a new one (since he loves corduroy so much) he decided to fix it instead.

We don’t know what he was thinking when he stitched a piece of leather that was much smaller than the hole, but it doesn’t look too stylish. The pants may be important to him, but we think an iron-on patch would have been better.

Hulk smash?

Have you ever tried to assemble a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle before? Yeah, we don’t have that much time on our hands either. But if you have, imagine how you’d have felt if it had been disassembled shortly after you completed it.

That must have been somewhat close to the level of anguish whoever made this beaded project must have felt after it spilled. We wonder what might have happened to have led up to that. Nonetheless, our hearts go out to whoever this is.

Voodoo Monkey 

Being in a relationship can make you feel a whirlwind of emotions, from excitement to gloominess, frustration to amusement. One thing that will always warm someone’s heart, though, is when their partner does something sweet for them, like making a personalized craft.

Although it’s hard to tell, that’s a monkey. A loving and caring girlfriend decided to sew her partner a monkey as a gift. It looks a bit more like a rag or voodoo doll, but who are we to judge? It’s a cute gesture and that’s all that matters.

Octofrog or Froctopus?

Stuffed animals are probably one of the most sought-after kid’s toys in our world today. We’ve seen it on Power Puff Girls with octopi and Toy Story with Woody, and while children love them the most, there’s no law banning adults from liking them too.

This caring daughter decided to give her mother an extra special stuffed toy, one she personally crocheted herself! In theory, it’s a good idea. In practice, what became of her effort gives us “what we ordered vs what we got” vibes. It looks too much like an octopus.

Angry duck

With how popular and widespread the art of crocheting is, it’s no wonder why there are so many types of patterns and techniques there are. One of those is the mini C2C stitch, and while we’re no specialists, we’re pretty sure it isn’t supposed to look like this.

This person attempted to make a little piece with a duck in it but it didn’t go exactly as planned. The duck may be botched, but the piece isn’t that bad overall. In fact, we’re tempted to say it’s actually kinda cute.

Converting Converses

Upcycling has its benefits. Not only do we reduce the amount of waste produced when we upcycle, but it also gives us an avenue to let our imagination run wild and creativity grow when we take on new and interesting projects. 

This doesn’t mean we should engage in horrid fashion ideas like the above, though. The idea itself is not a bad one, and with a different fabric the top would be wearable, but those don’t look like new shoes, and even if she’d washed them we still wouldn’t wear that.

Lessons were learned

When making a craft, there are some unspoken rules you just have to abide by, or else your project can risk turning out to be a major flop. For instance, in origami, the paper has to be aligned perfectly and in knitting, the gauge as well as yarn weight and needle size matter.

This lady learned those principles first-hand when she had successfully completed this beanie. Although it’s a lot smaller than we guess it’s supposed to be, she can take solace in the fact that those are some pretty neat stitches. Bravo!

Cat got their tongue

Glass is quite possibly one of the most fragile and delicate materials we handle on a daily basis. Depending on the type, it’s basically ruined when it either comes in contact with heat or worse, touches the ground. Even the durable pieces have a breaking point.

These glass balls rolled out of their kiln and came in contact with the ground, causing them to crack and assume a shocked expression. Or was that part of the craft? We wonder why they look so surprised. What were they expecting to happen?

One word: shorts

Don’t you hate it when something you love and own gets destroyed? Yeah, us too. When this happens, many people would sulk over their damaged belongings and find something to replace it, but many others would try to bring them back to life.

Take a wild guess which one of the above this photo represents. If you guessed the latter, you’re right. Some bleach stained the ends of this lady’s jeans and she decided to create bell bottoms out of them instead of, you know, cutting them into shorts instead.

Knock-offs are hardly ever as great as the originals

Have you ever seen a craft somewhere and thought to yourself, “I can definitely do that,” then you try your hand at it then it goes horribly wrong? Cheer up. Most people who have done such have also had the exact same experience, just take a look at this one below.

A lady tried to make a cute and cuddly bear out of towels for cradles at a hotel. The bear didn’t quite turn out the greatest, and no offense, but it even looks like the bear on the right is being held hostage. Not the prettiest picture for kids to see.

Bootleg Daft Punk 

If there is anything people are almost as passionate about as their sport, it’s their music. Some people have their favorite artists they love to support, by listening to their music, going to their shows, and even buying their merch.

When you can’t get an original, you can try to make one yourself! This person has an incredible love for the now split electronic music duo, Daft Punk, and decided to recreate their ornaments. Good attempt, though; we couldn’t have done any better.

What went wrong?

Teddies are some of the most sought-after kinds of stuffed toys and, despite the actual animals being vicious and dangerous, we can’t help but view them as cute and cuddly creatures. That’s why we love teddy bears, and we like to make them too.

An up-and-coming seamstress attempted to make a teddy bear and all sorts of things went wrong. The seams and stitches seem neat to us, but they either cut out the pieces wrongly, attached them incorrectly, or did both. Our best guess is they did both.

Medieval sock

Socks and knitted wears are some of the most warming pieces of clothing. When it’s cold and we’re indoors, they provide our body with warmth, but knitted socks provide a whole new level of comfort. So, when you don’t want to buy some, the next option is to make them.

Whoever made this piece is probably not a novice, but even the greatest artists can create disasters sometimes. The socks have a weird shape and they seem to even stand on their own. We don’t know if that’s what they were going for.

Voodoo Bunny

Stuffed animals are just the best. They come with most of the physical features of the animals they were made to imitate but without the unnecessary baggage of having to feed, clean and just take care of them in general.

That’s why, when we see a stuffed toy we love but can’t get, the best course of action is to make one ourselves! This was someone’s first attempt at that, and it didn’t really turn out great. It would make a great Halloween decoration, though.

Nothing good can come out of a hood

DIY fails happen most commonly when someone attempts to replicate something they saw somewhere else. Usually, they don’t have the right materials, equipment, or even expertise to bring the clone to life. For this attempt, we don’t know which it was.

One thing’s sure, though, they definitely used the wrong type of yarn — it is clear the original used a chunky one. We can’t say more, because it seems to us that the creator of this piece abandoned their project.

Christmas Feels

Some crafts can be quite hard to do and it’s pretty easy for you to lose your patience while you’re doing a tasking project once in a while. Christmas can also make us feel frustration too, with all the expectations and craziness the season comes with.

But when you combine the stress of Christmas and the frustration involved with some crafts, you’ll get something like this picture above. Although this isn’t how the artist wanted their work to turn out, we can still consider this abstract art and that counts for something.

Pottery Pug

Remember what we said about people trying to immortalize beautiful sights? You know, the painting with the dog. Well, it seems to us that pug owners have a thing for recreating the image of their pooches because here it is again.

This time, however, it’s not a regular old painting. They decided to make a small figurine of their dog out of clay. Like the painting, it’s still incredibly cute, but the dog’s form and structure leave a lot to be desired.

Dancy pants

Making your own clothes is an admirable task. Whether you’re doing it to save money, make something unique, or stick it to the fast fashion industry, it’s a worthwhile craft that everyone can appreciate. But even the best crafters need to start somewhere…

This article of clothing was this woman’s first attempt at making her own pants. Although they turned out to be a pair of wonky overalls, we can see the amount of time and energy she put into making it. Supposedly, she fixed them, and we’d love to see (and admire) the final project.

Mystery craft

When you’re just starting off knitting or crocheting, it’s best to try for a simple pattern. Or, you can even do some simple practice with the stitches, with no clear design in mind. After all, your first try might not come out well enough that you’d want to wear it — which is totally fine.

Honestly, we’re not even sure what this was supposed to be. The Redditor who posted this included a brief caption, letting us know that it was someone’s first time crocheting. It’s a good first attempt…whatever it is. Keep at it!

Flop or genius

This one is actually kind of impressive. Someone dedicated so much of their time to creating this enormous maze using salt. Yes, you read that right. That mound at the back is a pile of the rest of it. If anyone on this list deserves to be named an artist, it’s this one.

Admittedly, it can be a bit much for people who struggle with trypophobia, but it’s nonetheless remarkable. On a fun note, someone joked that this was the result of a slug having a nightmare. That’s made even darker, thanks to the fact that salt effortlessly kills slugs through dehydration!

Peculiar bathroom mirror

The next photo on our list actually had split opinions online. Some people thought it was actually a good design since they felt it gave off beachy, aquatic vibes, while others couldn’t help but dispute those claims as hard as they could.

Since it found a place on this listicle, you can already tell which camp we belong to. We feel that the bathroom and the mirror were quite perfect as they were before the addition of the peculiar tile on the side. What do you think?