I was just reading the "Worst Tool" thread and is struck me that I haven't yet seen a thread detailing, shall we say, alternative uses for a tool.
Some tools are just asking to be abused (e.g. screwdrivers as chisels) and some, like hammers used as screwdrivers (Birmingham screwdriver), just find alternative uses. I'm sure we've all broken a tool at some point through misusing it. Have you used things as tools that were never intended to be tools (old credit cards make great grout spreaders)?
I once made a raised platform for painting ceilings out of old blocks of polystyrene and a plank. It was great (for about 6 months) until one corner gave way.