Necessity is the mother of invention

Or so the saying goes. Well if that's the case, then I must not really have many needs. Actually, I do tend to sway on the minimalist side. However, I have recently been trying to come up with something to make or sell or do. I've thought about decorating baby clothing or even making baby clothing despite not knowing how to sew or having any real experience with baby clothes. I've thought about trying to start a twitter account and then monetizing it. I thought about making other crafts to sell. I've even been trying to wrack my brain for something I could INVENT. Surely I could simply come up with the next newest latest and greatest thing in a day or two despite never previously having the aptitude for it.

Well in my quest to make side hustles or produce income streams I found a website where you can post your inventions and then, through crowd sourcing, you can influence the way the product looks or costs or even if it gets made. That sounds perfect! I can make a few pennies and learn about the invention process. Well I love taking surveys, so the 'influence' part is great. I just get an opinion and tell it to them. So easy! Let the $$$ roll. (I haven't made money, I doubt I actually will make money, actually I'm not really even 100% clear on how money is made in this stage of the game, but hey, that's beside the point.)

Then I thought about looking through their past products. What do inventors make? Bonus, I can consider this research for my latest and greatest yet-to-be-had idea!

Well turns out they make a lot of gadgets...and power outlets. Now my husband and I have been crowned the King and Queen of small kitchen gadgets, so I'm not really one to scoff at brightly colored, single use items. However, I did feel that rather than building a better mousetrap, one that was completely novel in form or function, people just built the same old thing...with a small twist.

For example one of the products is an attachment for a garden hose that made it spray like water from a watering can, and apparently also can double as a sprinkler. I guess you can buy this one new gadget and get rid of two gadgets you already own! Hooray consumerism.

Another invention was what looked like a salad spinner for popcorn. I thought it was for seasoning, but apparently it is just a plastic bowl you use to microwave the popcorn in...but it has a spinner so you can put butter on it.

Another was pitcher with two pour spouts..which you can hold on to...so you can pass it across the table and both hold onto it. Not sure why the two spouts and not just multiple handles.

And finally...someone invented scissors. No, not just any scissors, ones that open up and can be used as a single blade for opening packages, or curling ribbon, or scoring paper. Say it ain't so! I've never seen such a thing. Oh wait, I've got a half dozen or so floating around my house already. Their twist on the product is...wait for it...a spot in the handle for the second blade to rest. Guess I never knew I was risking life and limb all those times I was curing ribbon.

So all of my research has proven that I don't have to invent something that hasn't been done yet. I just need to add something superfluous to some already common invention to make a minuscule difference and viola...new invention! Now let the $$$ roll.