Dude, I totally hear you on this. I personally love to make my own pieces, it's fun to just get an idea and run with it. Plus, your new piece is gaurenteed to be a one of a kind.

I've made some pretty tight pipes out of copper pipes.
I stole a massive graduated cylinder from my school and made an awesome steamroller which I christened "The BEAST"
The obligatory pen-one'ys. easy to make-and need a small amount to bake
I made a bong out of a Sobe bottle. The lizards on the bottle added to the sweetness.
Gravity-bongs out of 20 ozs with the bottom cut out and a coffee can with water.
I'm workin on a hooka that gonna be made out of a Sun Tea Jar and polyeurtethane hoses.

I've found that under the right conditions pot enhances your creativity with everyday items