I have a special treat for you today, which is a gameshow called:
Make Do, Repair or Replace?!
Where you vote on whether broken and non-functional items should be . . . repaired, replaced or just left as-is.
Contestant #1 is a Le Creuset dutch oven, which I purchased from Goodwill in 1990 for $1.99.
The interior lining is mostly down to the bare cast iron, and the lid has a crack in it, which hasn’t changed since the day I bought it. However, the mismatched colors are outdated to the point of retro-cool.
So . . . should I Make do, Repair or Replace?
Contestant #2 is a set of salad tongs where the elephant detail has snapped off.
So . . . should I Make do, Repair or Replace?
Contestant #3 is my shower wall, which until recently featured a tile with built-in soap holder. The tile bizarrely popped off the wall while my son was showering, shattering into a million razor sharp projectiles and cutting into my son’s leg and requiring three stitches.
So . . . should I Make do, Repair or Replace?
Contestant #4 is a set of four mirrored Christmas stocking holders. Three out of the four holders feature a heavily weighted bottom to counter balance the heft of a fully laden stocking. The fourth stocking holder is unweighted, and can barely hold the weight of an empty stocking.
So . . . should I Make do, Repair or Replace?
Contestant #5 is a vintage jet bead necklace, which although beautiful, is so tight around the throat that it makes the wearer want to turn over state secrets. (This is one of the $2.50 Goodwill necklaces that I gave my mother for Christmas.)
So . . . should I Make do, Repair or Replace?
Okay fellow non-consumers, should I Make Do, Repair or Replace these bad boys?
Please share your ideas and your own Make Do, Repair or Replace dilemmas in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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You are a genius – this is such fun!
#1 – repair (or make do)
#2 – replace
#3 – repair/replace (not sure what the difference between repair/replace is here, would you glue back together all those sharp shards? Hope your son is healing well!)
#4 – repair
#5 – repair – get a jeweler to add length to the chain, or DIY if capable!
Fun game – hope to do it again!
I agree with Jill but definitely get rid of broken /worn out wooden salad set.
Yes. Please replace that salad set. We don’t need to go UGLY…
The jet necklace would be easy to add a length of chain to use as a extender. It just needs a jump ring to attach the chain should take a couple of minutes to do. It has to be a repair job
Here’s my vote:
1. Replace or find substitute among something you already own.
2. Just cut off the other elephant and sand both down–voila! totally “new” pair!
3. Replace all tile in shower. I would question if water is getting down between the wall to make a bottom tile fall off. Seems like this could keep happening. Ouch!
4. Seems like this could be an easy repair.
5. If your mother really likes the necklace, any jeweler can add more chain to extend it.
I would like to see a version of this game show on TV! So fun for us frugal types.
Dutch Oven – if you use it as much as you note, replace it. Obviously you love it and deserve one that’s beautiful and in good shape. Try the manufacturer route or keep your eyes peeled on Craig’s list or E-Bay.
Salad Tongs – Put those in the big green recycle can and pick up new ones on one of your trips to Goodwill. Frugal doesn’t have to be frugal for frugal’s sake. Broken items are not a joy to use.
Shower – repair ASAP. You don’t want water running down the backs of the other tiles. Maybe don’t need a soap holder replacement, but how about a pretty tile ala the ones you have in your kitchen as an accent.
Stocking Holder – repair if you love them, keep your eyes open for used if you don’t
Necklace – extend the chain or look for matching beads to extend fully. Isn’t your mom “crafty” that way?
I agree with all of these suggestions. You might also try Etsy when looking for a dutch oven.
My understanding is that Le Creuset has a lifetime warranty. Contact the company to find out if they will replace it. I would not use that pot in its current state. The conventional wisdom is that it’s not safe to use chipped enameled cast iron. I’d err on the side of safety.
Replace the salad tongs. There’s no replacing that other elephant. No need to use broken and unattractive things.
The rest can be repaired. The necklace can have an extender added up by the clasp. The soap dish can be replaced. It’s easy enough to add a weight of some sort to the stocking holder. Or, just leave it alone, as I think you said elsewhere that you have more stocking holders than stockings. Should another holder break, you can take the weight from it and add it to the one that’s not broken but unweighted.
1. Replace – Probably not safe to use as is.
2. Replace – They look like they are ready for retirement.
3. Repair – You don’t want water to get behind the tiles.
4. Replace – Lots of these show up at garage sales.
5. Repair – Easy to fix – many readers have already given some great suggestions!
Replace 1 & 2 and repair the rest (or get a new soap dish or plain tile & then fix it). At a minimum I would seal off that space asap so it doesn’t turn into a bigger problem.
1. Replace the lid if possible, I’m not sure if the crack could be a safety hazard but I’m VERY cautious about stuff like that. If the pot is worn down to the cast iron you need only season it occasionally like you would any other cast iron pan to keep it functional. Can you sand off the rest of the enamel to avoid ingesting any more if it?
2. Replace-it’s easy enough to find these cheap somewhere. But I would repurpose the old ones if you can, the fork maybe for gardening and the other tong as a kitchen spoon.
3. Repair with regular tile if you don’t really need the soap dish part, it would probably be cheaper. (My husband also cut himself on a broken one once. Hope your son heals well and quickly.)
4. Repair, they are so pretty! Maybe you can find a paperweight at Goodwill that will fit into it?
5. Repair. Add some chain to the back, or mix in beads from another similar necklace. I have a large neck and have to do this for many necklaces and no one has ever known the difference.
The lid crack hasn’t changed in at least a decade, and I don’t see what the hazard would be.
Katy
You’re probably right. I checked their website, and did some other Googling, and no one mentioned anything about cracks being unsafe. (I guess my concern comes from being raised by overly-cautious parents, they were always planting those “what if” scenarios in ours heads.) Maybe one day you will be lucky enough to find a lid at Goodwill or FreeCycle…
Happy 2013!
You’re probably right. I checked their website and a few other places online and it was hard to find any mention of it being a hazard. (I guess my caution stems from being raised by over-cautious parents who always warned us with “what if” scenarios.) Maybe one day you’ll find a lid at Goodwill, FreeCycle, or such…
Happy 2013!
1. Replace
2. Replace
3. Repair
4. Repair
5. Repair
5: I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this idea for the necklace but I didn’t see it suggested when I scanned… try using a big beautiful length of black grosgrain ribbon. You could do a continuous loop through both loose ends with a big pretty bow at the back, or a single length and make the bows deliberate looking at either side. It might take the addition of two larger jump rings if you want a wider ribbon. I’ve seen lots of people on Pinterest doing this, not even out of necessity. I hope I explained that well enough?
1 & 2: Replace. That pot is worn out to the point of being downright scary. Le Creuset may be hard to find, but cool salad tongs abound on the second-hand market. May the gods of thrift smile upon your search.
3, 4 & 5: Definitely repair. The broken soap dish is an opportunity to showcase a lovely decorative tile.
Looked up warranty info, because I could NOT believe it would be covered. Per the website:
This Lifetime Limited Warranty covers the original retail consumer purchaser of the utensil, or a consumer who receives the utensil new and unused as a gift from the original retail purchaser. Coverage terminates if a covered consumer sells or otherwise transfers the utensil (this warranty is provided only to consumers, and all express and implied warranties to non-consumers are disclaimed
#1 – replace. I’m worried that this pot will explode like a stove-top IED.
#2 – make do. It’s just the decorative part, not the functional part.
#3, 4, 5 – repair. I know you can do it!
Replace the Le Creuset. And the salad tongs. I have a pair of nice ones from Hawaii (koa I think, no animals on the top) in my gift drawer which I would be happy to send you if you’d like. I haven’t re-gifted them because I can’t quite remember who they came from! Life is too short to use crappy kitchen tools.
Repair the shower ASAP before it becomes a bigger problem.
Fix the last two if you like them enough, but don’t bother if you don’t!
1. Pot – Make do.
They are dust collectors that you only use 1 months out of the year.
2. Salad Tongs – Replace. Not so much because of the missing elephant but because of the deterioration of the wood in the spoon part. There are so many cool salad tongs everywhere. I would probably keep the
3. Tile – Replace/Repair. I would think that water would be getting behind other tiles at this point which could lead to big problems.
4. Snowflake weights – Get rid of them.
5. Necklace. Extenders are very cheap at places like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. I would put out a call on Facebook or Freecycle to see if a crafter has one hanging around. All you need for the repair is needlenose pliers.
1. How does the pot function? If food is sticking, replace, other wise make do.
2. Replace.
3. Replace. The other commentors are probably right about the potential for water damage.
4. Repair. Those are some cute stocking holders!
5. Could you turn the necklace into a bracelet?
Well, that is one well-loved dutch oven.
1. I have a plain cast-iron dutch oven that works fine (though I LOVE my Le Creuset better – easier to clean), so I don’t see the problem with using it as is and just keeping your eyes peeled for a replacement. I wonder if you could even have it re-glazed?
2. Replace – though I did like the idea of sanding the pieces down, too.
3. Repair, and soon – Water can creep down behind the remaining tiles and those could pop off, too.
4. Replace – Fortunately you have another whole year to find one!
5. Repair – Extending the length of the necklace shouldn’t be too difficult. You could probably take it to a bead shop and ask for some advice – or get them to do it relatively cheaply. Since you only paid $2.50 in the first place, it’s worth repairing since it’s so pretty!
Huh, it’s interesting how the opinions vary!
If it were me, I would do the following:
Make do with Dutch oven while searching for its replacement It’s still functional, but the lid is wearing out – so start looking for a new one second-hand, and when you do, recycle old one.
Make due with salad tongs while looking for replacements. The spoon part as well as the handle are broken. I’m sure there are many nice salad tongs to be had for a song at a garage sale or thrift store, so there is no reason to keep using broken stuff. Try to think of a way to re-purpose the intact handle, because it is kind of cool, and compost the rest.
Repair the shower ASAP, the one thing everyone seems to agree on. I would repair, not replace, because the exact same thing happened to me as happened to your son, just minus the stitches – the soap thing just suddenly fell out and shattered and cut my foot, just not as bad. I don’t trust those soap holders! We repaired using some old tiles we had lying around.
Repair the stocking holder when you find some free (or near-free) object to glue in as a weight. You like the set and you use them, and my feeling is that you might as well keep the things you have in good repair…especially when the repair can probably be done essentially for free.
It’s really easy to find chain extenders for necklaces – I’ve seen them at Goodwill and they cost hardly anything. Or use a black ribbon, as someone suggested.
Let us know what you decide!
I’ve been told that LeCreuset will refurbish or replace all their products and have a lifetime warranty. Might be worth looking into
#1 – Repair or make do – It depends on whether the damaged enamel is inside or only outside the pot. The cracked lid doesn’t worry me. I bet you could get the pot re-enameled or stripped pretty inexpensively. This repair might defeat the purpose of frugality, but you’d still be preventing waste.
#2 – Replace: William Morris said, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” I think we should replace the OR with AND.
#3 – Replace, and quickly, or at least find a way to keep water out from behind the remaining tile: What a great opportunity to find another vintage soapdish, or a new-fangled kind of ceramic shower organizer. Hooks for your loofahs or washcloths? A slot for your razor? You might even find a piece of ceramic art to mount there.
#4 – Repair: Those are both useful, AND beautiful enough to leave on the mantel all year long! I bet you could find a heavy piece of scrap metal barstock to epoxy in place, and then glue some felt over it.
#5 – Upcycle!: A great opportunity to mix these beads with another unused necklace and create something totally new, beautiful, AND useful.
You need to set up a clickable survey for this!
1 – replace. The usefulness FAR outweighs the cost.
2 – replace
3 – repair
4 – repair (weigh an intact one and the broken one to see how much weight to add. Try adding washers [epoxy them in] or maybe call a metal supermarket [you know, where welders shop] and look for a piece the right dimensions and weight)
5 – modify to be wearable.
Make do, make do, repair, repair, repair.
Get rid of the LeCreuset pan STAT! Can you imagine where all the lining of the inside the pan has gone??? Like teflon, I would get rid of that the second it acted like it might be flaking off. Ingesting years of that cannot be good.
All the rest could be repaired or made do with.
But the damage is already done at this point.
Katy
I like the stocking holders, but I had a stocking-h0lder dilemna myself…My stocking holders took up too much space on my mantle where I wanted to put other decorations. I’ve found a solution for next year – the purse hooks that hold your purse on a table in a restaurant! I found them 2 for $1 at Dollar Tree. They are designed to counter the weight of a purse and should do for a stocking. And…I’ll still save my valuable mantle space.
Hi Katy
Replace the Le Creuset dutch oven as the company has a life-time guarantee on it’s cookware.
Replace the Salad Tongs, as the wood is split and could habor “germs”
Repair the Shower Soap Disk “after” checking to make sure that the shower isn’t leaking — don’t want mold!
Definitely repair the Christmas stocking holder
Repair the vintage jet bead necklace. I’m sure you have things on hand to lengthen the necklace
#1: I’m tempted to say “repair”, but how can one repair this kind of thing? I’d make do with it if I had one, as you seem to have done so for the past 20 years, but I would keep my eye open at Goodwill for a “new” used dutch oven, so that when one is available, you don’t feel guilty about throwing out your used one.
#2: I would repair these, by cutting off the elephant part on the spoon and also doing a clean cut on the fork one, then sand both so that they are of equal size and match again. The elephant could make a nice Christmas tree ornament or find another purpose.
#3: REPAIR!!! Leaving this as is could seriously weaken the wall and/or yield leaks, and you do NOT want leaks in your house. You could however cheaply repair by inserting a simple, non soap-holder tile there, instead of looking for a more expensive soap holder tile.
#4: Repair! I don’t know if kids play with plaster in America, but I remember when I was a kid we used to have plaster molding kits at home (I live in Paris, France), I’ve found this on amazon.com for instance: http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-Mold-Paint-Christmas/dp/B005CVEU30/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357154867&sr=8-2&keywords=plaster+kit+mold.
Plaster is kind of heavy and should do the trick very cheaply if you’re using a kit from an old box nobody uses any longer. Even better if you can pour cement there as it might be heavier.
#5: Repair! This is SO easy to do! Just buy a packet of 10-20 small rings in the same color of the necklace metal for close to nothing and add the same number of rings on each size of the snap until you have the length you desire. You’d need round bending pliers for this but I’m sure you have some at home?
Good luck with all the repairing!
Only one I have an opinion on is #5. Repair.
I have had so many necklaces where the clasp has broken that I’ve gone to my local craft store to get more. Then, it only takes needle nose pliers and a steady hand to fix clasps. Yours is a bit more than that, but still an easy fix.
Some of that is a no brainer, and some are a matter of preference. The shower needs to be fixed or it wll do damage. The necklace is a quick fix with a couple of jump rings from Joann or michaels or another old necklace. Themchristmasmornament hanger can be fixed with some gorilla glue and what is left over from fixing the shower. Toss the salad set. And the pan is questionable..is it safe to use. ??? our goodwill had pans on sale for forty percent off this week.
I’ll try this again. If I keep getting erased because the computer thinks I am being redundant I quit.
I would fix the shower first, it costs too much to repair more damage later. I would ditch the salad set, tongs are a better alternative and can be used for a lot more things. The necklace can be fixed using the components you already have. Black jets are really expensive of they are real. The Christmas thing can be fixed from the leftovers from the shower project. I’m not sure the pot is safe I’d check into that. A good pot is an investment, better than throw away pots. My cast iron pots are years and years old. Still going strong. I guard them with my life! LOL
I want to Eco moose on consumables, but will use the money I save on what I consider an investment. Buy once and never have to replace it. We are too much of a throw away society.
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