Dealing with the broken and busted clutter

Clutter takes many forms. Oftentimes, each frustrating item is in our face or lurking in a corner for a "good" reason. I recently zapped a piece of my own clutter after walking by it multiple times daily for about a month. It was a decorative white elephant that was given to me as a Christmas in July white elephant gift exchange. Even though I didn't need it nor planned to keep it, it was actually a nice enough gift as far as "white elephants" go! But, it came broken. I didn't have it in me to trash it or donate it broken, so there in the foyer it sat...and sat... I was stuck in decision paralysis (to fix or not to fix?) and guilt (should I just add it to the landfill?).

I finally fixed it. It took the patience of a saint and about a hour, just as I feared it would.  Do I recommend that you too take an hour of your life to mend your versions of the white elephant? Maybe, maybe not. I do recommend you do what it takes though to move that piece of clutter along. For me, taking an hour of my life was the path of least resistance. For you, maybe trashing it on day one would have been.  Letting it sit in stasis as I did is certainly not the right answer.  In the end, my lovingly repaired elephant found a home on my sister's office shelf.  Right before I gave it to her I took this pic thinking that the elephant might want his story to be told.

How many of you have a logjam of broken items that are lying around because they need to be fixed in order to be put away or donated? Can you pinpoint an exact time within the next week to deal with them? Maybe the thing needs mending, washing, or a trip to the hardware store. If you can't do it within the next week, is letting go of it as-is something you can live with? Please share in the comments!