Mystery Solved: How to Replace Missing Pieces

Somewhere in our homes, we probably all have a lonely earring without a partner, games with missing pieces, dish sets that breaks have left incomplete. But putting the missing pieces back in your life can be as easy as knowing the right places to look.

Toy Parts

Maybe the last time you had family game night, Uncle Jimmy slipped some Monopoly money in his pocket as a joke. Now, you’re shortchanged. Print out new cash at Hasbro’s site at hasbro.com. The site also offers replacement parts for all the other toys it makes, such as Mr. Potato Head.

Dishes

Find everything from silverware to china at the online warehouse of replacements.com. The site offers a free service that allows you to receive a bulletin if a piece from your pattern is received. You can also call 1-800-REPLACE. And don’t throw out those broken dish pieces—pair them with glue and grout to decorate an old tray, or let them accent the bottom of a clear vase.

Remote Control

If the couch has finally eaten and digested the remote control of your TV, DVD, or other device, you don’t have to send your kids to change the channel, like the good old days. Find original equipment replacements or get your busted remote repaired at newremotecontrol.com.

Buttons

With more than 8,000 styles of buttons, the Web site ascuteasabutton.com will help you replace that lost button from your coat—just follow the menus to narrow down the type and color.

Fabric

Your kid may have left a pen in his pocket when he sat down on the dining room chair and tore the fabric. Finding a replacement swatch is easy at thefabricfinder.com. You can match that torn piece through manufacturer or time when it was made.

Bike Parts

Just spinning a hardware store bolt on a bike may not work; the threads may be different or some other part may have flown off. To find all sorts of parts for any bike, click to loosescrews.com.

Earrings

To avoid running from store to store to find a jeweler who can handle creating a duplicate, check out the Jewelers of America site at jewelers.org to find one near you. Call first to see if the store can handle making a new one. If you can’t get a replacement, find something creative to do with that loner—try gluing a pin back on it for a new piece of jewelry. Have a couple of loner earrings? Use them to dress up a picture frame or lamp shade.