Elk antler for nut and bridge ? Refurbishing a cheap sporano.

I talked a friend into getting an ukulele. Unfortunately, she grabbed a cheapo on Amazon, instead of an affordable one at Hawaii Music Supply, where I bought mine. She doesn't have funds for another, right now, so this crummy uke is sitting there bringing her down. I offered to try and fix it some, if possible:

Her tuners slip terribly, so the uke can't hold tuning for more than a few moments. I ordered some grovers that I think will fit. (If not, I figure I can keep them for my own later use.)

Ordered new strings.

The nut and bridge are setting string height above the frets to about 1/4", and appear to be made of plastic. The action is way high for comfort.

I have elk antler, aka bone, available and am considering redoing the nut and bridge...

At a certain point, it's probably not worth the effort, but the body does have a nice resonant sound, when tapped, and I feel guilty for not insisting enough that she buy from a reputable source.

Any thoughts or suggestions will be a big help and appreciated.

I've made a nut out of deer antler. worked fine, just the dust tastes nasty and it stinks if you power grind it.

Wouldn't it be a lot simpler to lower the nut and bridge on the uke now? Getting the action the right height is going to make a way bigger difference than the material.

I have used elk antler, but you don't get much solid stuff out of an antler, the interior is spongy.
Anne