128 Playroom Progress: Basket Labeling!

As I shared last week, we finally pulled the trigger on ten baskets for the playroom.  We have been loving their durability and size for storing all of the playroom toys.  I also have been loving that they conceal the toy clutter and tuck nicely out of the way.  However, when it comes to pick-up time, it has been challenging to tell which basket has which toys in them, meaning the kids and I have been playing guessing games.

When it came to labeling these baskets specifically, many of my typical methods wouldn't work since the baskets are textured.  That means no pretty vinyl labels... boo.  I thought about doing some laminated labels, but I wanted something that had a finished look and that would last through many many hours of play.  And remember how I really wanted some espresso natural woven baskets but settled on the plastic green ones for durability reasons?  Well, I got to thinking and decided to try to bring the wood tone in through the labels instead!

So I started out with ten basic 4x6 inch unfinished wood frames.

And some dark walnut wood stain:

I used a foam brush to stain the frames:

And followed the directions on the can to wipe them down with a rag and letting them dry.  I decided to stick with one coat and let some of the lighter tones show through to give it a bit more of a rustic feeling to them.

I have always been a believer in using picture labels in playrooms.  It's the quickest and easiest way to ensure that toys can make it back where they belong, and ensures the kiddos can easily be helpful at pick-up time, no matter what their age.

I just Googled around for the images of the toys that we were storing in each bin, and printed them out on cardstock:

Then, I traced the glass from the frame so that I could easily cut out the image from the cardstock to place inside the frame.

When I placed the printed toy pictures inside of the frames, I didn't use the glass as I want the playroom to be safe.  Glass labels really don't sound like a great idea...

To attach the frames to the basket, we just used some itty bitty screws:

Lined up the frame flush with the open handle:

And screwed through the basket holes right into the back of the wooden frame:

Nice and secure!  Now, no more guessing the contents of each basket!

We repeated the steps for all ten baskets!

The awesomepants part is that when we remove the screws, it's like they were never there since we just used the existing basket holes, and the baskets stay in their original condition!

Still a few more items to finish up before I can call this room update complete:

• Paint entertainment center
• Update light fixture
• Window treatment
• Additional seating
• Additional toy storage
• A fun wall treatment
• Photographs/Artwork 
• Book storage 
• Basket Labels

What are you favorite, no fail labeling techniques?   Vinyl?  Chalkboard?  Frames?  Stickers?