Baskets with "Chalk-board" name labels.

I have so many kids over every day. It's so much easier for the kids to have their own back-pack and coat hooks and their own baskets to keep their things in. I took this idea http://kriskrafting.blogspot.com/2012/01/entryway-bench-how-to.html
and I made it my own. I went to Walmart and bought these fabric covered baskets. They were $6.00 for 3 baskets. I bought 6 baskets. I took black construction paper, cut into small pieces and wrote names on them with white crayon to make it look "chalkboardy-ish" (I'm sure that's a real word).

The coat hooks were really annoying to put in, but well worth the trouble. I didn't think I needed anchors, but I soon found out I was wrong. I'm sure everyonme else knew this way before I did, but screws don't stay in sheet rock. LOL you have to anchor them. They may work without an anchor for about 5 minutes, but as soon as you hang something on the hook, they'll fall out. Please, save yourself trouble and use anchors. lol

These are the coat hooks I used.  And then I put name tags above the hooks.

You can buy name tags at any teacher supply store. Or online.

I stapled the name tags to the wall. They stay better when stapled and the staples holes are so tiny you can barely see them. But you can also use putty or tape.

** incidentally, if the name tags are laminated, you can use a regular pencil eraser or nail polish remover to erase the names off the name tags and re-write them, even with permanent marker or "sharpie". **

 This is my side entry way. This is where all the kids and parents come in and out. It's easier on my carpets, a lot easier to clean too. (And you can see my sweet cat- Pippa) I also have a bulletin board where I keep the school lunch menu and a "No whining Zone" sign. lol! And a clock and mirror.

About 2 weeks ago, I gave all 8 kids a bunch of paper and let them draw all over it. A giant sheet of paper. You can see it on the wall. They had a blast. After they were done drawing, I asked all the kids who could write to write "Ms. Kim's house is:.." and finish the sentence. They had fun with that one!! One of them wrote "Ms. Kim's house is weird." One wrote "Ms. Kim's house is fun!" etc. Great project and the parents see it every day and know their child (ren) are having fun at Ms. Kim's house. :)

The baskets took me about 4 minutes to do.

The name tags took me about 2 minutes to do.

The hooks took me about an hour to do.