DIY chalkboard labels from Mason jar lids

I have tons of mason jar lids laying around here from food that we canned and I am always trying to think of ways to reuse them instead of just throwing them in the recycling bin (since the lids are a one time use thing).  One of the ideas I came up with recently was to use them for basket labels.

Here's what I did:

I gathered a few used lids.  Then, with a large nail and hammer I put a hole in each side (like East and West if the lid were a compass).

Next, I used Rustoleum chalkboard spray paint and sprayed a coat on all of the lids.  I probably should have used primer or sprayed a second coat, because some of them ended up chipping a bit on the edges but I didn't (next time I will!)

Here's what they looked like after one coat of paint:

I wanted to use a water clean up Bistro Chalk marker instead of regular chalk because I didn't want it to rub off too easily, but I am sure you could use plain old chalk too.  You can find these markers at any craft store.

I found some brass fasteners (sometimes called "brads") in the office supply section of Walmart and I thought they would be great to hold the labels onto the baskets I had. 

So, I just pushed a fastener through each hole in the lid and into the space between the strips of the basket.  It worked pretty well because the baskets I chose were woven with sort of a paper strip material.  I do think it might work for a wicker basket too, or you could use string to attach it instead.  This is what they looked like from the inside of the basket.

And here's what the finished lid label looked like:

This was a pretty quick project and I liked that I was using something that would otherwise end up in the bin!