Hi, I'm Kimberly. I'm a homeschooling mom of 11 and here on Raising Olives I share about what I've learned; tips, ideas and some of the ups and downs of managing a home and raising children for the glory of God.
Each year the children like to make gifts to hand out to everyone who comes over to our home during the month of December. When my friend Betsy, came to our Mom’s Meeting (our topic was Christmas gifts), brought these cute ornaments and told us how to make them, I knew that this is what…
We aren’t doing a ton of decorating this year for Thanksgiving, but I did want to incorporate a Thankful Tree. As the month wore on I wasn’t sure we would get to it. The idea is to create a tree and on each leaf to write something for which you are thankful. Often families will…
I have seen these rain gutter bookshelves several places online and have always thought they would be wonderful to have in our book loving home. Then I saw them at my friend Heather’s house, asked if she liked them, how easy they were to clean, etc. and I finally decided to take the plunge. The…
Remember the drawers that I got for free while yard sale-ing? They fit perfectly under the boys bunk bed and have solved our space crunch in that bedroom. I decided to forgo the wheels in favor of nice felt pads at the corners so they will slide nicely and not scratch the floor. I could…
Last Wednesday when I posted about our chalkboard wall, I left you with a tease that I was going to post about my wonderful idea for displaying children’s artwork. (No, it’s not hang the pictures on the fridge ) I was inspired with the idea a few years ago while skimming a decorating magazine. There…
This is a fun activity that all of our children (ages 1-12) enjoyed and we ended up with some pretty pictures to boot. You will need: construction paper scissors glue (not Elmer’s school glue, but just a simple glue stick) leaves or something else flat and glue-able with an interesting profile tape picture frame (optional)…
A while ago I posted a tutorial for making your own chalkboard paint. I finally got around to painting one of our dining room walls with the paint. Unlike the table that I painted in my last post, I did not sand the wall after painting. Well, I began to sand and then decided that…
Recently I found an assortment of shot glasses at a yard sale and I knew they would be just the thing for the proliferation of springtime bouquets that the children gather from our yard. Dandelions and dainty violets look charming in these glasses that are the perfect size for tiny stems. Yesterday our children found…
This is my first project for the week. Our master bathroom is small and has accumulated a lot of items that we don’t use regularly, as well as things that shouldn’t be stored in such prime real estate. My goal is to make progress, not to get my whole house decluttered in a week. All…
Did you know that you can make your own custom color chalkboard paint? I tried it out and not only is it inexpensive and easy, it actually works! Before I tackled a wall or some other large, obvious surface, Mark convinced me I decided to test it out on something more easily fixable. This table…
