What are these?

We went to the Dollar Tree yesterday (I could spend all day in that store), and found these:

I thought they were tiny little tops to spin.  I still think they must be meant for spinning, but they are pretty much FLAT on the bottoms and don’t spin like I thought they would.  They have tiny little peg handles on the tops, and I would turn them upside down and spin them on that, except the bottoms are just plain yellow, no design, so obviously that wouldn’t be much fun. 

I know a lot of you love the Dollar Tree as much as I do, so I’m wondering if any of you have bought these, and if so, what do you do with them?? 

Or, any suggestions, even if you don’t have these, would be very welcome!!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Art Time - Oiled Paper Suncatchers

I remember seeing this somewhere a long time ago, and it's been sitting in the back of my mind ever since. Finally we got around to doing it.

We used some sketch-pad paper, slightly heavier than regular printer paper. I thinned our tempera paints down a little bit with some liquid starch, thinking that might help it appear more translucent; however, after seeing the completed project I'm thinking bolder, more vivid colors would look nicer. The oil really makes the paper as translucent as it needs to be.

So, stick your paper somewhere in front of your child and have them paint it:
Let it dry.

Take some cotton balls and some oil (we used mineral oil, but you could use baby oil or even vegetable oil) and rub the oil onto the back of the artwork. I was going to let M do this part, but I got impatient while he was doing something else and ended up doing it myself. I'm glad I did because, well, oil is... oily. And it can make a big mess. Just an FYI. :) And the finished art:

The picture doesn't really do it justice. It's pretty in real life. I like it, but next time we'll go for brighter, bolder colors.

Have a beautiful day! :)