
Christmas trees adorned in the traditional red, green, silver and gold never get old. However, creative minds often wander beyond the traditional Christmas tree decor, and instead, go for something colorful and vibrant. If you’re looking for ways to make your tree oh-so chic, we look to what crafters, bloggers and ah-amazing Christmas-theme pinboards all offer in the alternative Christmas tree department. Scroll on to find out which refreshing colorful holiday tree ideas have made our *nice list.*
1. DIY Pink Junk Food Tree: It’s not officially Christmas until someone hangs the last pizza ornament on the glittering pink tree. Ha, in all honesty, decorating a pizza or junk food theme tree is a foodie’s ultimate dream. And if you’re looking to DIY the ultimate junk food tree, it might as well be pink and rock a no-sew pizza tree skirt. (via Aww, Sam)
2. DIY Lime Green Cactus Tree: Oh, cactus tree, oh cactus tree, how lovely are your needles? If you’re in the water conservation mood or just looking to decorate a different kind of tree, make your own holiday cactus in a fresh coat of green! A string of lights and some neon green paint make your alternative Christmas tree ready to be marveled at. (via Brit + Co)
3. Colorful Metallic Garland Wall Tree: These colorful ornaments literally make the tree. Add a splash of sparkle and pizzazz to your hallway with a garland wall tree. Not only will your color scheme dominate (in the best way), but you can coordinate your gift wrapping to match! Not that you need another reason, but you’ll love not having to deal with needles, mess or sparkles plaguing your carpet. Just think how pretty the confetti will be when it catches the afternoon light. (via Anne Street Studio)
4. DIY White Taco Tree: Can we taco-bout Christmas and holiday tree trimming? DIY multiple cheerful tacos to hang on a white tree to really make a statement. Get your guests’ mouths watering when they pop by on The Taco Tuesday Before Christmas. (via Aww, Sam)
5. Pink, Black, and GoldTree: A bit of extra glam and sparkle during the holidays is expected, but going over the top is well-appreciated. Create a go-go glam tree that says, ”pop, fizz, clink” for an alternative way to deck out your tree in something unexpected. (via The Sweetest Thing)
6. Sea Breeze Tree: If the sea is calling you from ashore, a nautical tree might be your substitute tree decor go-to. You can go with a literal nautical color scheme of navy and white, or try a little more feminine look with pops of seafoam green and coral pink. Hanging seashell ornaments, glittered barnacles and shimmering starfish is the tree wish for any mermaid, land or sea. (via Anne Street Studio)
7. DIY Mint Green Wall Tree: Let’s face it: Live trees can take up a lot of room, but it’s not really Christmas without one. Instead of resorting to a sad Charlie Brown-inspired spruce, DIY a festive paper version. The possibilities are endless, but you’ll really unlock the tree’s potential when the wrapped presents start to arrive. (via Curby)
8. Sterling Tree Company Red Ashley Pre-Lit Christmas Tree ($290): Red and green might be traditional holiday decor, but a tree that glows brighter than Rudolph’s nose is *anything* but traditional. Add a major color pop in your living room with a tree that couldn’t be merrier. Ornaments optional.
9. Multi-Colored OrnamentTinsel Tree: Silver, pink and pops of other bold hues are what the holidays are made of, and metallics are always in style. Bring a bit of girlie glam into your home with a fun-spirited tinsel tree and multi-colored ornaments. (via Studio DIY)
10. DIY Rose Pink Cake Replica Tree: If our foodie tree totally inspired you but you’re not quite ready for that level of commitment, create a mini edible replica of that tree. Of course, it wouldn’t be a yummy cake tree without some pink frosting. (via Aww, Sam)
11. DIY Mini Cactus Tree: Instead of having a tree in a crazy color, opt for a more “natural” look with a real-life holiday cactus. Add fun pom-pom garland and a cute pot to bring the color factor to life. Just be careful of the needles! Some cactuses can be a bit of a grinch. (via Sugar and Cloth)
12. Bubblegum Pink Tree: Tap into your feminine side with a bright pink tree that looks utterly delicious. You can add touches of red and green with ornaments, but don’t shy away from experimenting with your palette. Who’s missing the old red and green with all this pink? Not us. (via Studio DIY)
Planning on doing some more colorful tree decorating? Follow us on Pinterest to get more inspirational ideas.
Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures