Today we’re getting dapper with felt bow ties. These accessories don’t only belong around the neck of your hottie BF: there are so many ways you can deck out your house, your party and yourself with bows—check out these 10 adorable ways! From a dog bow tie to a shoe clip, we’re sure you’ll find at least one you love (though we’re partial to all 10!).
<br/>
– felt (use whatever colors you like!)
– glue gun + glue
Tools:
– fabric scissors
Instructions:
1. Cut a rectangle out of your felt, about 3 inches by 2 inches to match our size—the width will be the length of the bow tie. Then cut a small strip of felt for the center of the bow.
2. Fold the short sides of the rectangle over so that they meet in the middle, then glue the ends in place.
3. With the folded side facing up, pinch the middle section of fabric inward to create a bow shape.
4. Glue the pinched fabric, then turn the bow over and glue the center.
5. Add a dollop of glue to the back and press one end of the small center strip to the bow. Wrap it around the bow and glue in place.
First, we’ll show you how to make a felt bow. Since it’s a DIY basic, it’s no biggie to make—you’ll see!
Fold it, pinch it, wrap it—and you’re done! We told you, it’s way easy to achieve maximum cuteness.
You definitely get in the groove—we couldn’t stop at just one! Luckily, there are so many ways to use ’em. Check out our 10 fave ways below!
For our first trick, we made hair clips. All you need for these hair accessories are classic clips you can probably find in your bathroom drawer. Place a drop of hot glue on the end of the clips and stick on your bow. Then, toss it up in your ‘do. Done and done.
Hair Clips
Next up, we made shoe clips. Remove the padding from the clip, add some glue and press your bow tie to the clip. Then, take your plain black pumps and spice them up with some removable flair.
Shoe Clips
What else have we got up our sleeve? Stir sticks. Get some plain wooden stir sticks and glue a bow on one end. This is such a simple way to class up your Oscars party! Gatsby would definitely approve.
Stir Sticks
Moving on to wall art. Isn’t it amazing how lots of little things can create beautiful art? For this one we got a shadowbox from Crate and Barrel and placed a dozen bow ties inside. Make sure you glue them to a piece of paper so that it is flexible enough to fit into the frame—you won’t be able to slide it in like you would a picture.
Wall Art
The weather outside still calls for gloves, so why not take a solid black pair and adorn them with cuteness? You can also learn how to make equally adorable rosettes with this tutorial!
Gloves
We love tricking out vases here at Brit + Co, so of course we embellished a few with bow ties. These would be great for a black tie party or even a wedding. Keep it classy like Ron Burgundy.
Vase
No party is complete without garland. For this one, you’ll need to make a bunch of bows. Place them face down on a table and spread them out evenly. Cut some string, add glue and then place the string on top. Just make sure you leave the same amount of space between each bow.
Garland
Put a bow tie on a clutch! We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again. It adds just the right amount of pizazz.
Clutch
Here’s one more dinner party idea: napkin rings. Cut a small strip of felt and glue it into a circle large enough to fit your napkin. Add the bow tie and then slide it onto your napkins. Cute? We think so.
Napkin Rings
Not only does your boyfriend look amazing in a bow tie, so does your dog friend. So finally, we made a bow tie adorned collar for our office pooches. Cut out a long strip of felt and add VELCRO® to each end. Add the bow with hot glue and you’ve got the dog collar equivalent of a tuxedo!
Pet Collar Bow Tie
That Porter is such a stud.
Then Turkey had to get in on the action. Bow tie success!
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:
You X Ventures for Unsplash
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.
Kobu Agency for Unsplash
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