Oh marbling, how we love thee. One part psychedelic, one part graphic, this visual style is an essential in the DIY department. We’ve got the classic paint swirling technique that we used when marbling clay beads. For this installment of#31DaysofDIY, we decided to tackle the task of marbling with nail polish. And no surprise here: We are totally sold! Yes it does smell and yes it will get on your fingertips (so don’t do this project with a fresh mani) but it will always give unique results and dries almost instantly! Forgot a friend’s birthday 30 minutes before you’re going to see her?! Grab some polish and a vase, pencil cup or wooden box and give it a fresh new marbled look. Done and done.
No idea what #31DaysofDIY is? It’s a brand new tradition here at Brit + Co that’s all about kicking off the new year right. We’ve challenged ourselves to make or learn something new every single day for the month of January, and we’re inviting all of you along for the ride. From DIY basics like Sewing 101 to learning to design and laser cut our own stencils, we hope this month of making inspires you to make all year long.
Materials:
– nail polish – as many colors as you want!
– wood boxes
Tools:
– tape
– stirring stick
– plastic tub
Instructions:
1. Tape off wooden box to create a block for your marbled section.
2. Fill plastic tub with water and then pour in nail polish. Swirl nail polish with stirring stick.
3. Let the face of the box touch the surface of the water and then lift. The nail polish will be stuck on the face of the box!
4. Use the stirring stick to collect the rest of the nail polish and to clean up the water for the next color.
5. Wait 10 mins for the nail polish to try and then pat the water droplets with a paper towel.
6. Remove the tape and voilà it’s that easy!
We used three colors for each marbling palette.
Tape off your box with painter’s tape. We chose to tape off a hard diagonal line to contrast with our organic marbled pattern.
Fill your tub with water and pour in your nail polish. Pour it in slowly so it stays on the top of the water. If you pour too quickly, the nail polish will sink. Using your stirring stick, swirl your nail polish colors together.
Once you’ve swirled your colors together, place the face of your box on the surface of the water. You do not want to submerge the box in the water. Wait about five to ten minutes to let the nail polish really dry. Then take a paper towel and pat the water droplets. Peel off the tape to reveal the crisp line.
Use your stirring stick to clean up the water. The nail polish will stick to it as if you were making cotton candy.
Let’s try one of our favorite new color trends. Winter white! Swirl gold, white and gray together and then touch the box to the surface of the water. Repeat the clean up step to get the water ready for the next color.
We found that bright, deep, colors worked best on our boxes. We had to stay away from corals, yellows, and oranges, since they were too similar to our wood. Keep color choices in mind when picking out the objects you are going to be marbling.
Color blocking + marbling = Our new favorite technique… this week ;)
Don’t be afraid to try different materials. The possibilities are endless! Wood, cork, ceramic, slate, metal, plastic, etc.
When choosing your nail polish colors pick out a complementing metallic. It will really make the marbling pop.
These are the perfect pieces to dress up a boring desk space.
Emergency party confetti on the desk? Always.
What do you think of the marbling technique? Show us what you made by tagging @britandco on Instagram.
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