
Of course you like to make. But could you do it every day for 100 days? That’s the challenge presented by The Great Discontent magazine and painter/author Elle Luna. At the beginning of April, she launched #The100DayProject, bringing together thousands of creators across all disciplines. The hashtag on Instagram is practically overflowing with awesome art, design and crafts. There are a lot of great projects, but you especially don’t want to miss these 26 makers. Maybe you’ll find the inspiration to begin a 100-day project of your own — it’s never too late to start making!
1. @elleluna: Given that she kicked off this whole thing, it comes as no surprise that Elle Luna’s #100DaysofPaintingMyDreamsbyLuna is top-notch. Her writing describing the dreams is just as beautiful.
2. @sethnick: The curvy forms and lively colors of #100DaysofFormandColor look like creatures ready to animate.
3. @andilanuza: One sure way to make an outfit look even better is to illustrate it like #100DaysofOutfitSketches.
4. @heatherisch: Meet Peppah, @heatherisch’s dog and muse, who makes for a great model in #100DaysofPeppah. The border collie looks adorable doing everything from surfing to reading the newspaper in this yellow, illustrated world.
5. @fiakilbourn: Ladies, ladies, ladies: #100DaysofGreatWomen brings some of the best together in light and pretty watercolors.
6. @sakino_tomi: #100DaysofOneWordDiary plays around with a visual representation of one word per day and pretty much nails it every time.
7. @hollandloop: These playful and colorful paintings tagged #100DaysofAbstracts look sweet enough to eat.
8. @sadanimalfacts: The humor of combining cute animals and their “sad” lives in #100DaysofSadAnimalFacts is totally unexpected — and totally great!
9. @eliasneverlost: There’s no shortage of freshness in #100DaysOfPlantScribbles. The greens are so bright, and there’s such a great variety of plants, from succulents to cacti.
10. @auraandaura: Ever wondered how those gorgeous pressed flower phone cases are made? #100DaysofPressedFlowers shows you how!
11. @martina_hoffman: Morning coffee becomes even more irresistible with these #100DaysofCoffeeDiary drawings. Suddenly the daily grind doesn’t seem so bad.
12. @katrinamchugh: Imagine if all those song lyric doodles you made during science class somehow merged with your actual class notes, and you’ve got #100daysoflyricalnaturalsciences. We’re crossing our fingers that Katrina McHugh takes on Britney next.
13. @lauraleemayes: The patterns created in #100DaysofPatternPlay are light, bright and always beautiful. Can this be made into a wallpaper?
14.@nicemiceforyou: Wanderlust is sure to kick in when scrolling through these cityscapes. All the cities featured are in France so far, but be sure to follow along to see where these illustrations go next.
15. @heyykristen: You’ve got to get your daily fruits and veggies in somehow, and we think looking at #100DaysofFruitsandVeggies counts.
16. @empluscv: We can’t stand paying extra for avocado, but it’s too good to resist. @empluscv feels the same way with their list of #100ThingsThatShouldDie.
17. @mariahdemarco: The letterforms of #100DaysofFoodLettering delightfully combine food and lettering, which are a few of our favorite things. The “S” made of salt is amazing!
18. @eseyoung: The curvy limbs of these illustrated women are as unsettling as they are soothing, and we’re into it.
19. @melissamcf: The paper cut images of #100DaysofPaperCutz even make a tumbled ice cream cone look good.
20. @thejellyologist: We’ve never seen anything quite like #100DaysofJelly and yet we can’t look away. The perfectly posed jelly forms look like edible gemstones!
21. @hellopandreaa: Is this taco too cute to eat or just cute enough? It hangs out with pals like a hotdog, a drumstick and donuts in the #100DaysofThingsWithFaces feed.
22. @jaclynlenee: #100DaysofColor pairs lovely color schemes with photos of the real-life scenes that they’re pulled from. See how colors are combined in the world to repeat those same combos yourself.
23. @the_hungry_child: These illustrations seem to capture the flavor of the food too. Creamy avocado, anyone?
24. @bighaze: The daily temporary tattoos of #100DaysofPenonSkin creatively blend in with their surroundings. This arm flower is the prettiest of the bunch!
25. @vwendish: The illustrated women of #100DaysofWhatSheIsWearing rock the outfits of our dreams and look awesome while doing it.
26. @annetruppe: #100DaysofJapanese pairs a Japanese vocabulary word with a gorgeous image showing it in action, like this one, “Yoi ichinichi o,” which means “Have a nice day.”
What would you make for 100 days? Let us know in the comments!
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