I scube, you scube, we all scube for ice cube — trays. Whatever that means. We love ice cube trays. Not only are they great for their original purpose of making ice to keep your beverages cold, but they're also useful for so many other things. We collected 13 interesting ice cube tray alternatives for you to check out.
Drawer Organizer
Do you have a junk drawer? Of course you do! So do we :). Throw an ice cube tray in there and fill it with paper clips, tacks, beads and other small items (via Brit + Co).
Flower Ice Cubes
Wild flowers are so pretty we just want to eat them! Yum? Freeze some flowers and add them to your party drinks for a fresh new look, and obviously, for vitamins (via Food.com, flowers via Brit + Co).
Bobbin Organizer
If you love sewing as much as we do, you probably have a lot of bobbins lying around. Sort them in an ice cube tray to keep them color-coordinated and organized (via the Handy Quilter and Brit + Co).
Wine Cubes
Okay, we see two great uses for these frozen wine cubes: throw them in pasta sauce or add them to your glass of wine on a hot day. That second one is probably a big no-no, but we stand by it. Summer days call for cold drinks. (via Pinterest + Budget Savvy Diva)
Modern Votive Candles
Another fab use for those giant ice cube trays you said you were gonna make all those cocktails with = these plaster votive candle holders. We love the result with a little color dip. (via Brit + Co)
Stamp Organizer
Keep your alphabet stamps in A-B-C order with an ice tray and you’ll never have to search for that letter ‘s’ again. She always wins MVP during hide and seek, at least in our bag of letters. (via Pre-K Pages)
Herb Starter
There’s nothing quite like homegrown herbs. A great way to start your basil and cilantro is to plant them in an ice tray. After they’ve sprouted you can transfer them to pots. (via MRBROWNTHUMB)
Herb Cubes
Once you’ve grown your herbs, you can re-use your ice tray to make herb cubes. These flavor savers will come in handy any time you’re cooking and your recipe calls for fresh herbs rather than dry. (via Organic Gardening)
Jewelry Organizer
Keep those earrings paired and those rings from getting lost with an ice tray. (via Real Simple)
Eye Shadow Organizer
What a great way to organize your eye shadows! They fit perfectly and you can actually see each color. Store them in a drawer and then take the entire tray out when you want to use them. (via the Beauty Bybel)
Hardware Organizer
Get those nails, screws and washers in order with an ice tray. It will fit perfectly in the bottom of your tool kit. (via Better Homes and Garden and Indiamart)
Paint Tray
Get your brushes out and dip into your right brain for an afternoon of painting. These are water colors (and here’s an awesome tutorial on Design Sponge) but you could put any paint in an ice tray as a pallete alternative. (via Design Sponge)
Snack Tray
Entertain your picky little eater with a snack tray. Cut up fruits and veggies, add some cheese, crackers and nuts and your 3-year-old will actually be excited to take a break from playtime for a healthy bite (via Wiley Valentine and Brit + Co).
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