diff --git a/kabuki/utils.py b/kabuki/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92fd38e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kabuki/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+def adjust_margin(obj, top=0, right=0, bottom=0, left=0):
+    delta = (top, right, bottom, left)
+    obj.margin = [m + d for m, d in zip(obj.margin, delta)]
+
+