Alia's Lemonade Stand

Here she is... my Lemonade Stand project, completed!!

I don't know about yours, but my kids LOVE to sell lemonade on hot, summer days! As a mom, it can be kind of a pain to help them set up a lemonade stand. So a few years ago I made a cute banner and put together a tote of necessary lemonade stand supplies. That way, all we needed to add was a table, some shade, and a pitcher of lemonade.

Since then, I've had a dream to build an actual lemonade stand for my kids. A year ago I opened up my little notebook and sketched out the picture and plan that I'd had in my head for a long time...

Since that time (last summer) I kept my eyes open at thrift stores for the perfect rolling desk/cart that would be the base of my project. A few months ago I found this one at Deseret Industries. Luckily I had my daughter there with me to size it up with!

A few weeks ago I finally tackled this long-awaited project and made our dream come true! It took me a straight 3 days to build and paint. (My husband is amazing with carpentry, so he helped me a lot with the construction part, and the rest I did by myself.)

I wanted to be able to share a tutorial for this project here for you, but I kind of just created as I went. So I will give as much info possible, and the rest you can use as inspiration!

These are the colors I chose to paint my stand: Warm Yellow, Berry Pink, and Key Lime. All from Home Depot, all gloss finish (other than the chalkboard paint). I have not used the lime yet, but may use it to accent a few little things I add to the stand later. I also used a white base coat spray paint beforehand.

After the base coat, I painted all the yellow first. I taped off the parts behind the frame to paint the pink. Then I painted on the chalkboard with a small roller and brush for the edges.

We built the top canopy with the ability to be detatched, using 4 carriage bolts, so it will be able to fit inside our vehicle if we wanted to take it anywhere. I used some off-white canvas that I already had, for the canopy top, and used lots of Fray Check on the scalloped ends. Then I taped off and spray painted the canvas to match the rest.

I chose to use a rolling computer desk because it was the perfect height for my kids, has a rolling [keyboard] shelf, and a bottom shelf as well. Also because it had [locking] wheels.

We just added a full back to it and lowered the rolling shelf dow a few inches. We also added "lips" to the outside of the shelves to keep things from falling out. Then we finished the front by "framing" the chalkboard with some other wood scraps we had lying around.

I found the cute lemon stuff from Target's dollar spot, the material at Walmart, and the cash register at the Godwill.

I found these cute pink aprons at Hobby Lobby.

Other necessary items: Chalk and Eraser (dollar store), Hand Sani, Lemonade Mix (less-expensive to buy the sugar-free, generic brand), Plastic Cups (these are 9oz cups, 80ct for just over $2- best price so far!). The big spout-container is plastic (a MUST), and I found it at Walmart. (I added the ribbon for fun.)

Problems that came up, and our solution to fix them: I found out real fast that castor wheels are not meant for concrete. We plan to fix this problem with some used stroller wheels (that lock as well- very important).

Finally toward the end of this project, I went online to look for even more lemonade stand inspiration. Here are some sites I found and LOVE. These ladies are so creative and even have free printables! I can't wait to go spend more time on their sites. A big THANK YOU to these talented women for their beautiful work and inspiration:

Toni @ Design Dazzle

Sibylle @ Funkytime

Shauna @ YourLifEvents

Maureen @ AndersRuff

Amy @ Living Locurto

Ning (babalisme) via TipJunkie

Jax @ Aly&Ash

Kim @ The Tomkat Studio

I definately plan to use some of the beautiful printables from these talented women listed above! I also plan on fixing the wheels and adding a handle for pushing/pulling the stand down the driveway and sidewalk.

And there you have it, friends!

I got this done just in time for my daughter's 7th birthday. Happy birthday Alia!!