DIY: How to Build a Low-Effort Lemonade Stand

There’s just something about a DIY lemonade stand on a hot day that brings back childhood memories. As a kid, I can remember always wanting to have a lemonade stand. Unfortunately, we lived in a cul-de-sac so it wasn’t exactly prime real estate for a business. My kids are luckier than I was, since we live on a corner lot along a pretty busy street full of thirsty joggers, bike riders and folks passing by in their cars.

Lydia Poulson
June 25, 2017

As soon as the weather warmed up this spring, my daughter was eager to set up her lemonade stand, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her. Being the resourceful girl that she is, she quickly went through the garage looking for anything that would hold her lemonade and decided an ironing board would suffice. (At last, the ironing board is serving a purpose in my house!) She taped on her signs, made some lemonade and quickly ran outside to set up shop.

After watching her successfully sell lemonade for a few afternoons, we knew she was ready to learn the business basics. We explained to her that she’d need to invest her own money and in return she would benefit from all the profits made. Without hesitation, she spent her hard-earned money on lemonade mix and we supplied the cups. We told her that if any neighborhood kids helped out, then she would need to share a portion of her profits. After making $30 in just a couple hours, we figured it was time to get real and build her a sturdier DIY lemonade stand. An ironing board does the trick, but seriously, how cool is it having your very own DIY lemonade stand?

We are in the process of building a new fence (okay, paying someone to build a fence), so the old fence boards were perfect for this project. I love being able to utilize old material, not to mention it keeps the farmhouse rustic look I love. My husband, who did most of the building, started by framing it out with 2×2 lumber and plywood boards, and I will be adding finishing touches with the new Simpson Strong-Tie^®Outdoor Accents® decorative hardware line. Adding the APA4 angles to the corners gave it just the look we needed.

After my son saw the cash coming in, he wanted to be a part of this lemonade stand venture, too. He’s a little too young to understand the whole partial investor idea (not to mention he won’t sit still for longer than a few minutes), so we had to be clever on what role he would play in this business. His personality was perfect for advertising so we made him in charge of marketing the lemonade stand. You can see that he did a wonderful job on the signage.

It’s been magical watching everyone’s reactions to the DIY lemonade stand. There are smiles all around, and you can see customers remembering the good old days of their own childhood. I have heard many customers comment on how they haven’t seen a lemonade stand in years! I love that my kids got to experience so many of our neighbors coming out to chat because of their lemonade stand!

All the neighborhood kids either wanted to help or became customers. They eagerly ran down the street with their quarters to buy lemonade. It’s like watching the Little Rascalsshow come alive in my front yard. Not only did the kids have fun doing this, but they learned valuable business skills at the same time. You can’t beat that! I highly recommend making the small amount of effort it takes to build a hugely impactful DIY lemonade stand – get building!

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