About a month ago I was approached by AC Moore asking if I would be willing to help them by hosting a lemonade stand for Alex’s Lemonade Stand which raises money to fight pediatric cancer. I love a good cause and thought it would be a fun opportunity to get my kids involved too! I called up my BFF Jess and asked if she wanted to help me put together a DIY Lemonade Stand. She agreed and our wheels started turning… Here’s what we came up with!
Turned out cute didn’t it? I would have loved to take our stand into a beautiful field and style and photograph it, but this is a real life post friends, so here’s our stand sitting pretty in the entryway to AC Moore. We hosted it last Sunday and we raised over $300 in 2 hours. Not too shabby for lemonade.
My younger daughter Kira and Jess’ oldest Campbell are both going into 2nd grade and they got to be our helpers! My friend and blog photographer Stacy brought her 4th grader Anna for a little while and the girls had a great time together. It was their job to say, “Would you like to buy some lemonade to help support kids with cancer?”… and yes, we added the cause in there because we wanted to raise a lot of money. Cute kids + puppy dog eyes + a good cause = Sales! However, it took a while for the girls to get over their shyness and what most people got when they walked in was a combo of “hi…would you…cancer…buy…lemonade…please…” It was a hot mess of hysterical and cuteness.
The kids weren’t the only ones making me laugh… Stacy thought she’d take a turn and show the girls how to speak clearly and ask someone if they’d like lemonade, although she asked a woman ” Hi! Would you like to buy some cancer!?!” FOR REAL! She didn’t even know she said it and I had tears pouring down my face. I don’t take cancer lightly at all (my dad has been battling it for over a decade), but I do have a sense of humor and that’s just downright funny. And, Thank goodness Jess isn’t in charge of PR for this organization, because her sweet Instagram post suggested we all “Help Beat Kids with Cancer”… umm nope, you’ll get arrested for that my friend! We edited it and once we got into the swing of things we were far less offensive and highly successful… and possibly kinda to that point where you can’t stop laughing and everything under the sun is funny. It happens. It’s a thing. Anyhow…
Here’s How we Made our DIY Lemonade Stand
1- Stacked craft crates 3 levels high. We turned the top level so the storage was facing out, allowing us some additional display space. We attached the crates together using screws at the thickest point in each crate.
2- We spray painted the 6 attached crates with Valspar’s Rosy Cheeks spray paint, then went back with some leftover white paint and brushed it on every other board. Using spray paint on the majority of crates makes it much faster- those crates absorb a lot of paint quickly.
3- Using a 1×6 pine board, I cut it to size using a chop saw and attached it on top to create a counter top. I allowed for some overhang, so it had a bit more of a “store” feel to it. We painted the counter white as well.
4- We used a combo of wooden dowels and 1 inch furring strips for our vertical supports. I started with the dowels, but then moved to furring strips- they’d be my recommendation. Their shape makes them easier to work with. I cut them at a 30 degree angle to make attaching the roof easier.
5- The roof is probably my favorite part and what makes our stand unique. We a pine plank and attached Target dollar spot hexagon plates using E6000. We didn’t want to have too many screws, so we use the E6000, which is the mother of all adhesives. We added about 4 screws just to make sure it was really secure, and then attached it to the vertical supports. I’ve had these hex plates on hand for over a year- I saw them at Target and knew I’d want to do something with them, so I bought 40… true story. So, just wait, I still have plenty for other projects.
The cute straw wrappers and other printables are from Caravan Shop – my go-to source for printables and fun backdrops. Their sample lemonade stand is my favorite one on the web- it’s adorable and includes the big poster sizes that you can print at Staples or Kinkos!
We just printed labels for some cups and left others plain, but they definitely kicked the style up a notch.
We made 3 flavors… Strawberry Basil, Lime Mint, and Country Lemon- the recipes are linked below, except country lemon, because we just used Country Time and tossed in some lemon slices to make it pretty.
I’m so glad I was asked to be a part of this great organization’s efforts to fight childhood cancer. It was a fun day and a great opportunity to teach our kids about doing things for others and helping to raise money for a great cause. If you want to get involved and hold a lemonade stand of your own, click HERE to learn more.
-Mon
Photo Credit: Salvatori Photography
What a wonderful project to do with the kids! That strawberry lemonade esp. looks yummy.
As far as blogging more, Monica, enjoy your time with the kids and family now, while they still want to do things with you. They grow up too fast and you’ll wonder where the time has gone. (It already seems to go by so/too quickly). You’ll need/want things to do when they are back in school; so we’ll wait for you and Jess, too. Enjoy!!!
Thank you for using my Limeade recipe in your quest to help out such a great cause. Sounds like you ladies had a ton of fun.
Hi! Great job with the lemonade stand. We ran one at my job with the kids from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, it showed the kids that no matter who you are or how old you are you can help others.
My house project is to update and fix my upstairs bathroom. I need a plumber for some parts but would love some ideas on giving it a spa like feel.
Thank you!
Cynthia