Nothing Says Summer like an Adorable Lemonade Stand

Now that summer is here, my kids have been politely begging me to do a lemonade stand. I was totally on board with this idea, recalling my own childhood memories of setting up shop in our front yard. Embarrassingly though, I had to admit I had never actually made fresh-squeezed lemonade from scratch before, which seemed like it might be the first thing we’d need if my kids wanted to advertise “fresh-squeezed lemonade.”

Adorable Summer Lemondade Stand - Project Nursery

So we got to work creating our own freshly squeezed lemonade, and my kids had a blast squeezing all those lemons, tasting, mixing and tasting again. It was actually easier than I had anticipated and used only three ingredients—water, sugar and lemons. Who knew? I didn’t! I followed this easy recipe online here, and it was met with a standing ovation from all of our customers.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade - Project Nursery

Creating your own lemonade (and/or baked goods) stand can be a fun summer project that involves every member of the family. I had fun designing (or let’s be honest, buying) lemon-themed decor and details to decorate our stand while my girls (ages three and five) helped squeeze the lemons and make the baked goods.

Lemonade Stand Sign - Project Nursery

Sipping Lemonade - Project Nursery

My husband went to work as our “street team” hanging up signs around the neighborhood to drum up business, and our youngest son (21 months) was—errr, how should I say this—our best quality control taste-tester and basically stole all the treats out of the basket but had an absolute blast while doing so!

Lemonade Stand - Project Nursery

Baked Goods Stand - Project Nursery

Neighborhood Lemonade Stand - Project Nursery

To create the look for our lemonade stand, I searched online for every lime green and yellow thing I could find. Ribbon, lemon and lime straws, lemonade pitcher, napkins—you name it. I also turned to my favorite place on earth, Etsy, to source some of the most adorable items, including the rustic wood lemonade stand, lemon banner and lemonade sign. The best part about DIYing is that you don’t actually have to do it all yourself!

Yellow and Green Paper Straws - Project Nursery

Lemonade Stand Decorations - Project Nursery

To our delight, our first lemonade stand was a raging success. To elevate the success (and fun factor) of your stand, let friends, family and neighbors know in advance when you’re doing it and have them come by! We arranged for them to park down the block, so it looked like they just happened upon our lemonade stand, and the kids were just beside themselves with excitement!

Lemonade Stand - Project Nursery

Lemonade Stand - Project Nursery

Prior to setting up our lemonade stand, the kids decided that they wanted the proceeds from their stand to be donated to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Raising Money for Charity with a Lemonade Stand - Project Nursery

We raised $168 to donate to the hospital, and on top of that, the kids learned lessons of how to be little entrepreneurs and made some great memories they will remember forever!

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Entertaining With Emily

Entertaining With Emily

Although my design background is in interior architecture, I am a creatively-obsessed, hands-on DIYer mostly because I have an insatiable need to alter everything, just a bit. I never met a can of spray paint I didn’t like!

Comments

  1. Pam

    July 27, 2015

    Now THAT is some lemonade stand! It’s no wonder it was such a success. Totally adorable. I love the vibrant yellow and green paired up with the rustic elements of lemonade sign and all the little details are just so sweet. What a fun family project, thank you so much for sharing!

  2. Melisa Fluhr

    July 29, 2015

    Awww….Super impressed Emily! Excited to be able to share your wonderful ideas and talent on the blog.

  3. Tres little Kings

    July 29, 2015

    I love the lemonade stand! I’m super excited to see my lemon banner on it :)

  4. Andrea Hickman

    May 15, 2016

    Hi Emily! I am giving some thought to getting one of these rustic lemonade stands for our kiddos this summer. Thanks for the inspiration :)

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