It’s become our summer tradition for the girls and I to host a charity lemonade stand to benefit The Confetti Foundation, which supplies birthday party kits to children who are spending their birthday in the hospital. We’ve got a process pretty well down, so today I’m sharing our best tips on how to plan a lemonade stand.
You can see our first snow cone stand here and last year’s retro bake sale here. Be sure to check out those posts for loads of tips on how to host a lemonade stand or snow cone stand or bake sale.
Last summer, I wanted to do a more traditional lemonade stand, with pinks and yellows. Of course, Love the Day had the perfect printables. Lindi customized them for us, so we had:
• Lemonade stand banner
• Price tags
• Thank you tag
• A sign, reminding people the stand was for charity
• Giant lemon slices – great for waving in customers!
• Snow cone juice labels
I’m a working mom, so I’m always about planning and doing as much as I can in advance, whenever I can squeeze it in. (If you want my secret party planning sauce, be sure to sign up for my free Party Planning Cheat Sheets.)
Here’s how I planned this lemonade stand.
Four weeks in advance
- Pick your theme – once you’ve narrowed this down, everything is easier.
- Choose and buy printables – this also will give you your party colors. If you want things personalized, you’ll need to know your food items and pricing at this stage.
- We charged $0.50 for lemonade, $0.50 for lollipops, $1 for 3 cookies, $1 for snow cones, $1 for lemon squares, and $2 for cupcakes.
- Brainstorm décor ideas – try this on your own before turning to Pinterest, and be sure to get ideas from your kids.
Three weeks in advance
- Send your printables to an Office Depot-type store for better quality than you can get from printing at home. With a coupon, I can usually get what I need printed for about $25.
- Decide on your lemonade stand structure. I used a four-foot folding table and tea cart on the side. The girls and I skulked around Lowe’s until we found white-primed porch posts and finials. We also picked up lightweight planters and pea gravel. On the morning of the lemonade stand, it was easy to secure the posts in the planters with the pea gravel and then tie our banners to the posts. (You can’t lean on the posts, but they are secure enough if left alone.)
Two weeks in advance
- Plan your “bake sale” items, if you want to offer more than lemonade. Make sure to include some items you can make up to a week before the sale. (Find the recipe for Jolly Rancher lollipops here.)
- Grocery shop – I definitely recommend adding some hard candy to the mix. It’s popular with the kids and holds up in the sun.
- Trim your printables and string your banners.
One week in advance
- Make any décor. I made lemon slice banners and giant lemon fans using Love the Day printables.
- I make party buntings for my shop, so I always have fabric scraps, and from those I crafted a pink lemonade bunting.
- Make a table runner out of a few yards of fabric. Just iron the fabric and hot glue pom-pom trim to cover the raw edge.
- I didn’t want to put my breakable serving pieces outside around sugared-up kids, so I picked up some plastic trays and candy dishes from Party City. (White is always your best bet: you can use white from party to party.)
The day before
- Bake any remaining treats, like cookies or lemon bars.
- Pick up any store-made treats, like cupcakes or cookies.
- Hand-deliver invitations to friends and neighbors. Knocking on doors Girl Scouts-style and personally asking them to attend worked super-well for us!
The morning of the lemonade stand
- To avoid summer afternoon rain, we held our lemonade stand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The girls and I started setting up at 7 a.m. and we were ready right on time.
- Of course, set out food and drinks at the last minute.
- To fend off flies, have pop-up food nets or wax paper ready to put over your food.
This year, our neighbors were crazy generous and we raised $296. The Party Teacher will match that, so we’ll be donating $592 to The Confetti Foundation this year. That’s 23 birthday kits (they cost $25 each) for kids spending their birthdays in the hospital. I couldn’t be more proud of my little sellers!
Vendor Credits
- Party styling and fabric bunting: The Party Teacher
- Printables: Love the Day
- Yellow paisley frame: Quite a Pair Keepsakes
- Paper goods: Dollar Tree
- Candy: Party City
Very cute! Love this color scheme!
Thanks, Sarina! I was fun sticking with the traditional lemonade stand colors.