Do your kids want a lemonade stand, but you’re balking at the idea because you don’t have anywhere to store it between uses?  That was my thought when I decided to build this portable one for my grandkids.

I’m at a place where I want to declutter my home and my life.  I am so tired of “stuff”.  Do you feel that way?  The longer you live in one spot the more “stuff” you seem to acquire. 

We had been planning a yard sale for a few months timed in conjunction with a community wide yard sale held every year.  I wanted the kids to have a lemonade stand, so I started thinking about a way to make one that could easily be put away for another time. 

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That just means if you click on the link and end up making a purchase, we get a small referral fee at no extra cost to you. Thank you.

We had a small white folding table that I had my eye on for this project.   It was stained with some of my previous painting projects so it needed to be painted.  Since Paul is much better at spray painting than me, I asked him to paint it for me.  And of course, because he’s a sweet guy (brownie points girls!), he did it for me.  If you choose to paint your table, be sure you purchase a paint that will adhere to plastic well, or give your table a coat of primer prior to spray painting.

Paul spray painting the table for me.

I made a trip to the local hobby store and purchased some bright and colorful fabric because my plans included making a skirt for the table.  I sewed a hem in the bottom and the sides and then a pocket on the top, basically like a rod pocket curtain.  Then instead of a rod, I worked elastic through the pocket to gather the fabric into a skirt, stitching the elastic in place at both ends.  I then used Velcro to secure the skirt to the table.

Sewing the hem.

Sewing the rod pocket to hold the elastic.

If you aren’t familiar with how you work elastic or a string through fabric, this is how. Pin a large safety pin in the end of whatever it is you want to work through and then you can work it through with your finger tips.

Elastic worked all the way through and then pinned to hold it in place while I stitched it on the machine.

Rod pocket top completed and skirt gathered.

Velcro was placed in several places to secure the skirt to the table.

My next plan was a lemonade banner for the table and a way to hang it that would be sturdy enough to hold it, but could be taken apart for storage.  We chose to use PVC pipe and place it in a wooden base that would hold it securely.  This required two blocks of wood for each side. A hole the circumference of the PVC pipe was drilled in the middle of the smaller block, once again by Paul, and then it was secured to the top of the larger block.  The PVC pipe would then be placed in it and it would sit securely on the table and not be easily tipped or blown over by the wind or children, etc.

Stand completed that would hold the PVC pipe securely.

The PVC pipe was measured the correct width to fit the table and to obtain the height wanted.  Then we connected the pipe with, wait for it…..PVC pipe connectors.  Never saw that coming, right!  Next everything was painted yellow to match the table.

Back again at the local hobby store, I purchased a banner made from chalkboard paper.  My letters for LEMONADE could have been drawn on with chalk, but I saw some really cute colorful stick on letters that looked like chalk and I purchased those instead.  After all, my handwriting isn’t the best and time is money!

Perfect letters found for the lemonade banner.

The table was ready, the skirt was made and the stand for the banner was completed.  I wanted to spruce it up a little, so I added helium filled balloons to each side.  Three of my balloons escaped as soon as I placed it outside, so much for not tying them on tightly enough.  Lesson learned!

When I was in the hobby store picking out my fabric, they had an entire aisle of clearanced summer decorative items.  I found a cute lemonade welcome sign and two colorful baskets.  I filled one with lemons and the other with napkins to sit on the table.  Cups, lemonade and ice were purchased and all was ready.

The grandkids loved their lemonade stand.  They were even more thrilled with their profits.  And what little entrepreneurs!  Every yard sale customer was approached and politely asked if they would like to buy some lemonade or lollypops.  The lollypops were their idea and were a cute addition.

Happy little entrepreneurs!

Once the yard sale was over, everything except the table, was taken apart and packed away in this under bed storage container.  The table itself folds into a 2 ft x 2 ft  x 6 inch size and can easily be stored under the bed or on a shelf in the garage or basement.

Everything packed away in this under bed container.

Table and container.

It had been years since I had sewn, except for mending things, and I actually really enjoyed making the skirt.  The entire project was fun and I think it turned out great.  It received lots of nice comments from customers at the yard sale too, which is always nice!

What are your ideas for a lemonade stand?

There are lots of other very creative, talented lemonade stand builders out there.  Here are just a few of them:

DIY Lemonade Stand at the Nerd’s Wife

Vintage Lemonade Stand at Simply Kierste

Super Easy DIY Lemonade Stand at Happy Go Lucky

Our DIY Lemonade Stand at East Coast Creative

Lemonade Stand for Kids at Lia Griffith

This post will be shared at the lovely link parties found on my “Where I Party” page!