August 3, 2011

Summer Is Perfect For: A Lemonade Stand!

We finally did it! A real, no kidding, legit lemonade stand.  The kids had a blast, we raised money for a good cause AND there was much deliciousness to be had.  Here {in no particular order} are some Dragonfly tips for a great Lemonade stand experience:

1. Make your prices clearly visible.  Hannie B. and I whipped up a few cardstock signs on the computer to attach to our stand. She chose the color palette and font. I did the rest

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2. Add in some goodies to sweeten the deal! We had cupcakes, snickerdoodles and rice crispie treats individually wrapped and ready to go.  We also sold little candy cups for a quarter each.  They were a hit with everyone, especially Owlie.

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3. Sell lemonade to help others! We donated half of our proceeds to our friend Chris’ foundation which helps offset the medical costs of pediatric cancer patients.  The kids were more than happy to yell, “Buy some lemonade! Help fight cancer!” And patrons were willing to buy lemonade to help out, too.

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4. Jazz your stand up with inexpensive décor! The Hubby helped us make our stand using some cheap crates from WalMart and a 50 cent board  and some dowels from the remnant pile at Home Depot. We can reuse these pieces anytime the kids want to have a stand in front of our house. 

We added a little garland from scrap paper we already had and some Lemon napkins from my cloth napkin stash. We even had a few leftover tissue paper flowers from this party that hung from our umbrella. All of our goodies were displayed on cake plates. It was, as Hannie B. put it, “so cute”.

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5. Invite some friends to help out!  We did our Lemonade Stand with our friends the Mecks.  Which is a good thing, because otherwise it would have just been my kids fighting and bugging eachother. Their kids are hard workers and besties with our kids. I’m pretty sure there was giggling, candy eating, lemonade drinking and some salesmanship going on.  It was HOT and these kids kept it going for two whole hours.IMG_0853

6. Advertise! I put the message out to my local friends on Facebook that we were having a Lemonade Stand. We also had the kids  ride this go-cart around with a sign pointing to the stand. Good ol’ yelling at cars as they drove by worked pretty darn well too.

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A few other things that worked well:

  • a cooler full of ice so we could indeed sell “ice cold” lemonade. 
  • Lots of extra lemonade. We made a few gallons and stored them in a cooler. When the stash on the stand ran low the kids just refilled it.
  • Cups with lids and straws! We found ours at Target.
  • A good location.  We actually drove down to our neighborhood park which is on a major road near our pool.

A lemonade stand is truly a quintessential summer kid fest.  We had a great time!

10 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

Awesome in every single possible big and little way!

This could be an article in Family Fun magazine.

Seriously.

MelancholySmile said...

I've been loving your Summer posts, but this tops them all! What a beautiful stand! And what a great activity for your kids to learn from and enjoy!

PS this may sound silly, but I LOVE the wire basket you used as a trash can. Source?

The Dragonfly said...

The wire basket was a contribution by our friends the Mecks. I'll inquire . . . I have a feeling she'll say TARGET! :)

Stacey Gerlach Moe said...

I wish I had your energy and talent!!!! Great job!

Kernal Ken said...

Great job! And, I presume no visits from the FDA police nor the Leesburg Tax officialdom. Amazing!

Aiketa said...

As I expected, your lemonade stand was awesome. And I really love that you also sold other things, specially these oh-so-yummy-looking cupcakes!

Ronalin said...

It was so much fun, the Meck fam loves the Lee's!! Thanks for letting us have an awesome Lemonade Stand.

The Queen Vee said...

I can't drink Lemonade but I would have happily bought cups and cups for other people. So clever, so fun, such a good cause and even though it was hot I just want to say, the Lees and the Mecks are COOL people.

Tobi said...

Your clever decorations would have sucked me in pronto! Never has the world seen such a beautiful lemonade stand. I bet you would be killer in PR.

Laura Waltz said...

That is the best Lemonade Stand I have ever seen! Sure looks like you all had fun raising money for a good cause.