Summer fun for the kiddos – and less of a storage headache for you – this folding lemonade stand can be set up, taken down, and tucked away by a 9 year old!

This is a sponsored post.  I was provided with a Nitro 20V Power Share WORXSAW 4.5″ cordless compact circular saw with brushless motor to test and review as part of this project.  All opinions are sincere and my own.

I was in a mood to “play” the other day.

Just go through my scrap wood pile and sort of aimlessly build something.  No plans, no (accurate) measuring, and no real accuracy – just grab some wood and see what I could make.

I still had (and still have) leftover boards from my parent’s fence that was ripped down – pressure treated – so the project needed to be an outdoor build.

I started putzing away and my goofing off ended up with this:

It’s obvious right?

Okay, the title of the post gave it away – it’s a folding lemonade stand!

My girls had lemonade stands all the time when they were small, but I never built them a lemonade stand because we just didn’t have room in the garage to store it.  One sized big enough to hold a couple of girls behind it would have been a real-estate-eater, so we went with tables and signs.

My friend “Miss Little Bit” however, lives elsewhere and so storing it wouldn’t be my problem.  😂.  (I know, I’m such a good friend.)

Actually, I wanted to build it for her so she could have the same entrepreneurial fun my girls did (it’s quite a learning experience!), but I didn’t want her Dad to hate me, so I also needed it to be collapsible.

In my puttering – this is what I came up with:

The plans were drawn up after-the-build, so they are far more accurate than my bumbling build.

Folding lemonade stand

Cuts:

• (2) 1″ x 4″ x 24″ (front frame)
• (4) 1″ x 4″ x 10 ¾” (side frames)
• (20) ¾” x 2 1½” x 32″.  (face boards)
• if you want a sign post like mine, then one of the boards will be 60″ long.  If you want two, then make 2 of them longer.
• (2) ¾” plywood cut to 12″ x 24″. (I went with 14″ deep to give a little extra counter space)

I was upcycling 5/8″ pressure treated fence boards, so I planed them down to ¾” thickness.  They were varying widths, so I also ripped them all down to be 2 ½” wide.

Starting with the centre section, inset your 24″ 1×4 by ¾” on your face boards. This is so that when you fold your DIY lemonade stand open, the sides will be tucked neatly behind the front board.

Your shelf heights are optional, but I set the front frames 3 ¾” down from the top of the face boards and 2 ¼” up from the bottom.  This gave lots of room for both the 3/4″ thick shelf on the top of the folding lemonade stand (so nothing slides off and breaks) and plenty of storage underneath.

Use outdoor-appropriate wood glue and deck screws to attach the remaining face boards.  I used a paint stir stick to space my boards out.

If you are making a menu-board-type sign, the last board you attach will be your 60″ one.  If you want a sign to run across the top of your folding lemonade stand, then you’ll want to install a 60″ one at either end of your 24″ front frame.

Remember that there needs to be a ¾” inset at either end of your front panel.

To build the sides of your folding lemonade stand, you’ll start with a 1 ¼” inset one one side of the side frame boards; 1″ for the depth of the wood and then ¾” for the depth of the face boards.  Your two side panels should MIRROR each other – one for each side of the centre panel.

Your last board will need to be ripped down to end flush with the edge of the side frame boards.  If not, your folding lemonade stand won’t be able to fold in on itself.  (I’ll show you how I fixed mine later.)

Place your plywood shelves on top of the frame boards and you should have something that looks like this:

You can stop building here if you want, but I used a few bits of scrap wood and glued and nailed them to the folding lemonade stand, just above each shelf.  Note: I attached them to the stand, I did not nail them into the shelves.  This gave a clean “notch” that the shelves/counter could slide into for a bit of extra rigidity.  Not needed, the hinges will keep everything in place, but I had the wood so what the heck right?

 

Pretty sharp!

But the marketing appeal was a bit weak to get thirsty walkers attention.

I ramped it up with Benjamin Moore’s Arbourcoat (outdoor stain) in Gypsy pink, Poolside blue and Eccentric lime.

Once the stain had dried, I attached the 2″ hinges to the frame boards to bring it all together.

The hinges will be inset on the front frame boards, so attach them to the sides first and then the front panel afterwards.

So, now that it’s about to be look-at-my-super-awesome-folding-lemonade-stand, I’ll show you my biggest mistake.  The face boards on the outer (not hinged) sides of my side panels were too big.  Don’t worry, the plans are accurate – I built this before making the plans.

Since my boards were glued on already, removing two, ripping them down, and then re-attaching was not the easiest route to take.

BUT

My go-to-team at WORX Tools had asked me to test out their Nitro 20V power share WORXSAW, and this was the PERFECT project!  

He’s the big man on the far left.  (as you can see, I’m a bit of a WORX fan – and this doesn’t even include my garden tools!) 😍

First, a bit of info…. traditionally power tools had brushes – kind of like little wire brooms of graphite and copper that touched the motor to transfer the electrical current to the rotors inside.  I think I have that right?  The problem with having a motor with brushes is that they wear out over time and this leads to shortened lifespan and an increased need for repairs and/or replacement.

With a brushless motor – like the WORXSAW cordless compact circular saw – don’t have brushes to wear down or clog up.  This means that the tool will last much longer with little to no maintenance and it is much more efficient.

Basically, brushless is the way to go.

 

The Nitro WORXSAW runs 50% longer, is 25% more powerful, and has 10% longer life than a traditional motor.

Wanna know what else?  It COMES WITH a battery and charger.  (not like a certain green company that charges an extra $100 or so on top of the tool).

NITRO 20V POWER SHARE WORXSAW 4.5″ CORDLESS COMPACT CIRCULAR SAW WITH BRUSHLESS MOTOR

• Power to Outperform—Worx Nitro tools are engineered to provide greater power, performance, and runtime.
• This cordless compact circular saw features a compact design for excellent maneuverability and portability. Quick rip and plunge cuts have never been easier, just grab the WORXSAW and go.
• 0-46° bevel cuts are a breeze with this 4.5 in. circular saw, just set the easy-to-use bevel adjustment lever.
• Ergonomic grip for comfort and control. You can work all day with the vibration-absorbing handle.
• Made for stock lumber— This 20V cordless circular saw was designed for 2 in. lumber, with exceptional depth-of-cut.
• Greater cutline visibility—The left-sided design lets you see exactly what you’re cutting.
• This cordless compact circular saw features a dust port to hook up your shop-vac and keep your project and your workspace clean.
• Faster blade—The WORXSAW only uses a blade with a 3/8 in. arbor size. That’s half the size of traditional circular saws, so the motor can spin it twice as fast.
• Do it all with Power Share batteries—Worx Power Share intelligent batteries maximize power, performance and runtime and are compatible with all Worx 20V and 40V tools, outdoor power and lifestyle products.

That’s a lot of words inserted into a DIY folding lemonade stand post – but let me show you what this little baby can do:

It can, with one hand and no cord to fiddle with, clean up the giant error this DIYer made on the sides of the collapsible lemonade stand.

IE. I was able to EASILY cut off (rip) the excess wood from both the side panels, right through to the side frame boards – the WORXSAW can cut up to 2″ thick.

I measured how much I needed to cut off of each side, set up the little rip fence that comes with the WORXSAW and then glided it along for a perfect, even cut!

If I really wanted to get fancy, I could have set the saw at a 45º bevel and ripped down the sides so that they overlapped each other at a perfect seam.

I find circular saws intimidating – I think because I’m so accident-prone – but this compact circular saw gave me no hesitation whatsoever.  It felt safe in my hand, ran smoothly with no kick, and the benefit of not adjusting a cord during a long cut was fantastic.

Because the depth was adjustable, I set it to exactly how much I needed to cut off and didn’t have to remove the side panels from the front to cut.  As you can see, I’m cutting the sides while they are folded directly on the face frame!

SO!  With the sides cut down perfectly, my folding lemonade stand could now fold down on itself!

To see how easy it is to set up and take down this folding lemonade stand – watch Miss Little Bit (9 yrs old) handle it:

 

Miss Little Bit is up and open for business!

Okay, not really.  Ontario is under a province-wide stay-at-home order (lockdown), so actually selling lemonade right now is technically against the law. 

And, like most small businesses, she will likely go under. 😢

But not before her Daddy and I buy her out of cookies!

Covid will end someday right?

I asked her to pose like Vanna White.

Yeah, she had no idea who that is. lol

The upside of this folding lemonade stand is that it’s so easily transportable, and takes up a tiny footprint in your garage or shed, that it can be stored away until the world goes back to “normal” and kids can play outside again.  (I’m just hoping she isn’t 6 feet tall by then!)

Oh!  I almost forgot!

The sign is just ¼” scrap plywood coated with a mat black paint and hung on the 60″ post with a French cleat.  Easy-peasy for Miss Little Bit to take down and write on, then hang back up herself.

A special thank you to WORX Tools for providing the Nitro 20V Power Share WORXSAW 4.5″ cordless compact circular saw with BRUSHLESS motor for this project (and many, many more to come!)

 

For full details, including specs and pricing click any of the highlighted links in this post.

Some of my favourite WORX Tools (affiliate links – for full affiliate disclosure, please see sidebar or bottom of the page)

Have a great one!