When life gives you a pallet…you make a lemonade stand

A few weeks ago, a co-worker asked if I would like a pallet that had been used to deliver computer equipment to our office. He said he was going to put it in the dumpster, but he thought he should check to see if I might be interested in taking it home instead.  I am sure I had blathered on at some point about reusing or recycling everything so I was really impressed that he had been listening and psyched had made such a thoughtful offer.

It took a few days, but I finally got it home.  (My co-worker went above-and-beyond and cut the pallet in half so I could fit it in my Mazda wagon!)

Once home, HH asked me what we were going to do with it.  While I had lots of ideas, I had not mentally committed to anything yet and so, the Pinterest exploration began.

There was this idea where you turn a pallet into a upright garden.

Source: Lifeonthebalcony.com
http://lifeonthebalcony.com/how-to-turn-a-pallet-into-a-garden/

However, I was pretty sure that my pallet had been made with chemically treated lumber.  Rather than worrying if the plants were being slowly poisoned, I decided against this idea.

That also ruled out any cool indoor projects like pallet art

Source: LIfe As aThrifter
http://lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com/2012/03/hello-sunshine.html

or a pallet wall

Source: The Bower Power Blog
http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2010/02/nursery-news-accent-wall/

The idea that won the day was…a lemonade stand!

HH was immediately on board.  When I told Vader, he was interested…especially if he could use it to help him make some money.  Splash and Turtle were a “yes” too.  It involved paint and power tools…which is perfect for two four-year-olds!

While we did not follow anyone else’s plans, we did steal at least one idea from Pinterest. We loved the look of the stripes from this stand.

This is Me Inspired
http://thisismeinspired.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-vintage-food-stands.html

I also love these straws and the printables from Living Locurto.  Perhaps when the stand is open for business, we’ll print a few of these up.

Source: LIving Locurto
http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/07/lemonade-stand-free-printables/

Still, nothing on Pinterest seemed like a great match for the dimensions of our pallet and so our stand is a Chez Bosslady original design.

Here is our supply list:

• One wood pallet – 4′ long and 2′ wide
• A scrap piece of paneling (already had in workshop)
• Box of nails (had on hand)
• White spray paint – $3.98
• Yellow spray paint – $3.98
• 3 – 1/2″ x 5 ft. PVC pipe – $4.41
• 2 – 1/2″ PVC elbows – $0.56
• 2 – 1 x 2 x 6 pine lumber – $4.64
• white, yellow and black acrylic paint (had in-house)
• scrap 1 x 6 for sign (had in workshop)
• 2 eye hooks for sign (had in workshop)
• twine (had in house)

Total cost was about $18.

HH and I started by taking the first half of the pallet apart.  We then used the loose pieces to form the sides of the other half so that the end result was a “C” shape.  It was kinda like a game of Jenga, except with hammers, a heavy mallet and lots of nails.

Afterward, we let the fellas paint it.

I cut the 1 x 2 lumber into 2′ strips that Vader sprayed yellow.  These pieces would be nailed into the spaces between the pallet original planks.

HH drilled holes into the corners of the stand and we slid in the PVC pipe.

Then we connected the PVC elbows.

While the littler boys were playing in the rain, I worked up a little sign with Vader’s help.

Vader quickly did all of the letters in the word “Lemonade”  and then got bored.  So while he went outside to attach the yellow strips to the front of the stand, all on his own mind you, I finished it.  Then we hung the newly made sign with the eye hooks and the twine.

The only thing left to do is cut, paint and attach the top of the stand. Unfortunately, we had to stop since we could not spray paint or use the table saw in the garage and the rain from Tropical Storm Debbie never let up.   But that did not stop the brothers of “Brothers Three Lemonade” from giving their new stand a go.

Daddy was their first customer.

And in true Chez BossLady fashion, at least one of the boys was naked.  (That’s just how we roll around here.)

The boys cannot wait to move this out to the street and start making some money and HH and I are happy that we were able to put this pallet to good use.  I will post some additional pictures of the finished product on a sunnier day.

Hope you had a great weekend!

~ Jennifer