Backyard Lemonade Stand

Here is everything I did to plan, prep and host a Backyard Lemonade Stand for my family and friends as we near the end of summer! This daytime event was a relaxed get-together with all lemon treats and drinks in a cabana-style setting on my back patio.

Within this blog post you can find everything you need from suggested timelines, supply/decor links, the menu with full recipes, my planning thought process and more!

Backyard Lemonade Stand

Helpful Links

Watch the backyard lemonade stand come to life in video form by clicking the links below:

• Part 1 – the planning
• Part 2 – organizing, crafting, gardening and recipe prepping
• Part 3 – the morning of & the lemonade stand!

Supply/Decor Roundup:

• Click here for what I used to prepare/decorate!

Note: anything not linked was likely a HomeGoods find or thrifted!

The Theme

After a handful of dinner parties over the last few months where it was necessary for me to spend some of the time in the kitchen preparing recipes to be served, I was craving a low key get-together where I could sit with my guests and have uninterrupted time together. I also, of course, wanted whatever the theme would be to feel very summery and vibrant. As I thought about it, I landed on a lemonade stand so that I could prepare all of the food and drinks in advance and set everything up self-serve style. It also felt perfect for one last outdoor event for the summer.

To bring my vision to life, I wanted to turn my rental back patio into what I thought a cabana meets lemonade stand would look like. Lots of yellow decor was obvious, but I also wanted to incorporate pops of pink to give it a pink lemonade vibe. In addition to the decor featuring pink, I even ordered pink lemons from a farm in California to make pink lemonade with!

I tried to use mostly things I already had for the backyard set up. I used an assortment of patio furniture that was mismatched yet cohesive, yellow tablecloths from my collection, a big patio umbrella I had from last year and even reworked a wooden stand I put together for my Backyard Carnival with new fabric from Spoonflower. It had that cabana feel I was hoping for, but also felt collected and true to my style.

For DIYs, I kept it simple by focusing on the lemonade stand, which was honestly not too bad and required zero sewing, just fabric tape! I also used the leftover fabric to cover pieces of cardboard boxes that I cut up to create signs that would further help with the self-serve aspect. I designed menus for the fabric signs as well as my own logos to be printed as stickers for the cups.

The Timeline

Hosting and parties of all kinds can seem intimidating or stressful, but I make sure to plan for them in a way that creates the most low stress hosting experience possible so I can actually enjoy the event alongside my guests. Here is a rough outline of how I would recommend preparing for this specific themed party!

Month-Week Prior:

• Invite your guests (of course! The sooner the better!)
• Draft a menu and grocery list, inclusive of dietary needs and taste preferences of your guests
• Take inventory of decor, DIY materials, serve ware, kitchen/cookout equipment, etc. to ensure you’re covered based on the amount of guests, your menu and any crafts you plan to carry out
• Order any supplies, decor and/or ingredients that need to be purchased online
• Test out your recipes
• Complete any DIYs, which in this case would be the lemonade stand, custom signs and logo stickers for cups

Week Of:

• Finish any DIYs and organize all decor
• If you’re hosting outside, keep up with your garden maintenance to save yourself more work later on
• Main grocery shop of everything that can be purchased in advance (the earlier in the week, the better!)
• Gather, organize and label all serve ware and table items so that everything is ready to be set out (I also like to bring my items to the garage so they’re ready to go day of!)
• Steam or iron linens for the tables

Two Days Before:

• Make the lemonades
• Make the syrups

One Day Before:

• If needed, secondary grocery shop as soon as the store opens to get any final needs and so you have as much time as possible
• Bake the almond flour lemon cake
• Make the vanilla buttercream
• Make the lemon curd
• Make the donut holes
• Make the lemon glaze
• Prep the lemon ice cream base
• Any final decor DIYs/touchups
• Tend to your yard as needed so it’s ready to set up if hosting outside. Even if hosting outside, I always make sure to clean the inside of my house so it’s guest ready!

Morning Of:

• Completely set up your patio/hosting space

During:

• Assist anyone that needs help with their treats or drink options
• Cut and serve the cake
• Make and serve the ice cream
• Enjoy!

Bonus Tips:

• Have food made in advance throughout the week that you can eat while prepping because you probably won’t want to be cooking when prepping multiple dishes for your party, plus it saves time!
• Run and empty your dishwasher before the party so you can load everything instead of hand washing and taking up counter space. The easier the cleanup the better!
• Clean your spaces the night before hosting then do last minute touch ups prior to guests arriving. Also, clean as you go to avoid a huge mess before guests arrive!

The Menu

Below is everything that I included on the menu. Everything was super easy to make and is able to be fully prepped in advance in the days leading up to the party!

Of course, you can pick and choose what you’d like and leave the rest!

The Drinks:

Lemonade & Pink Lemonade

• Ingredients:
  • 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 cups water
    • Note: if you’re planning to add flavored syrups to your lemonade, you can cut the sugar in half
      
• Instructions:
  • Combine the lemon juice and sugar together and whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved
  • Add in the water and mix together
  • Serve with ice and flavoreds syurps if you wish!

The Syrups:

Basil

• Ingredients:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 cups fresh basil
    
• Instructions:
  • Add water and sugar to a sauce pan and put on the stove over medium to low heat.
  • Bring to a simmer for about 3-5 minutes while stirring, ensuring it doesn’t burn. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat and add in the basil. While it steeps, I like to use a wooden spatula to smash the basil into the syrup and release more of that basil flavor.
  • Strain the syrup into a resealable glass container leaving out the basil and let cool before using it for your lemonade.

Strawberry

• Ingredients:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 cups frozen strawberries
    
• Instructions:
  • Combine strawberries, water and sugar in a pot on the stove over medium heat.
  • Bring to a slight simmer and keep an eye on the mixture, mixing lightly and pressing down on the strawberries as the sugar dissolves.
  • Once the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has thickened, your simple syrup is done!
  • Strain the syrup into a resealable glass container leaving out the strawberries and let cool before using it for your lemonade. You can save the strawberries you strain out to use as jam!

Blueberry

• Ingredients:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 cups frozen blueberries
    
• Instructions:
  • Combine blueberries, water and sugar in a pot on the stove over medium heat.
  • Bring to a slight simmer and keep an eye on the mixture, mixing lightly and pressing down on the blueberries as the sugar dissolves.
  • Once the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has thickened, your simple syrup is done!
  • Strain the syrup into a resealable glass container leaving out the blueberries and let cool before using it for your lemonade. You can save the blueberries you strain out to use as jam!

The Treats:

Donut Holes with Lemon Glaze

• Donut Holes Ingredients:
  • ⅔ cup full-fat sour cream
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup tapioca starch
  • ½ cup brown rice flour 
  • 2 tbsp potato starch 
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp xanthan gum
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • avocado oil
    
• Lemon Glaze Ingredients:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
    
• Instructions:
  • In a large pan on the stove, heat a generous amount of avocado oil to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, brown rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, xantham gum and salt.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix everything together into a smooth batter with a similar consistency to a thick cake batter.
  • Drop approximately 1 tbsp portions of the batter into the hot oil using a small cookie scoop. I spray mine with avocado oil so nothing sticks.
  • Fry the donut holes for about 4-5 minutes in total, flipping them halfway through. You should get approximately 35-40 donut holes.
  • Use a skimmer or a slotted spoon to remove the donut holes from the oil onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil and cool.
  • Once cool, mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to create the glaze.
  • Drizzle the glaze over the donut holes and enjoy!

Almond Flour Lemon Cake – click here for the recipe!

I topped mine with vanilla buttercream frosting and lemon curd. I have not perfected lemon curd yet, so feel free to use your favorite recipe! For the buttercream though, this is what I use:

• Ingredients:
  • ¼ cup butter, room temp
  • pinch salt
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 ½ tbsp milk or cream 
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    
• Instructions:
  • Whip room temperature butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth.
  • Add the salt and powdered sugar, one cup at a time, thoroughly mixing in the powdered sugar with each addition.
  • Pour in the milk or cream 1 tbsp at a time and whip for 20-30 seconds each time. Add the vanilla extract and mix on medium-high until fully mixed and thick.

Lemon Ice Cream

For this recipe, I used my Ice Cream Machine from GreenPan (click here!). It has not been tested using anything else!

• Ingredients:
  • 1 ½ cup whole milk
  • ¾ cup heavy cream, divided
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4-5 large lemons)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
    
• Instructions:
  • Combine all the ingredients and whisk together.
  • Keep the base covered in the fridge until ready to add to your machine.
  • Follow the soft serve ice cream instructions for the GreenPan Ice Cream Machine.

FOLLOW ALONG!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.

PS – If you make any of these recipes or are inspired to host a similar event, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!