This week I told you about how my kids (primarily my 9 year old) started a sno-cone stand. It has been such a fun adventure for us watching him learn things like customer service, working even when you don’t want to, how to engage customers, and how to not lick drops of syrup from your fingers while making someone a sno-cone 🙂 So today I thought I would share you with how I made the sno-cone stand. It is a super easy build and would be great as an outdoor bar or rolling food table.
The finished size on mine with wheels is 37” tall x 25 1/2” deep by 66” wide. With the sign overhead that made mine 77” tall, 27” deep and 66” wide. You can easily tweak the dimensions to suit your family. I made mine just short enough to be able to roll into our garage.
Supplies:
(6) 2 x 4 x 8’
4” swivel wheels
3 pallets broken down
Kreg Jig
2 1/2” Kreg Screws
Air nailer
Tape measure
Drill
Miter saw
Wood filler
sanding sponge
paint roller
Primer and paint
Optional:
chalkboards
spray paint
3/4” cup hooks
1. Cut out all your 2 x 4 boards. I started by cutting (6) boards 34”, (4) at 21” and (2) at 60”. I ended up cutting more and adding more supports later.
2. On your 21” boards drill two pocketholes on each side of the short ends.
3. Using Kreg screws drill those into the 34” boards. Your 21” board will lay flat on the ground, while the 34” board will stand upright on its side.
4. Next using wood screws attach your 60” pieces inside the frame supports you just built.
5. I originally added pocketholes but that didn’t work because of where the side support pocketholes lined up. So just ignore those and add wood screws countersunk into the side supports.
At this point it should look like this…
6. Then I added two more supports on the front spacing them evenly apart. However there was still a large gap between supports and I knew I would be using scrap wood at all different lengths so I added 3 more supports.
7. I started by planking both of the sides. I just cut them to fit. I stopped when a full board wouldn’t fit anymore.
8. Then I planked the front. Since the pallet wood pieces aren’t long enough you have to piece them in. So I made sure to cut the boards randomly so it didn’t look too symmetrical.
9. Next I flipped the stand over and added my wheels. I made sure to use 2” screws since the stand would get a lot of use and I didn’t want the wheels to pull out of the wood with all the rolling back and forth from our garage to the driveway.
10. Then I flipped it over and added those last wood boards to the sides and front.
11. I then used some weathered 2 x 4’s and used my Kreg jig to make pocketholes. I screwed them into the sides.
12. Using my wood screws I positioned the sign supports just tall enough to make the clearance on my garage door and screwed those in place into the back of side supports.
13. Next I cut a piece of plywood 16” wide to fit the top. I nailed it in place.
14. Then I ripped a small piece of plywood to cover the sides where the gap was between the sign support and the countertop.
15. Next I took some 1 x 2’s and added a face frame to the front and sides. Then I added a 1” x 6” face frame to the small pieces of plywood inside the sno-cone stand. That area is the perfect spot to put some hooks to hang wet rags to wipe up any syrup drips.
16. I patched and sanded all the holes. I taped off the countertop and then primed and painted the countertop with a sample pot of Valspar paint I had.
17. Once dry I added three coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly sanding between coats.
18. I found some cute chalkboard frames at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts Stores. I taped them off and spray painted 4 of the frames (Krylon Brand: Coral Isle, Mambo Pink, Periwinkle, and Yellow. The other two were some chalk paint in my stash (the green and the light peach). I predrilled holes and used 3/4” cup hooks to attach them to the counter and each other.
19. Lastly I cut a 1/4” plywood to fit the back of the sign supports. I used a foam roller to paint it black and then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a large sno-cone vinyl stencil out (to download file click here).
20. I used some small foam pouncers to paint the stencil with the aqua color from the countertop and some coral paint I had.
I then removed the vinyl stencil and did a few touch ups. I used my air stapler to attach the sign to the back of the 2 x 4 sign supports.
We made our own syrups (OMG they are so good!) and bought some gallon jugs with pumps.
I will definitely give you more details about the business soon. But for now take in the cuteness of these kids and their little business.
I think half the reason the booth is so successful is because my kids are adorable. The other half is because the booth is so awesome. It’s a coin flip. I just don’t know 😉
Because I know someone will ask…we have a 3 car oversized garage (see it in its organized glory here). We roll it and store it in there when not in use.