When life gives you lemons...
Updated: Sep 16, 2021
make lemonade! We've all heard that saying and I must say, this year has been pretty...well...lemony... am I right?
With all the virus spikes, we have been staying around the house and trying to create our own fun. Times like these remind me of the line in the Mary Poppins song, "You have to find the fun, annnnnd snap! The job's a game!" Lemons can be pretty sour on their own.. but add a little sweet, perhaps "a spoonful of sugar," and you have lemonade! My Makerie Day gatherings that were scheduled had to been cancelled when all this started and continue to be on hold. I had to find the "sweet" in this year full of lemons. I had to create Makerie Days for myself and my own family. Somedays a lemony day will be harder to squeeze the fun out of than other days. Like I've said before in the About section on this blog... a makerie day doesn't have to be a big group. It can be a group of two or even just you! Theme your day, try something new, and don't forget to share about it.., it inspires others too! (excuse the Seuss.. being home for so long can also make you a little silly!)
Here are some lemon themed ideas for you to try that we did this year....
We bought a citrus squeezer online and made homemade lemonade on the back porch one day. It took about 6 lemons, a cup of sugar, and cold icy water to make some delicous lemonade! You can save the halved lemons, and scoop out the pulp, to make some mini candles for your kitchen!
Here's a link to the citrus juicer we bought. This one was a little pricey, but there are others out there that are less expensive. I wanted something pretty that would look nice out on the counter all summer long.
On this one particular afternoon we centered the whole theme around lemons...
We also enjoyed some lemon grilled chicken and crostini for appetizers..
One of my favorite crostini combos was cherry preserves on ricotta with basil layered on top of french bread. Making homemade bread can be a whole makerie day in itself! Oh, did I mention we played French music on a record player outside? You HAVE to have music with a makerie day! It makes it so much more fun!
My mom lives with us and we have been trying to find creative makerie days we can do together this past year.... She really enjoyed making the lemonade. She even made extra to keep in recycled bottles in the fridge.
Here's another idea for a lemon theme... make some lemon themed gifts! I love sending out happy mail surprise packages! I created some of these "Boxes of Sunshine" as gifts. They are filled with cards, lemon scented hand wipes, sunny chip clips, lemonade packets, paper drink umbrellas, and my homemade lemon soap!
I spent another lemony makerie day making these teacher gift baskets... these berry baskets included a lemonade packet, my homemade soap, my homemade lemon sugar hand scrub, and a sweet teacher card! Find my recipe for these soaps and sugar scrub HERE!
I sold these to neighbors and created a little station on the porch where they could pick up their baskets...
See the glimpse of the table above? That's actually a potting bench my husband and I put together during another makerie day. I really wanted a Pottery Barn potting bench but it was out of my price range. I found one on Amazon for around $80, we added some shelves from scrap wood, and stained it. We got to have a whole makerie day just creating this piece and decorating it! It's been so much fun having a lemonade stand on the front porch! See the whole process of how we created this outdoor beverage station HERE!
Here are some more cards I created on another makerie day with a lemon theme in mind... consider making a day devoted to spreading sunshine to those who've been sick during this time or who have been having to stay home. Think about the medical staff, teachers, and essential workers that could use an extra boost of encouragement. Everyone could use some sunshine this year!
I hope these ideas have made your day a little sweeter and if you decide to try them let me know! Wishing you many sunny days ahead... hope you can squeeze some fun out of an ordinary day to make it a makerie day!
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#makerieday on Instagram... I'd love to see what you create!