When our store-bought fire pit became a victim of one nasty storm (a tree limb fell on it and crushed a big dent into it), we started to look around for a new one. The problem was that it was out of season, so such things weren’t easy to come by, unless we wanted to special order one in the hundreds of dollars. The one we had was a clearance item at our local grocery store and cost us less than $60. It was functional and decorative and served us well.
We looked around a bit and couldn’t find anything that fit our need: round, sturdy and inexpensive. So, instead of spending more than we wanted or settling for something that we didn’t want, we decided to bide our time in case a good deal came up.
The kids asked, “So, what about the smores and sitting around the campfire?” They were afraid that we would have to skip those summer nights of hanging out and enjoying a treat. No problem. We just our own semi-permanent fore pit in our backyard. It was easy to set up, and it will be easy to take down when we no longer need it.
First, we cleared a circular space, larger than what we wanted for our pit. We didn’t want to go too large, just enough to allow for a couple of logs. We used the size of the old store-bought fire pit as a guide.
Next, we gathered larger stones from the yard and placed them in a ring. The helps to contain the fire. A few logs or large rocks placed outside the pit serve as seating. It gives everything a nice rustic camping in the woods kind of feel, and to be honest, I actually like it better than having the store-bought fire pit. What started out as a work around to save money, actually turned out to be something that we like much better.