Boredom Buster: A DIY Backyard Fire Pit You Can Make In An Afternoon!

It's not a secret that I love Fall!

The leaves are changing, pumpkin spice is life and crisper, cooler evenings mean that I can comfortably be outside in a sweatshirt and jeans- my favorite attire of all time! When we moved last summer, my husband and I both knew we needed a yard that would offer us something to do all year long. 

So, we got a large in-ground pool for the summer months, a trampoline for the kids for cooler months and a fire pit (and a fire table!) to enjoy whenever we want to! (Click here to see the in-depth tutorial I did for Zulily!)

I'm not the savviest DIY-er (not that I don't want to be!), so when my husband mentioned building our own backyard fire pit, I figured I was signing on for a weekend-long affair that would cost a lot of money and test my marriage (you know, the same way a desk from IKEA does). When he dismissively assured me we could complete the project in a matter of hours for less than $100, I figured we weren't envisioning the same fire pit. 

But, low and behold, he was right and I was wrong (and he's not smug at all about it). After a quick trip to Lowe's (my husband's version of my Target) for a few supplies, he and I had a DIY backyard fire pit built in less time than it normally takes us to figure out what to watch on TV any given evening. 

Here is how we DIY-ed our own fire pit.

- We have a perfect shady spot in the corner of our yard with a tree whose branches are fairly high off the ground and a large patch of dirt where grass refuses to grow. 

-We brushed all dried leaves out of the way and cleared the ground of all debris, and then marked the circular fire pit we wanted to make with white spray paint on the ground. 

-After that, we securely stacked paving stones as close together as possible in rows until we reached our desired height. 

-From here, my husband secured them together with mortar, although this step is entirely optional. If your bricks or blocks are fit snugly enough together, you may not need to adhere them to one another. We also have curious kiddos who we worried might try to sit or stand on the blocks (kids!) and we didn't want them to come loose and fall on precious toes. So we decided to use mortar to make our fire pit more secure. 

After we completed our DIY backyard fire pit to our liking, we filled the bottom of the pit with pea gravel. My husband also contemplated pavestones and river rocks here, as both would provide a flame retardant base on which to build a fire that would look pretty when the pit wasn't in use. But we ultimately ended up going with pea gravel.

We purchased a grate to go over our fire pit when not in use so that debris (and even small animals) doesn't clog up our fire pit. We are hoping to get a grill to go over it to use in the Spring to grill meat on!

We enjoy this fire pit endlessly with our girls. We use it to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and my husband frequently uses it to burn leaves. I even hosted a socially-distanced girls' night where we were able to place camping chairs at a safe distance to enjoy each other's company (and a few libations!) around the fire.

Here's the DIY tutorial my husband made me watch if you still need inspiration: YouTube Fire Pit Tutorial

I can't stress enough how easy this fire pit was to build! I was really convinced that a proper, aesthetically-pleasing firepit would be both expensive and time consuming to create and really advocated for buying one. We ended up being gifted a fire table by a family member as a housewarming gift and use it just as much as our fire pit, although the pit is better for roasting things like marshmallows. I'm so pleased with the outcome and can't wait to continue to use it as the temperatures drop more!

Have you ever built your own fire pit?