Make your own mini and marvelous fire pit
It’s the picture-perfect way to roast marshmallows at your intimate summer soirée!
Forget costly and cookie-cutter, store-bought fire pits. You can cast your own modern concrete fire pit and customize it to suit your backyard. It's durable, waterproof, and even portable, making it a great option to break out anywhere you and your friends wish to roast marshmallows and stargaze. Get ready, because your weekends are about to get a whole lot more relaxing.
Before we get started: Safety first! Be sure to do this project outside in a well ventilated area and wear proper safety gear like work gloves, safety goggles, and a mask when working with the cement.
Here's what you'll need:
- Tarp
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Large mixing bowl - 46 cm diameter
- Smaller mixing bowl - 38 cm diameter
- 26 kg cement mix
- 2 liters of water
- 20 L bucket
- Shovel or trowel
- Small weights to fit inside the smaller bowl, about 10 lbs
- Rubber mallet
- Sanding block
- Flat spray paint in colour(s) of your choice
- 3 small fuel canisters
- 36 cm round grill grate top for interior of fire pit bowl
- Decorative fire safe rocks, enough to cover the grill grate
Here's how to do it:
Lay out a tarp to protect your work surface. Spray the interior of the larger bowl and the exterior of the smaller bowl with the non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bucket, mix 24 kg of cement mix and 2 liters water by gradually adding small amounts of water and cement and mixing as you go until the whole amount of cement mixture has been combined. Fair warning: this gets very heavy so you might want to do this in a place where you won't mind leaving the firepit overnight while it dries.
Pour half of the cement mixture into the larger bowl. Place the smaller bowl on top and press down a bit so the space between the larger bowl and the smaller bowl is even on all sides. Then fill the gap between the two bowls with the remaining cement mixture.
Once you've filled in your fire pit mold with the wet cement mixture, place weights inside the smaller bowl and let dry for at least 48 hours.
Once the cement has set and dried, use a rubber mallet to carefully hit and loosen the bowls from the cement. Don't hit too hard or you may crack your cement masterpiece! When the bowls are loose enough remove them from the firepit and set aside. Use a sanding block to smooth out any rough edges, especially along the rim.
Decorate your brand new fire pit by spraying the outside with flat (only) spray paint in the colors of your choice! We used pretty pastels and a bright blue to create a tie-dye look we love.
When the paint has dried, open and place 3 fuel canisters inside the bowl and place a grill directly on top. Finish it off by adding fire-safe decorative stones on top, leaving a space in the centre. We used decorative jade for ours that we picked up at the hardware store. Light the canisters using a long match or lighter.
With this awesome new addition to the back yard, you'll be enjoying your outdoor space all year long. So invite some friends to make some epic s'mores, take some time to enjoy the fresh nighttime air.
