One of my favorite things about summer camping – campfires!
Roasting marshmallows and making s’mores, the sound of the crackling wood, the smell, seeing the illuminated faces of some of my fave people in the world against the dark backdrop of the night’s starry sky were all part of what we were missing last year.
The pandemic had hit and we had decided to not venture very far as a family. Joe and I wondered what we could do with the empty space where we had just uprooted her playground equipment from, that could allow us to further enjoy our backyard in Covid.
That’s when we thought to bring a little of camping to us in this easy-peasy weekend project. And we’re so happy that we did!
Our biggest challenge in it all was to find the ideal bowl that we could drop into the design of it and the mesh lid to prevent sparks from landing where not wanted. We searched and found one on Amazon that suited the need perfectly.
Having decided on the design we were after – one that wouldn’t be too permanent or involving, we paid a visit to one of our local building centers and purchased a load of landscape pavers.
Building the firepit…
We first determined where the center of the bowl would be located and marked it with a stake tapped into the ground.
We measured the radius from the center of the bowl, added the depth of the pavers, plus an additional 12 inches where we would be laying landscape rock, and carved out our total circumference in the grass.
We then removed the layer of sod from that area.
The bowl was then placed in the center, laying the first row of pavers snuggly to surround the bowl.
Joe continued with the layering of the pavers with minor adjustments along the way to even out the small spaces between the pavers in the forming of the circle.
Once the layering was complete, we emptied bags of landscape rock around the perimeter of the pavers to fill the space of the carved out grass to the edge of the pavers.
We placed our chairs around the pit, and enjoyed our first fire of the summer season!
Let the fun begin…
Eliza had asked for a sleepover of a few friends where they could set up the tent in the backyard and sleep outdoors. We were getting close to the end of summer, so thought that could be a fun night for them. Anything to see them well-adjusted, stress-free and still having the connection with friends in Covid was our thought.
We strung patio lights along the fence and from a tree to the garden shed corner, set up the tent which accommodated 7 bodies nicely and the kids got to enjoy an evening of camping out complete with roasting marshmallows over a campfire. And for breakfast, blueberry bagels and hot chocolate – fireside.
It was a little late in the season when we built it but seeing that we’re still in this mess, we plan to enjoy our backyard to the max this summer and that’s sure to include enjoying our new firepit on occasion.
With the kids…
or without!
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