New to Me Backyard Fire Pit

I was right.  Not a huge surprise, but the most important thing to remember is my bf was WRONG! Ha.  We have a lot of sticks in our backyard.  Not a couple here or there, it’s extreme, the entire yard is covered in sticks. Entirely.  Of course the dog loves it, but my paranoia only sees all the ways she can hurt her clumsy self.  So, I had the brilliant idea of buying or making a fire pit.  And I love having fires in the summer.  So, I started doing some cheapest options research.  Eventually we got our hands on a cast iron chiminea that someone was getting rid of.  They only wanted $30.  Nice!  Pitched the idea to the bf, he thought it looked like a piece of junk and no amount of DIY would make it look good. 

Not only did he not really want it, yet still put his faith in me…actually getting it was quite an ordeal.  The house was easy to find, but when we got there the chiminea was still full of garbage and dirt and looked pretty rough.  AND a huge plus, it was sitting by a giant pile of dog poo.  Like several months worth.  So, not only did my bf think buying used was a bad idea, but we go to get it and it will need to be emptied before he will have to hoist it into the car. Needless to say, we scrapped that baby out, kneeling by poop and all.  Sure I was thoroughly grossed out and thought that maybe he was right and we should just leave without the chiminea, but I would never admit that to my bf.  Anyway, we got it home.  Here are a couple before pictures:





It was pretty rusty and blotchy, so I bought some spray paint meant for BBQs so it was safe to use for temperatures up to 1200° F.  The BBQ paint only came in black, but that is what I wanted anyway.  To remove dirt, flakes, and rust, I washed the outside with some dish soap, hot water, and steel wool.  Wearing gloves of course.  Then I sprayed 2 coats of paint on the outside only with about 45 minutes between coats.

Materials:
- BBQ paint - $4.99
- Soap, water, steel wool – $0 (well technically there are water delivery and service charges but that's being nit-picky)
- rubber gloves - $1
- chiminea, fire pit - $30

TOTAL: $35.99 plus taxes

And the results:



   
Not too bad eh.  Cleaned up pretty nice! Looks almost new.  I was right…again! Of course because we only had 1 week of nice, summer like temperatures I haven’t set up the furniture around the fire yet (a couple of refurbished director’s chairs stay tuned for the before and afters). Eventually we’ll also need some outdoor fire tools for poking at the fire tending to the fire responsibly.  Luckily, I’ve got connections with a blacksmith, my grandpa.

Have you been working on any outdoor projects now that the weather is warming? Or maybe you’ve got out your fire pit and have a backyard makeover in the works? 

Please remember it is so important that we all use fire pits, chimineas, etc responsibly and know your bylaws.