Sunday, July 12, 2015

DIY Firepit area

I'm finally writing about my Father's day surprise for my hubby. Sorry this is a bit late! Trying to enjoy summer and taking care of three kids is most of how I spend my time these days. 

So I wanted to surprise Joe with an outdoor fire pit area he could relax in, make s'mores, tell ghost stories at night, etc. All the fun things you do outside with the kids. Hopefully to make lifetime memories. 

While I was out one day shopping I popped into Lowes to see approximately how much things were going to cost. After perusing Pinterest for DIY firepits I thought I could handle the task.  But then I saw this. A whole kit!  I snapped a pic of all the additional materials I would need and then felt very overwhelmed! Not sure the project would fit in my budget, time, or skill set so I left Lowes feeling pretty bummed out.



The following weekend our neighborhood Habitat for Humanity Restore was having a 50% off sale of everything in their store. In the corner, there sat a dingy beaten up gas fire pit.  I went over to Joe to tell him what I had found and then had to tell him about the surprise I wanted to make for him. I was gonna need help getting this bad boy home! It was super heavy and I needed him to help figure out if the gas worked. 

We got the beast home and I got to work scrubbing the years of mold off the marble and build up on the stone sides.


While it was drying I headed to Lowes and found Rust-oleums Stone Spray Paint to use for the sides. This stuff is awesome!  I covered up the marble top with painter's tape and magazines and used about 3 coats of this stuff to give the stone a new finish.


And then it sat like this in the yard for several weeks!  We didn't have the money to finish the project and I promised Joe I wouldn't spend any more money that month!


Then it was Father's Day.  We spent the morning celebrating the most perfect Dad. 


I made french toast with fresh bread I prepared that morning (okay the bread maker did all the hard work), with fresh peaches, Spam (a Hawaiian favorite) and fresh coffee. Then we gathered the family and headed to church and then home for a nice lunch. Joe then got his one Father's Day wish of a mid-day nap.  That's when I snuck out to build Joe the rest of what was going to be a surprise outdoor area.

A lot of money and sweating later, I came home with a hooptie lowered Van filled with 18 bags of Pea Gravel, a Wine Barrel to disguise the Propane tank, a Propane tank, and 3 large and 2 small Adirondack chairs.


Once I got home it was pretty easy to get everything ready. In just under two hours, I purchased and brought home everything, laid down the gravel around the fire pit in a circle, set up the propane tank under the table and placed the chairs around it.


What's left is to figure out what to put around the gravel to keep it tidy. One option would be to lay bricks around it. We'll let you know the progress of that.





Right before Joe woke up, I whipped up some blueberry smoothies for everyone to enjoy. We made him close his eyes and all counted to 10 before opening his eyes to surprise him. He was quite happy with how it turned out. Best Father's Day yet!


xo
Cathleen
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