Nothing says cozy and comfortable like flames crackling in a backyard fire pit. Imagine gathering with friends and family, sipping wine, roasting hot dogs, and making s’mores around your fire pit during cool nights. Relax and have fun knowing that you spent very little on your DIY backyard fire pit idea because you made it using inexpensive or repurposed materials.

Nearly every fire pit idea in this blog costs between $50 and $150. The secret to these low costs is the basic building materials used to form the fire pits, such as bricks, pavers, concrete, and retaining wall blocks. You can make fire pits from repurposed materials such as metal planters, flower pots, steel receptacles, and even glass.

Fire Pit Fuel Sources

Gel canisters designed for fireplaces or low-combustion pressed wood logs can supply the fire’s fuel in most smaller fire pits. You can use real wood logs or charcoal in the larger pits. Be sure to check with local air quality restrictions on burning wood outdoors.

DIY Retaining Block Fire Pit

For this, you can purchase retaining wall blocks from your local home improvement store and stack them four tiers high, using the lawn as the pit’s floor. To increase the oxygen flow, cut one of the blocks in half and place each half on opposite sides near the bottom of the ring to form the necessary vents. Retaining wall blocks effectively form the pit walls thanks to their angled sides, creating a perfect circle without gaps.

DIY Easy Fire Pit with Pavers

Fast, easy, and, most importantly, inexpensive describes the approach taken to creating this fire pit. A trip to a home improvement store will cost you around $50 for retaining wall blocks, sand, and pavers. First lay a ring of blocks, maintaining a diameter of 33 inches, then install pavers for the floor. A quick sweep of sand across the pavers is enough to lock them in place and prevent the blocks from shifting. The project does not include grout, mortar, or concrete, making it a perfect starter masonry project. The hardest part is paring down some pavers with a hammer to create a circle. Use a hammer and masonry chisel, making sure to wear heavy gloves and safety glasses.

DIY Pond Fire Pit

As long as the size is correct, old garden ponds work perfectly as fire pits since they are usually lined with non-combustible rocks. Ensure that the pond has stone or concrete lining, not PVC, EPDM (a synthetic rubber), or other flammable pond liners. The transformation is simple, all it takes is a layer of sand, a covering of rocks, plus firewood in the middle to start the party.

Modern-Style DIY Metal and Glass Fire Pit

For less than $25, you can craft a small, sleek, and contemporary-style fire pit out of glass frame coverings, a metal planter, and a metal grate. Glue sheets of glass together with marine silicone, then place the four-sided glass structure into a rectangular metal planter. Place a grate on the bottom for gel canisters to fuel the flames. If you cannot find a metal planter that is just right, a terra cotta planter will work equally as well.

DIY Mini Fire Pit

Here’s a true mini fire pit made using a flower pot to create the size and shape. Your fire pit can take the form of any large plastic container you choose, such as a flowerpot or urn. For this DIY fire pit, spray the inside of the container with non-stick cooking spray and pour in quickly setting concrete. Set one or more gel fuel canisters into the wet concrete to create the right-sized space (coat the canister with non-stick cooking spray for easy removal). Place rocks or beach glass into the still-wet, pliable concrete mix for a sparkling finishing touch. When the concrete dries, remove the container (gently break it apart if necessary or glide the concrete out of the container) for your unique fire pit.

Suspend a Cauldron

Classic fire pits are a must-have out in the wilderness or camping; they are the primary method of getting warmth and making food. So, nothing is more old-school and referential to camping than erecting a tripod and hanging a giant cast iron cooking pot or stylish deep cauldron in your backyard. But in this case, instead of lighting the fire underneath the kettle, put the firewood inside the kettle and enjoy the warm glow.