It's the pits!

Ya, I know, catchy title hu? Well it was the pits! I had a fire pit in my back yard. I didn't take a before we started pic but you can tell from this that something needed to be done. See the big pipe, culvert, thingy sticking out of the ground?
Well that is what we have had for more than a year. Dangerous and ugly in one. It actually used to have bricks around it but they all broke up and looked bad so we were trying to figure out a surround that was not expensive. I would have loved to use those beautiful faux stone, stacked, you know, with a stone top and all. But have you priced those things? Well we decided on cement.
My husband thought it would be more interesting if it was in a octagon shape. We are not very good at math but soon figured it out and made the frame for the cement.
A little gravel in the bottom makes the cement go farther and makes a better base.
(this is what my husband says)
Smooth out with a trowel. I left this to the expert.

When it was all smooth I decided I wanted to try something. I kinda ruffed it up with a small trowel and made it look kinda like stone, you know, not smooth.
Then I took some stain and a old paint brush and a rag or an old shirt.
I just dabbed and wiped and dabbed and wiped with the stain. I kinda like the look. It looks a little like stone and better that just plain old cement.

I will put a stone sealer on it and I think we might even use this old pit.