Bonfire is our theme of the day. Why? Because I am guest posting over at Kludgy Mom for Gigi’s fabulous Around the Bonfire series.

Over there I’m spilling the challenges of parenting an elementary-aged kiddo (it gets much more complicated than picking the proper pacier, trust me). I thought I’d spill a lighter secret here and share an easy hack the whole family will love: a DIY s’mores fire pot.

Our little family escaped to the beach for a few nights over Labor Day weekend. We had no set agenda, no drama, no obligations — with the exception of s’mores on the beach. I’d been a slacker mom: my kiddo had yet to feel the ooze of melted white sugar goo sticking to his fingers or yelp in awe as he made a marshmallow torch. There is a technique to making a proper s’more, and though I’d camped for years during my own childhood, I’d yet to share the tradition.

I owed this kid some kick-ass s’mores.

One teeny problem: bonfires were not permitted on our beach.

But. . .though it is as crowded as the interstate during rush hour come noon, at night the powered sands are deserted. The beach patrol may cruise by and the neighbors can be tattle-tales with itchy fingers, but save for teenagers hanging out, lovebirds strolling along the dunes, or a group of insane shark fisherman carrying their poles and kayak towards the jetty (did I mention our beach is The Shark Bite Capital of the World?)—there aren’t many poeple.

It was worth the risk, even if we couldn’t do a REAL fire. So we’d make our campfire portable—and easy to extinguish and run. 

All you need:

• an unglazed terra cotta pot
• heavy duty aluminum foil
• charcoal
• lighter fluid & lighter
• S’mores supplies 

I used a 10-inch orchid pot—just what I had empty in the garage. Line the pot with foil. If the pot will be exposed to wind or a heavy breeze (like our beach gusts) leave enough foil to pull up to shield the coals from the wind.  Fill it about halfway with charcoal and douse with lighter fluid. Light and watch that baby glow.

*You can go old school and use whittled sticks or pick up some of the nifty extendable s’mores roasting forks (I found at Target) or 30″ wooden roasting sticks (from Christmas Tree Shop).

*Instead of the traditional Hershey’s bars I used these Moser Roth dark chocolate bars from Aldi. They fit on the graham crackers nicely, were far cheaper, and, well, dark chocolate makes me swoon.

Did I mention it was the weekend of the blue moon? Only when the moon appeared over the roaring waves it shone like a crimson fireball — more like a solar eclipse from a sci-fy tale than a silvery globe. Either way, it was brilliant and bold as the little flowerpot flames seemed to lick at it’s trail.

Remember to head over to Kludgy Mom and check out her Around the Bonfire series and her other words of wisdom!