It’s starting to feel like fall in Seattle–temperatures are cooling down, kids are getting ready for school, and football season is starting! I was never particularly into football before, but with my favorite Seattle team going to the Big Game twice in a row, I got sucked in over the last two years. I gotta admit, it’s pretty fun–although my favorite part is not so much the football itself as it is the social element of it.

Every game is a reason to gather with family and friends, eat yummy snacks and drinks, and feel like we’re all “in it” together. Who wouldn’t want that? To get ready for this season’s football parties, I decided to make a serving tray that looks like a miniature football field (complete with field goals at either end)! No matter which team you’re rooting for, this DIY football field serving tray will make your snacks and wine feel even more special.

To make this, you will need:

• Plain wood tray
• Wood stain
• White paint and paintbrush
• Wood letter “H”, cut in half
• Thin wood dowel, cut into two 1.5” pieces
• Artificial turf, cut to the size of the tray

My “field goals” were made by sawing in half a capital letter “H” that I found in the wood section of my local craft store. I drilled small holes at the bottom of each field goal and pushed a thin wood dowel (cut to 1.5” length) into them. Then, I painted the whole thing white. Meanwhile, I stained my wood tray and drilled small holes in the middle of each end.

Next, I cut a piece of artificial turf to same size as the inside of the tray and painted it with yard lines to look like a football field. I didn’t try to make it perfectly accurate–just enough so you could tell what it was supposed to be. Once that was done, I placed the turf inside the tray and pushed the field goals into the holes on either end of the tray. Voila!

One of my favorite things about this project is that the turf and field goals are totally removable, so you can take them off after football season is over and use it as a regular wood serving tray.

One thing to note: the field goal handles are pretty fragile, so you’ll want to hold the tray by the sides or the bottom (especially if it’s full of snacks and wine!), rather than trying to actually use the field goals as handles.