How to Decorate a Football Tiered Tray with 7 Easy Ideas

Football is back! Add a little fall fun to your home décor and style a football tiered tray with these 7 easy ideas.

Do you still like to style tiered trays for your home?

I know they were super popular but are they still?

Or is the tiered tray trend over?

I’m not so sure…but what I do know is that I still have fun decorating them whether they’re in vogue or not.

I think what I like best is the challenge to come up with new ideas to fill up my galvanized 2-tiered tray.

If you’ve been around our blog a while you know that we are part of a monthly virtual supper club with four other bloggers.

Each month we create a new tablescape and menu to go along with a different theme.

Since there are two of us running the show around here we get to split the work for this monthly feature.

I’m responsible for the tablescapes and Anne is our chef who creates a delicious new recipe each month.

Last month our theme was football tailgating or watch party which was different for all of us but so much fun to get our creativity going.

I styled my dining room table with neutral décor items I had at home and that could be repurposed to fit a football inspired theme tablescape.

My table came out so great that I decided to throw a football watching party with a few friends.

I mean why not right?!

So I hesitated pulling out my galvanized tiered tray and putting together a football inspired tray since I wasn’t sure they were still “in style”.

But realized I wanted to add a little more décor to the buffet tables where I was serving snacks and drinks and a tiered tray was a perfect option.

So the verdict is…YOU do YOU…or I do ME…LOL!

Do what you like and don’t worry so much about the trends.

What Décor Items Did I Use to Decorate My Tiered Tray?

2 tiered galvanized tray with football inspired decor items on table

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Supplies Needed:

I like to shop my house when styling tiered trays so they’re affordable to change up seasonally or for special occasions.

The only new item I bought to create this tiered tray was that super cute football themed mug.

I couldn’t pass it up at Hobby Lobby for 40% off.

What Are Anchor Pieces?

chalkboard sign reading fall is for football mug reading foot football friends and a full size football on black side table

In my post 9 Easy Steps to Decorate Tiered Trays I talked about anchor pieces or focal items.

Basically your focal points of a tiered tray are the larger décor pieces that coordinate with the theme of your design.

These bigger items are your starting point for styling your tiered tray.

For my football tiered tray I used a football, a chalkboard and that cute mug as the anchor pieces.

All three of these items are larger, eye catching and go with my football theme.

Since I didn’t have a football inspired sign I grabbed a small chalkboard and wrote a football quote on it.

Chalkboards are a great anchor piece for tiered trays because you can decorate them with any quote or hand drawn picture.

How to Use Greenery and Faux Stems

faux greenery plants and two faux fall wheat bundles on table

I usually add some sort of natural element when styling my tiered tray.

Greenery, stems and flowers are a perfect natural element even if they are faux!

For this design I added two faux plants in different styles and sizes.

And two small bunches of faux wheat because nothing says fall more than dried wheat, am I right?

What Fillers Can I Add to My Football Tiered Tray?

natural twine and wood orbs on wood table

You may have seen me use these natural orbs in other tiered trays.

In both my fall and patriotic tiered trays I used the same smaller natural and white orbs.

But the larger twine orbs are newer, I just got them a few months ago from a local crafter and I was so excited to finally get to decorate with them.

What Other Décor Pieces Can I Add to a Tiered Tray?

string of wood beads with twine tassel ends laying on wood table

I love to add a string of wood beads to my 2-tiered galvanized tray.

The wood and twine beads add a little bit more texture and soften the look of the metal tray.

I have a few different bead garlands but I love the darker wood tone on this set for fall.

Now that we have learned what items I used to decorate this tiered tray for football season, let’s look at how I put together each tier of my tray.

How to Style the Bottom Tier of the Tray

bottom of tiered tray decorated with orbs, plants, mug and football

On the bottom tray I used 2 of my focal pieces…the football and the mug.

The football was the biggest décor piece so it made sense to add it to the lower level in the back of the tray.

Next, I placed the mug toward the front so that you could read the quote. “Food. Football. Friends.”

Bending the end of the bunch of faux wheat so it fit nicely in the mug to give it a little more height & color for the bottom tray.

Finally, I added the larger of the faux plants and then filled in with the big twine and a couple of small white & wood orbs.

How to Style to Top Tier of the Tray

top of tiered tray with chalkboard sign, greenery, wheat and orbs wood beads hanging out side of tiered tray

I started decorating the top layer of the tray by placing my chalkboard as the anchor piece in the back.

Wish I had pretty handwriting but…it is what it is…until I take a calligraphy class…LOL!

Adding the quote “Fall is for Football” on the simple unframed chalkboard is a fun touch to my football themed tiered tray.

A tip for adding height to items in your tiered tray is to use wood blocks…I did lift the chalkboard up using a wood block so that it was a bit more visible.

The smaller faux plant, another bundle of faux wheat, and a few more orbs finish off filling in the top tier of the tray.

For the finishing touch I hung the wood bead garland from the edge of the top tier.

I just love how the beads look hanging down the side of the galvanized tiered tray with the twine puddling on the table.

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Football Themed Tiered Tray is Perfect for Fall

football inspired tiered tray decorated with natural elements including faux plants wood beads and orbs with a mug, football and chalkboard sign

Not only would this tray be great for a football themed party but it could be used all fall in your home or even the entire football season.

If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!

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