How to Build Your Own Snack Stadium

January 15, 2019

I have this funny stadium-shaped dish I found at a Goodwill a few years ago and only break it out for the rare occasions when I am a. watching football and b. am excited enough to make snacks. When I brought it over to Rachel’s for the game last week, she told me about snack stadiums. With the Super Bowl coming up, I knew I wanted to make my own.

Here’s the diagram of how I laid out the walls on the foam core. Each box is a 1×1″ square. I built the project on a 20×30″ piece of foam core I bought from the dollar store (with two extra pieces for the walls).

A graph titled 'Snack Stadium Diagram' with blue and green lines forming a geometric shape on a grid background, and a signature handwritten 'Sarah Lawrence' in the bottom left corner, along with the website 'www.sarahclawrence.com' in the bottom right corner.

A cutting mat, black foam board, metal rulers, and a green cutting mat arranged on a wooden surface, possibly for crafting or project work.

Gently draw the grid out in pencil on your base piece of foam core first. This will help you figure out where all of the pieces need to go, and you can erase the pencil later.

A black and white cardboard model of a stairway or ramp on a green cutting mat, situated on a hardwood floor. The model has multiple steps and panels, with white edges outlining the black surfaces.

Build the outer walls next – you can adjust the connecting walls if your details are a little off.

Black foamboard pieces on a wooden floor with a green cutting mat and a yellow tool.

Build the inner box (for the field) first.

A black and white model of a building or structure on a green cutting mat, placed on wooden floor. The model has an open courtyard and geometric design.

Once you’ve built all of the outer walls, double check your measurements.

Diagram of snack stadium pieces including various rectangular shapes with their dimensions, labeled as inner walls, outer walls, and inside pieces, with quantities specified.

A black rectangular box with white trim is placed on a black mat on a wooden floor. There are measuring tools including a green cutting mat, a metal ruler, a yellow pencil, and a metallic square nearby.

Make sure everything’s still lining up with the grid.

Drawing of a 3D geometric shape on graph paper, accompanied by a pencil, a metal ruler, and a green cutting mat on a wooden surface.

A black geometric 3D structure with white outlines is placed on a black surface. The structure appears to be a tabletop or display stand, with multiple compartments or sections. The setting is indoors on a wooden floor, with furniture and various objects nearby.

The inner walls should slot in snugly here, but if they don’t, trim to fit or cut some new pieces. I hope you bought extra foam core!

Drawing of a suggested cutting layout on graph paper, with the top section in blue and the bottom section in green, showing different arrangements of rectangular shapes.

See the snack stadium in action:

Close-up of rectangular and square flavored crackers with herbs and spices in a white bowl.

Buttered Firecrackers

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Butter

3/4 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Cayenne Powder (use more if you like it spicier)

One sleeve of saltines (about 40 crackers)

Directions:

Lay out all of the saltines flat on a baking sheet, without overlapping (they can touch)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Melt the butter in a pan or in the microwave, don’t overdo it
While the butter is melting, mix together the garlic and cayenne in a small glass bowl
Pour the hot butter over the seasoning mixture and mix well with a fork or a small whisk
Dip a pastry brush in the butter mixture and paint it over each saltine – you should have enough mixture to cover all of them liberally, but start with small strokes and go back over a second time if you need to.
Bake for ten minutes, let them cool, and then dump them into a bowl.
Enjoy!