With Halloween around the corner, I’ve been making ghosts. I started with some leftover beadboard and a jigsaw, making cartoon-spooky silhouettes that  I spray-painted white and staked in the yard. My plan has been to “ghost” some friends for the holiday, by staking ghostly placards in their yards anonymously, but I haven’t got around to it yet, so I still have a spectral herd of cheerful ghouls wafting across my front yard.

Today we got a new toy in the woodshop at Tennessee College of Applied Technology: a scrollsaw.

A scroll saw is a tabletop power tool that is basically a more nimble version of a jigsaw. The tabletop allows you to move the wood using both hands, and the blade is finer than on a handheld jigsaw, which allows for tighter radiuses.

A scroll saw is dreamy when it comes to making ghosts. So I made even more. At last count, I had eight ghosts of various plywood, beadboard and solid lumber dancing above the mole holes in my front yard. 

If one suddenly appears in your yard, don’t be frightened. The only thing scary about these ghosts is how much they make me want a scroll saw.