Shabby Shack Decor

08/10/2026

There is a very special kind of optimism that comes with starting a painting project. 😂
You put the coffee on, lay everything out nicely and think, “This will only take me an hour or two.”
Three hours later there is paint on your hands, paint on your clothes, paint on something that was nowhere near the project, and you’ve just realised the brush you’ve been looking for is standing in your coffee cup.
Then comes the waiting.
You KNOW the paint needs to dry. You KNOW what happens when you fiddle with it too soon. You have personally learned this lesson approximately 417 times.
But you can already see what it’s going to look like finished.
So you touch it.
Still wet.
You wait another 36 seconds.
Touch it again.
Still wet.
And that’s when the hairdryer comes out. 😂
Now you’re standing there blasting hot air at a piece of MDF while muttering things that would make your grandmother raise an eyebrow, because apparently watching paint dry is only boring when it’s someone else’s paint. When it’s yours, it is a personal attack on your patience.
Of course, somewhere along the way you’ll knock over the water, lose the scissors that are directly in front of you, put the lid down paint-side-first, discover one tiny hair stuck beautifully in the middle of your perfectly painted surface, and accidentally dip the paintbrush into the coffee.
And there is ALWAYS that moment when the project looks absolutely dreadful.
That dangerous little stage where you stare at it and think:
Well. I’ve ruined that.
But then another coat goes on. A little distressing happens. The print or decal goes down. You stand back…
…and suddenly there she is. ❤️
Exactly what you could see in your head when you started.
So yes.
A little cussin’ helps the paint dry faster.
I have absolutely no scientific evidence to support this.
But I have spent enough time in a workshop to know that it certainly makes the waiting more entertaining. 😂🖤
Happy Wednesday from Shabby Shack Decor — where the coffee is strong, the paint is probably still wet, and we’re fairly certain somebody has seen my scissors.


fans

There is a very special kind of optimism that comes with starting a painting project. 😂
You put the coffee on, lay everything out nicely and think, “This will only take me an hour or two.”
Three hours later there is paint on your hands, paint on your clothes, paint on something that was nowhere near the project, and you’ve just realised the brush you’ve been looking for is standing in your coffee cup.
Then comes the waiting.
You KNOW the paint needs to dry. You KNOW what happens when you fiddle with it too soon. You have personally learned this lesson approximately 417 times.
But you can already see what it’s going to look like finished.
So you touch it.
Still wet.
You wait another 36 seconds.
Touch it again.
Still wet.
And that’s when the hairdryer comes out. 😂
Now you’re standing there blasting hot air at a piece of MDF while muttering things that would make your grandmother raise an eyebrow, because apparently watching paint dry is only boring when it’s someone else’s paint. When it’s yours, it is a personal attack on your patience.
Of course, somewhere along the way you’ll knock over the water, lose the scissors that are directly in front of you, put the lid down paint-side-first, discover one tiny hair stuck beautifully in the middle of your perfectly painted surface, and accidentally dip the paintbrush into the coffee.
And there is ALWAYS that moment when the project looks absolutely dreadful.
That dangerous little stage where you stare at it and think:
Well. I’ve ruined that.
But then another coat goes on. A little distressing happens. The print or decal goes down. You stand back…
…and suddenly there she is. ❤️
Exactly what you could see in your head when you started.
So yes.
A little cussin’ helps the paint dry faster.
I have absolutely no scientific evidence to support this.
But I have spent enough time in a workshop to know that it certainly makes the waiting more entertaining. 😂🖤
Happy Wednesday from Shabby Shack Decor — where the coffee is strong, the paint is probably still wet, and we’re fairly certain somebody has seen my scissors.

01/10/2026

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

And behind all the pink ribbons are real people.

There are those who are fighting it right now.
Those waiting for results.
Those sitting beside hospital beds and holding hands in waiting rooms.
Those making meals, sending messages, driving to appointments and quietly trying to keep everything else going.

There are the survivors who know exactly what those words “you have cancer” feel like.

And then there are those we have lost.

The mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, friends and loved ones who didn't get to ring the bell at the end — but whose names, stories and places in our lives remain.

So I didn't want to make just another Breast Cancer Awareness poster.

I wanted to make something that could become something.

Something you could decoupage onto a memory box.
A tray. A journal. A little cupboard. A canvas.
Something you could make for a friend going through treatment, for someone supporting a loved one, or in memory of someone who is no longer here.

And these words just felt right:

Vir die dae wat jy sterk moet wees,
en die dae wat jy net moet wees.

Hoop • Moed • Genade

And in English:

For the days you need to be strong,
and the days you just need to be.

Hope • Courage • Grace

Both A4 designs are FREE DOWNLOADABLE PRINTS from Shabby Shack Decor for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

There is no catch and nothing to buy.

Download them. Print them. Make something beautiful.

For the fighters.
For the hands that hold theirs.
For the survivors.
And for those who live on in our memories.

This one is from us, with love. 🩷

Shabby Shack Decor

30/09/2026

🌧️ TODAY’S SHABBY SHACK WEATHER WARNING 🌧️
Please be careful on the roads today.
The roads are wet.
Visibility is poor.
And apparently cars have a terrible tendency to aquaplane directly into craft shops.
Should this happen to you, remain calm.
Park safely.
Go inside.
Buy the paint.
Buy the decoupage paper.
Buy the waterslides.
You’ve already been through enough. 😂
Shabby Shack Decor accepts no responsibility for vehicles mysteriously turning into craft shops during bad weather.
Drive safe, julle. 🖤

🌧️ TODAY’S SHABBY SHACK WEATHER WARNING 🌧️
Please be careful on the roads today.
The roads are wet.
Visibility is poor.
And apparently cars have a terrible tendency to aquaplane directly into craft shops.
Should this happen to you, remain calm.
Park safely.
Go inside.
Buy the paint.
Buy the decoupage paper.
Buy the waterslides.
You’ve already been through enough. 😂
Shabby Shack Decor accepts no responsibility for vehicles mysteriously turning into craft shops during bad weather.
Drive safe, julle. 🖤

17/09/2026

Ietsie nuut van Shabby Shack Decor

11/09/2026

🦊 Apparently Shabby Shack Decor has a spirit animal…

🦊 Apparently Shabby Shack has a spirit animal…

So… things have been a little quiet around here this week.

I could tell you I’ve been terribly busy working behind the scenes, creating new designs, planning workshops and doing all sorts of responsible small-business-owner things.

But that would be a lie.

Gracie happened. 😂❤️

And when a certain little person arrives, schedules disappear, work moves down the list and Granny apparently loses all ability to behave like a responsible adult.

So tonight, while avoiding all the things I probably should have been doing, I asked ChatGPT — just for fun — what my spirit animal would be.

The answer?

A fox. 🦊

Not just any fox, mind you.

Apparently I am Vulpes neolienus karooensis — The Greater Karoo Craft Fox.

Natural habitat: workshops, dusty roads, Karoo horizons… and her bed.

Diet: coffee, creativity, old things, new ideas and an alarming number of unfinished projects.

Known for: resourcefulness, curiosity, laughter, resilience and the firm belief that “I can make something with that.”

Distinctive call:

“WHERE THE HELL DID I PUT THAT?”

🤣🤣🤣

And then THIS image happened.

The paintbrushes. The old books. The windpomp. The Karoo. The battered apron. The coffee. The cat sleeping through the chaos. Even the notebook already abandoning one project for another.

I feel both seen and personally attacked.

So there you have it. No new Shabby Shack masterpieces this week. No carefully planned social-media content.

I played with Gracie.
I laughed.
I made memories.
And somewhere along the way I discovered that apparently I’m a fox.

I’d say it was a pretty productive week after all. 🖤🦊

Now tell me — what would YOUR craft spirit animal be?

Because I’m fairly certain there are a few raccoons amongst you lot. 😂

04/09/2026

Friday. 🖤

We made it at Shabby Shack Decor

Friday. 🖤

We made it.

I’d love to tell you that creativity happens at a beautiful clean table, with neatly arranged brushes, matching little jars and a cup of coffee gently steaming in the corner.

That would be a lie. 😂

Around here, creativity currently looks like 17 open paint tins, 46 brushes, half-finished projects, boxes everywhere, a garden that needs attention and one cat quietly judging the entire operation.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that… Toorwater happened.

A completely fictional little Karoo dorp that somehow now has a hotel, station, post office, bakery, trading store, goods shed and a stationmaster with his own office.

So I feel the question is becoming increasingly valid:

At what point does a hobby become an addiction?
😇

Because apparently my answer to “Do you really need another project?” is still:

Yes. Yes I do.

The mess will eventually get cleaned.
The grass will eventually get cut.
The paintbrushes may even find their way home.

But the ideas?

Those little buggers are multiplying. 😂🖤

Happy Friday from the beautifully chaotic corner of Shabby Shack Decor, where we create, reimagine, make things ours… and occasionally lose the table underneath it all.

Create your own magic. Even if it makes a bloody mess first. 🖤

03/09/2026

TOORWATER doesn’t exist on any map but it does at Shabby Shack Decor

TOORWATER doesn’t exist on any map. There’s no road sign pointing you there, no GPS pin and no little Spoorstasie waiting at the end of a dusty road.

It’s a fictional dorp — created from old places, forgotten stories, Karoo memories and a rather overactive imagination.

And perhaps that’s the whole point.

Somewhere along the way, we grow up and become terribly sensible. We stop pretending. We stop making up stories. We forget how easy it once was to turn a cardboard box into a castle and an ordinary afternoon into an adventure.

I think creativity asks us to become a little bit like children again. To look at an ordinary box and see something that isn’t there yet. To paint it, age it, give it a name and suddenly decide that somewhere in a little town called Toorwater, there absolutely must be a hotel, a bakery, a post office, a station and a stasiemeester keeping an eye on the whole lot.

Because sometimes you don’t need to find the magic.

You get to create it. ✨

And around here… that’s exactly what we intend to keep doing.

TOORWATER — old places, old stories, made new again. 🤎

Work in progress...

03/09/2026

Some days creativity looks like this… at Shabby Shack Decor

Some days creativity looks like this…

A finished project.
Paint on your hands.
An idea that actually worked the way it looked in your head.

And other days?

The lawnmower, w**d eater AND generator are all in hospital, the garden is threatening to reclaim the house, there are seventeen unfinished things staring at you and you’re wondering whether coffee counts as a project. 😂

But somewhere between the mess, the work and the “what the hell was I thinking?” moments…

things are slowly getting done.

Not perfectly.
Not all at once.
But little by little.

And I think that counts. 🖤

What are you working on at the moment — finished, unfinished or currently driving you completely insane?

03/09/2026

🌿 HELLO SPRING at Shabby Shack Decor🌿

🌿 HELLO SPRING 🌿

There are little signs everywhere.

New leaves pushing through.
Flowers appearing where yesterday there were none.
The sun staying just a little longer.
And the garden quietly reminding us that no season lasts forever. 💜

Mine is still very much a work in progress — there are w**ds to pull, beds to sort out and, currently, a lawnmower, w**d eater and generator receiving medical attention. 😂

But amongst the chaos, Spring arrived anyway.

And maybe that’s the lovely thing about a new season.
Everything doesn’t have to be finished before something beautiful can begin.

Same garden. New season. More hope. 🌱

Happy Spring Day from my slightly wild, wonderfully imperfect corner of the world. 💜

Shabby Shack Decor
Reimagine • Restore • Create

03/09/2026

Monday — Behind the scenes at Shabby Shack Decor🖤

Monday — Behind the scenes at Shabby Shack 🖤

There is a plan. I promise. 😂

At the moment it may look suspiciously like someone opened every box I own, shook it vigorously and then quietly left the scene.

But Shabby Shack is getting a much-needed shuffle.

The shop is being reorganised.
The workshop is getting sorted.
The Olive paint is finally making its way onto the walls.
Stock is being unpacked, sorted and given proper homes.

And somewhere amongst all of this, actual work still has to happen. Orders need finishing, prints need printing, things need painting… and apparently the lawnmower has also decided that this would be an excellent week to develop an attitude. 🙄

This is the part we don't always show.

The before.

Not styled.
Not tidied for Facebook.
Definitely not Pinterest-ready.

Just boxes, paint, half-finished projects, too much stuff and one woman who swears she knows where all of this is going. 😏

Because sometimes creating a beautiful space starts with making an almighty mess of the old one.

So here it is — Shabby Shack, mid-chaos.

Let's see what we can do with it. 🖤

P.S. If you spot something in these photos and think “Oooh, what's THAT?” — ask me. There are forgotten treasures coming out of places I had apparently forgotten existed. 😂