Debbie Travis' Facelift - Episodes

Holiday Cocktail Party - Toast the Season

The fastest way to conjure up the appropriate mood for a holiday bash in this otherwise serene Zen Den was with color. And not just any color. Red, red and more red promises to put everyone in a party mood. The decorations have a young, modern feel to them, with multiples of glass containers from tiny twinkling votive candles to towering vases filled with shiny red balls. Bare branches sprayed red and placed in a ceramic base are secured with fake ice cubes. The huge red wreath above the fireplace is fashioned from boughs and pine cones set ablaze with bundles of mini-lights. Any party revolves around the food and drinks table, so we trimmed a plain white tablecloth with wide stripes of holiday ribbon, decorated a real ice bucket with tinsel and berries, and made truly mod cocktail coasters and swizzle sticks to match.

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Beverage Cooler

This icy beverage cooler has become a perennial winter party favorite. Start with a large bowl and distribute berries, tinsel, pieces of evergreen, and any other small ornaments that complement your theme around the bottom and sides. Place a small bowl in the center and secure it with duct tape. Pour water slowly into the large bowl, adding weight to the small bowl so that it won't float. Freeze overnight, remove the small bowl and you have a delightfully decorated ice bucket. Set it out on a plate with raised edges, as it will slowly melt.

Room Elements

When spicing up a room with modern design elements, use a simple repeating theme. Here we used glass, ice and the color red. Glass balls have been filled with cranberries, red paper, beads and feathers. Add a touch of color to the bottom half of small, glass candleholders by swirling glass paint around the inside. Wrap string soaked in glue around a balloon inflated to the size of an ornament. Smear Vaseline on the balloon first so that the glue won't stick. Let the string ball dry overnight and then pop the balloon and remove it. Spray paint the string ball, attach a hook and hang.

Cocktail Puzzle

Here's a cocktail puzzle that doubles as a swanky set of coasters. We painted the word COCKTAIL backwards onto a rectangular piece of Plexiglas, and cut the glass into odd-shaped "coaster-size" pieces. To make the white background, we sprayed adhesive onto heavy white paper and pressed the coasters paint-side down onto the paper. The paper was trimmed away with an Xacto knife and now the letters are readable.

Fireplace Wreath

To make the garlands for the fireplace wreath, start by spray painting fake evergreen boughs. Wire two together, stem to stem, and wrap mini-lights in bunches around the boughs. (We spray painted the green wires as well.) Decorate a second garland with groups of pinecones and small red balls. Wire the layers together.

Teenage Chanukah Celebration - Family Reflections

A glittering disco ball spinning in the center of a feathery Star of David may not be the most traditional way to decorate for Chanukah, but it made a magical impression on this family of teenagers. Chanukah is the celebration of lights and it's all about family and fun, so we chose white, silver and mirrored surfaces to reflect this happy theme. Fluttery white boas slung over lampshades and sheets of mirrored rain suspended from the ceiling contribute a fairyland atmosphere to the room. A funky glass Menorah was made with test tubes for candleholders secured with heavy silver wire and enhanced with blue beads. The dazzle carried over to the table with silver leaf plates for the party treats and a table runner fashioned from dozens of small mirrors. It's young, it's fun and reflects the spirit of love and joy that is celebrated on this special occasion.

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Glass Plates

Plain glass plates are decorated with silver leaf that is applied to the under side of the plate and sealed with varnish. Turn the plate over and apply aquasize (glue) with a sponge brush. Let it dry until it is clear and tacky. Lay silver leaf over the surface and smooth down with a soft brush. We scratched a motif of feathers into the silver leaf using an Xacto knife and then applied acrylic varnish.

Menorah

The Menorah requires nine test tubes. Join the tubes together by wrapping heavy-duty wire around each tube three times. Attach the line of tubes to a mirrored base by applying epoxy glue to the bottom of each tube. Use hot glue around the base of the tubes to secure them while the epoxy is drying. String beads together to decorate the top of the tubes, drop some little balls into each tube and insert the candles.

Mirrored Rain

To produce the illusion of mirrored rain you need lengths of fishing wire one to three feet long, tiny mirror squares and hot glue. Place one small mirror upside down, add hot glue to the center, pull wire taut over the glue on the back of the mirror and sandwich with another mirror of the same size. Space the squares about every three inches along the wire. The Star of David is made with six curtain rods, wired together to make two triangles and then the star shape. Feathers adorn a row of mini-lights that are wrapped around the rods that make up the Star.

Table Runner

The Facelift elves have boundless imagination. We attached corset hook trim around the perimeter of a silver lame tablecloth, then hung small colored balls that spell out Happy Chanukah from the hooks to anchor the cloth. To make the table runner you need a piece of MacTac or sticky shelf paper. With the sticky side up, arrange different sizes and shapes of mirrors (available in bags at the craft shop) on the paper. Sprinkle glitter over the top to fill in the gaps around the mirrors.

Traditional Christmas - Family Treasures

For Pat and her family, an old-fashioned Christmas is what this season is all about. We took a step back in time for inspiration, and filled their home with simple trimmings that speak to the child in all of us. Everyone from children to grandparents rolled up their sleeves to produce homemade Christmas stockings and snowflakes. We made snow globes with figurines from the dollar store and recycled glass jars. Ornaments cut from metal is a heritage tradition, so Jim decorated a wreath with beautiful tin figures that represent the Twelve Days of Christmas and tied it to the chandelier. The shiny partridge, pears, geese and toy drums reflect the spirit of goodwill and love that makes this home sparkle all year round. The sights and smells of Christmas greet everyone as the turkey is carried to the table; there are cedar wreaths and garlands, and a bushy tree adorned with white lights and pipe cleaner snowflakes, candles glow and happy faces radiate with the happiness of being together.

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Festive Fabric

Look for lengths of festive fabric for the table. We crisscrossed two runners over a snowy white tablecloth, and used little evergreen wreaths at each place. For the snow globes, choose jars with tight fitting lids. Pick out little figurines such as Santa, a fairy princess, or a reindeer, that will fit inside the jar. Use epoxy glue to stick it to the inside of the lid. Fill the jar with distilled water and add some sparkles (to represent the snow). Screw the lid on tight and hot glue to seal. Glue decorative ribbon around the lid.

Tin Figures

To make the tin figures, photocopy pictures that represent the Twelve Days of Christmas--partridge, pears, geese, drums and so on. Cut them out and trace the contours of the figures onto a sheet of pressed tin or tin paper (available at craft shops). Cut out the tin shapes. Add details and relief to the tin figures using a tracing wheel and felt pens. Make a wreath shape with thin branches of Christmas berries, hang the tin ornaments from the wreath with thin fishing wire and tie the finished wreath to the chandelier with red ribbons.

Snowflakes

You can adjust the size and fullness of these pipe cleaner snowflakes to suit your needs. Take six long white pipe cleaners, and cut them in half to make a bundle of twelve. Wrap one around the middle and spread out the other ends to make a star. Spray with adhesive glue and sprinkle with glitter.

Stockings

No sewing machine--no problem. Cut two matching shapely stockings from red or green felt or any holiday design fabric. Glue right sides together by running a line of hot glue along the seam line. Finger-press together, then turn the stocking so the right side is facing out. To strengthen the seam, hand stitch a blanket stitch along the edges with gold string or wool. Decorate with a fabric cuff, glue on bells and trim.