All That Glitters

MISS DEBBIE'S SPARKLING CUSTOM CREATIONS

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that bling -and what better proof of that than the obsessions of celebrities? The latest incarnation of the bedazzling craze takes a small imaginative leap. It's no cell phone, iPod, or Black Berry. It's the work of the charming Deborah I larrison known to insiders as " Debbie da Glass Lady" or "Miss Debbie"—who's been hand-decorating martini glasses, shot glasses, snifters, and chalices for P. Diddy, Dave C'happelle, Oprah. Jimmy kimmel, Halle Bern, and Paris Hilton, among others. A native of Chicago's South Side, Miss Debbie got her start while bartending at a neighborhood watering hole. "I'd make glasses for my favorite customers. I'd put their names on them, keep them behind the bar ... all the other bartenders were like, 'How is she getting all the customers and the tips?"' As luck would have it, word traveled—and it traveled to the right people. Notorious pimp turned preacher Bishop Don "Magic" Juan came knocking and ordered some to give as gifts to pals like Pamela Anderson Lee and Mike Tyson. "He called them 'door openers,'" explains Miss Debbie. Snoop Dogg even gave her a jingle after receiving one. "He called me personally and said, "I just want to compliment the lady who made this glass.' And then he just popped up at my house in a limousine ... and I was voted queen of the neighborhood!" Her creations—some of which are adorned with "diamonds" (Australian crystals), others with painted platinum or gold leaf—arc made to order. Prices range from $300 to $ 1,000. But fame hasn't gone to her head. "It's a miracle. Who would have thought that you could charge $ 1,000 for a glass?" Miss Debbie did. And she does.

DANY LEVY