to dress (oneself) up, put on make-up, etc

Daisy would so like to have got tarted up, but at least her hair was newly washed that morning and her teeth were clean — Jilly Cooper

to do up or redecorate (a place) esp somewhat cheaply or gaudily; generally, to embellish (something)

a nice old-fashioned bar, not the tarted-up variety

I suppose I should think about tarting up my thesis for publication