Sugar Cookie Madness!

I've never really made sugar cookies in the past, at least, not that I can recall.  I know my husband made them with our son a few Christmases ago, rolled them super thin and they were...crisp.
But our budget for our son's first birthday party required getting creative, so I made these as the party favors for all the guests, after being inspired by a friend with whom I planned a baby shower doing an awesome job and assuring me they were so easy!  I contacted that friend, and she mentioned a Paula Deen recipe, but I went to allrecipes and found this one.

I remembered to make sure I rolled the dough about 1/2" thick.  These cookies came out awesome, and I went ahead and froze the cookies after they cooled.

Then, I defrosted them on Wednesday and frosted them using the Wilton recipe and directions, which I found on Brown Eyed Baker's website (her tutorial was super helpful!)

I then used a stamp on card stock and made a tag, wrapped them in a cellophane bag, and had a really nice looking favor.  I thought they looked really professional, for a not professional.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies, from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely. 

Royal Icing, from Wilton, via Brown Eyed Baker

4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water
Mix all ingredients on low speed for 7-10 minutes or until the icing loses its shine. Add more water by the teaspoon if it appears too stiff. At this stage you want to be able to pipe it easily: