Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and gingerbread spice in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the milk, egg and vanilla, and mix well. Then slowly add the flour mixture until it is just combined.

Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Lightly dust some flour onto your countertop, and roll the dough out until it is ¼ inch thick. Cut out shapes with your desired cookie cutters. If you plan on feeding ribbon through the cookies, poke holes in the cookies. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 10 minutes at 350F, until lightly golden. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks and allow to fully cool.

Combine the confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add the water and beat for 7 minutes, until it is smooth and when drizzled, stays on the surface for a few seconds

Pour the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small, round piping tip.

Pipe a border of icing along the cookies, then fill the inside in with icing. Gently place icing decorations onto the icing and leave the cookies at room temperature until the icing has set, about 2 hours.

Use edible ink pens to address the gift tags and enjoy!