Place the dough on a sheet of floured parchment paper and roll out to 1/8-inch thick. Using a Rilakkuma cookie cutter, cut out Rilakkuma shapes. Use a small straw or a skewer to make one hole in each cookie.

Bake the cookies at 350F for about 10 minutes, until the edges begin to darken. Transfer the baking sheets to a wire rack and stick the straw or skewer back through the holes, in case any have gotten smaller while baking. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Place the confectioner’s sugar, meringue powder and water into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 10-12 minutes.

Dye the icing your desired shades of colours.

Place the icing in piping bags fitted with round piping tips and pipe Rilakkuma’s facial features as well as any festive clothing you’d like him to be wearing. For the furry scarf that I made in the video, pour the icing into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip. Allow the icing to dry completely, 2 hrs – overnight.

Feed some string through the holes in the cookies and tie at the ends. Hang these on your Christmas tree and enjoy!