• Sift flour, salt and baking soda together, set aside.
• With a mixer,cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, combine. Add the flour mixture a little at a time, mixing until it forms a soft dough.
• Form a big dough ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate for 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll dough about 1/4" thick onto a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.
• Bake at 375°F on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 7 minutes. Watch them closely! They should look set but not brown. Leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Let them cool before frosting them.

Frost and Decorate your cookies:

• Now, as I mentioned, I take the easy route and use canned frosting. Make homemade if you prefer.

  Drop a couple of heaping tablespoons of canned white buttercream frosting into several small bowls. Zap it in the microwave until it’s a pourable consistency. Color each bowl with a different food coloring, and leave one white.

  Flood icing over the whole cookie, sprinkle with sparkling sugar or sprinkles while they are wet. The icing will dry and not be sticky. If you want to pipe frosting on and get fancy, go for it!