4th of July Sugar Cookies

I had every intention of trying out some of the amazing red, white and blue festive desserts I saw for the holiday today, but that didn't happen. This has been kind of a weird 4th, and we didn't make too big a deal out of it this year. We are having dinner at Brian's parents, and I will see fireworks before the night is through, mark my word. And I sang The Star Spangled Banner three times today, all three verses. That Always gets me a little teary eyed, but definitely makes it feel like the 4th of July.

Anyway, earlier in the week I decided I better practice some sugar cookie frosting because of my upcoming project. I volunteered my cookie decorating services to Kathleen to make some bridal shower favors for Brian's cousin Jessica's shower. I thought, sure, I can pound those out, no problem. But as I started researching decorating cookies with royal icing, it appears it's quite the process. And as I started decorating some practice 4th of July ones it turned out to require artistic skill as well as baking. And while I have the baking of the cookies down, I still need to work on beautifying the frosting. I tried piping the outsides with a thicker frosting, then filling in the inside with a thinner frosting. (or flooding as they're calling it) So here are some pictures of my practice cookies, I know they need work, and, luckily, I've still got some time. I'm crossing my fingers I can pull this off. Happy 4th of July! (Oh, and that red frosting is more hot pink, you're not seeing things.)
Royal Icing Recipe:
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water
In stand mixer, mix for about 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form. This will be a good thicker frosting that can be used for piping the outsides. Then add more water, a teaspoon at a time, to thin the icing to flood the insides. (I'll give more details when I figure it out 100%.)

I used Annie's Eats blog for help with the icing and decorating steps. She was super helpful.