've got Domestic Goddess out as I am making American pancakes for breakfast :) so here you are:
300g plain flour
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed ground spice
1-2 tsp freshly ground pepper (the more, the spicier, to make them less tempting for you young children to eat)
100g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
2 large eggs beaten with 4 tbsp runny honey
Combine dry ingredients in the processor. With the motor on, add the butter and sugar, then, slowly, the eggs and honey, though don't use all of this liquid if the pastry has come together before it's used up. Form 2 disks and put one covered in cling film or in a freezer bag into the fridge while you get started on the other. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3.
Dust a surface with flour, roll out the disk, also floured, to about 5mm and cut out your Christmas decorations. Re-roll and cut out some more, setting aside the residue form this first disk, well covered, while you repeat with the second disk. When you've got both sets of left over clumps of dough, roll out and cut out again, until its all used up. Now take a small icing nozzle and use the pointy end to cut a hole just below the top of each biscuit (throguh which ribbon can later be threaded to hang them).
Arrange on the baking skeets and cook for c.20 minutes: it's hard to see when they're cook, but you can feel; if the underside is no longer doughy, they're ready.
Transfer to cool on a wire rack.
Make up ordinary glace icing by mixing c.3 tbsps of boiling water with 300g seived icing sugar and stir until you have a thin glossy glaze. Ice the cold decorations using a teaspoon (the tip for dripping, the back for smoothin) and scatter sparkes/sprinkls/silver balls as you like.