In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.

Place cut out cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.

Add ¼ cup water and beat on low speed until combined. Turn to high speed and beat until icing is glossy and holds still peaks.

To make the colored icing for the paint palette, scoop out 4 medium to large spoonfuls (one for each color) and place in separate containers. Cover until ready to use.

Stir in additional warm water to the remaining icing, a tablespoon at a time, until icing creates loose ribbons when drizzled with a spoon. Aim to have the icing ribbons disappear back into the bowl within 10 seconds of being picked up with the spoon.

Transfer to a piping bag.

To decorate the cookies, pipe an outline around the edge of the cookie. Then, fill in the outline with white icing. Use a cookie pick to make fine adjustments, if needed. Repeat with remaining cookies. Let dry completely.

To add the paint dollops to the palette cookies, dye each spoonful of reserved icing a different color using gel food coloring. Spoon a little bit of each color onto each palette cookie.

To draw on the cookies, use edible food markers to draw desired images.

To paint on the cookies, place a few drops of food coloring into a small bowl or clean, food safe paint palette. Add a little bit of water to each color. Paint cookies using a clean, food safe paint brush.

Let the icing dry completely.