Giant christmas card cookies

1-1/2 cups butter or margarine (3 sticks), softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Colored sugar or crushed sugar cubes (optional)
Decorator icing
Red cinnamon candies

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy.
2. Add egg. Beat well.
3. Stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and baking soda. With mixer on low speed gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating well. Cover and chill in refrigerator about 2 hours or until firm enough to roll out.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F For each cookie roll 3/4 cup of the chilled dough about 1/4 inch thick directly onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator.) Using floured cardboard patterns and a table knife, cut out desired shapes. Remove excess dough. Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar or crushed sugar cubes, if desired. If you want to tie a ribbon in your cookie card, make a small hole in the top of the cookie.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are browner than centers. Let cool on cookie sheets for 8 minutes. With a pancake turner lift cookies onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
6. Decorate cookies with decorator icing and red cinnamon candies. If desired, run a ribbon through the hole and tie a bow.