Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture; beat till well mixed. Divide dough in half, cover and chill 2 hours or overnight. For each bear, shape dough into one 1-inch ball, one 3/4-inch ball, six 1/2-inch balls and one 1/4-inch ball. On ungreased cookie sheet flatten the 1-inch ball to 1/2 thickness for body. Attach the 3/4-inch ball for head and flatten to 1/2" thickness. Attach the 1/2-inch balls for arms legs and ears. Attach the 1/4-inch ball for nose. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes cool and decorate. I usually make these smaller than described here; about 1/2 the size. Also the ears start to look like MOUSE ears if they're not a little smaller than the arms and legs. Roll the nose ball to make it more oval in shape and place it on the LOWER half of the bear's face. These can be decorated with any icing I use tinted Royal icing made from meringue powder to add eyes nose and bow tie to each bear. For Easter make these into bunnies. Use only light corn syrup no molasses. Substitute white sugar for the brown sugar. Omit spices and add a bit of almond extract if desired. Make them the same way but make two long ears on the top and two cheek-balls instead of the nose-ball. Decorate with pastel icings. Karen Mintzias "