I am in the process of decorating 3 cakes that have been iced with Sugarshack's buttercream.  I want to pipe dots around the sides of all the cakes with tip 3.  Just wondering what if anything I should do to the standard recipe to make piping sucessful.  I have also read that lots of people use royal icing for this.....but I would rather avoid that if possible.  Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. 

i have not used her particular icing--

i think it's a crusting bc yes?--

but in general i like a bit looser icing for dots--

for example similar to icing hat you would pipe leaves or grass with--

then i'm sure you know to pop each dot down (they leave a pointy tip) with the uber clean tip of your finger after it sits for a minute to get it nice & smoothy smooth

or dip fingertip in cornstarch and shake off excess for best results

you'll do great

practice first for best results