Would like to decorate the bottom border of a buttercream cake with small white nonpareils. About a 1" lower border. How do I do this evenly & how do I control them? Should I draw a line all around the cake & just press them into the buttercream & hope that none go above the line or is there an easier/neater way?

Thanks.

cover the area you don't want any on with cash register tape -- i'd pipe a little nice fresh icing on the area you do want to cover and put your cake on a board the same size as the cake and the cake on a pedestal* so you can get a handful and mash it up against the fresh icing -- put a sheet tray underneath to catch the extras --

*if you don't have a pedestal turntable use a soup can or something -- if you have a 10" cake and 12" pedestal turntable turn it upside down -- you need to be able to get you hand up next to it without hitting any boards/pedestals kwim

@Limpy - the home page of CakeCentral currently has a video about an Donut Drip Cake.  

        http://www.cakecentral.com/blog/61815/donut-drip-cake 

In the video, the decorator shows exactly how she obtains her sprinkles border on the bottom.