How do you paint gold luster dust mixed with alcohol on buttercream? Last time I tried, I chilled the cake and at first it painted on fine, but after a few min, it beaded up and dripped down the cake!

I don't think I would refrigerate it.  Just make sure you have a good crusting buttercream and paint at room temperature.

Aw man, really? That’s never happened to me but I’ve never painted an ENTIRE cake before. Is it the quality of the luster dust your using? Too much vodka? I wonder if you were really desperate if you could cover with a super-thin layer of white chocolate ganache and then paint? Lemme think about this some more..