Final frost your cake the day before so it has overnight to chill in the refrigerator before you stencil.
When stenciling with buttercream, thin it out using some whipping cream or milk.
Use thin pins with large heads to hold your stencil in place. The large heads of the pins ensure they will not go through the stencil & into your cake.
Use an offset spatula to apply the buttercream then immediately scrape off the excess with a cake comb.
