How to get sprinkles to stick to the side of a cake? I need to prepare a cake, but in my previous attempts, I can't seem to get the chocolate sprinkles to stick to the sides of my cake. The cake will have a layer of  icing as a base for the sprinkles, but I keep getting the cake squished or the sides lacking in topping. Ideally, I want the entire cake to be covered in sprinkles of the same density as the top of the cake.

Help :(
This is a little hard to do without making an epic mess.

First, lay out a big piece of parchment or wax paper to catch the sprinkles that you are about to throw everywhere.

Place your cake on it's platter over the parchment paper and tilt it so that you can apply sprinkles to the uppermost side. Don't tilt it so far that it slides off! Apply the sprinkles with your free hand, pressing them gently into the frosting (some suggest wearing a glove, I don't). Turn, and repeat. Periodically collect all your sprinkles from the parchment paper.