How to avoid clouds of icing sugar all over the kitchen

[TheNextMrsBuble]

I need a spot of advice on making buttercream icing. Not the recipe, I'm ok with that, it's the making of the stuff that is flumuxing me. Butter nicely softened and icing sugar in the bowl, start the Kenwood hand mixer and whoosh, clouds of fine icing sugar dust all over the kithen, and I mean everywhere! Tried just beating the butter with the mixer and slowly adding a spoonful of icing sugar at a time to the bowl, but got pretty much the same amount of dust all over the place.

I don't have a mixer jobby with a top on nor the funds to buy one. What on earth is the best way to make buttercream icing without having to clean the entire blardy kitchen afterwards?

TIA

I use a wooden spoon first until all the powdery sugar in bound in the butter and then use the mixer.

I have seen Ina Garten on Food Network draping a tea-towel over the whole machine to begin with.

What mousymouse said. I always mix dry ingredients into wet with a spoon first before I use the electric mixer.

See, I knew I'd get some lovely answers and ideas on here, thank you. Any more? I'm definitely going to give the wooden spoon and tea towel a go.

My beloved Ken has a cover and I STILL do the tea-towel-tent thing!

The other thing that helps a bit, is if your recipe contains liquid - say milk - mix this in with the icing sugar 1st. Even a tiny bit seems to help reduce the cloud a bit...