To use the CKeditor without the top and bottom toolbars, do the following:
config.removePlugins = "toolbar,elementspath"
config.resize_enabled = false
This will remove both the capability to resize the dialog and remove the grey toolbar at the bottom, as well as the entire top toolbar, without the need for CSS modifications.
If you’re using the rails plugin – these options can be passed in when creating the cktext_area object, for instance:
f.cktext_area :body, :ckeditor=>{resize_enabled:false, removePlugins: "toolbar,elementspath"}