Marcia,
For my first child's birthday, I made a cake and we had a neighborhood,
backyard BBQ. Everyone brought a covered dish and no one was fussy
about hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken legs on the BBQ. It was a
reasonable celebration and most understood that finances were tight.
The cake that I made was decorated easily by using a coloring book page
that I traced over with wax paper and a pin and then placed it on the
hardened icing, pricked through the wax paper outline onto the cake and
just connected the dots on the icing and filled it in with
confectioner's icing.... really easy and cute. Hand and homemade
decorations are always valued more than the store bought stuff anyway.
While sorting through mother's things this week (she just passed away),
the things that she saved and valued were the homemade cards and
drawings that we gave her through the years. It isn't about what you
can afford... do not feel like a lousy mother for doing the best that
you can... and nothing replaces the love that you have for your child
and the time that you spend with him or her.

'Kate