Issue 5 of Simply Crochet is a celebration of that crochet staple, the granny square - but like you have never seen them before...

As you probably know, in the UK we celebrate Mothering Sunday a couple of months earlier than our American friends, so we've already posted several great knitted project ideas to spoil your Mum with. But we know a lot of our readers are overseas, and in the USA, Canada, and Australia, Mother's Day is less than two weeks away, on Sunday 12th May.

We had six new quick and easy Mother's Day gift patterns by Kyoko Nakayoshi in issue 103, including this chunky cable bag, plus a corsage, mug hugs and more. You can download the whole set for just £2.99 here, or if you'd prefer to catch up on issue 103 you can buy a digital iPad edition here.

With the Easter holidays now underway, there's no better opportunity to get creative with your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or cousins. Over on The Making Spot we have a great selection of projects, whether you're interested in knitting, crochet, papercraft or cross stitch - and best of all, there's a half-price sale too - see below for our discount code!

These are just a few of our favourite projects to while away the hours this weekend...

Brighten up your home this Easter with this fabulous free papercraft bunting template by Jo-Anne Cavanagh. Everyone will love getting involved to make it, and it looks so pretty.

And if you're having a special family lunch over the bank holiday weekend, why not get the younger members of the family to make these personalised place settings too? The template is also part of the free download pack.

We've heard from a reader, Laura Moore in Bristol, about a new charity project in need of help from kind crocheters.

Reuben's Retreat (registered Charity Number 1150436) was set up in August 2012, after Reuben suddenly passed away aged 23 months. He suffered from a rare and aggressive cancerous tumour, and since his parents were unable to donate his organs due to the cancer, they have set up a charity in his name.

If you're coming along to the Spring show, 14th-17th March in London's Olympia, you can brush up on your crochet skills along with lots of lovely knitting. 

Each of our craft teams will be holding 'Make and take' workshops, and the lovely ladies from Simply Crochet will help you to crochet your own spiral flowers, just like these. They make great embellishments for bags, hats, coats and even gloves. The yarn and pattern will be provided for you to learn to make them, and there will be hooks to borrow on the day too.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, so if you haven't got something special for your Mum yet, we've got some great suggestions... 

The Making Spot has a fantastic Mother's Day 2-for-1 offer: choose from selected Mother's Day projects and get the cheapest project free until 13th May 2013. The projects include knitting, card-making, crochet and cross stitch, so you're sure to find something you love.

Whether it's knitting or crochet, you're never to young to start learning. And we've got some great resources on The Making Spot to help you teach someone else - for knitting, you'll find this handy video tutorial on casting on, knit and purl, and casting off.

Red Nose Day 2013 is just around the corner, and we love this fantastic fundraising campaign by Ros Badger and Emma Mitchell. Four hand-made dolls have been lovingly created, along with clothes, jewellery, bedding and picnic food for the four friends, Maisie, Mac, Blossom and Poppy. 

Who can resist adorable alpacas? And this Easter Monday (April 1st) Toft Alpaca are holding their FREE Family Open Day. The farm is in Dunchurch, near Rugby in Warwickshire.