Yesterday, I wrote about Sarah Michelle Gellar’s new baking accessories line, Foodstirs. Click here for a refresher. And I mentioned that I wanted to see Jennifer Garner go into this sector – crafting/baking/enhanced homemaking.
Well a reader named Kim (thanks Kim!) sent me a link to this – Jen Garner does have a crafting line. It’s called We Made It, and it’s a partnership with Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores, with proceeds going to Save The Children. (In my defense, there are no Jo-Ann locations in Canada, but they do ship here.)
The line launched in June, and it was pretty quiet. I was able to find one small story under PEOPLE’s “celebrity babies” sector, and it was picked up by a few mom blogs.
The crafts are everything one would expect from Jennifer Garner: adorable, accessible, affordable. The products are semi DIY: wooden dollhouses (ready to be painted), silicone cookie cutters, blanket sewing projects, mix and match princess costumes. But the best part is the video. It’s Jennifer, in a v-neck cashmere sweater with her bangs swept off her face, talking about her children, quality time, grandparents, childhood memories and family. Always family. The video is subtle – there’s nothing boasty or condescending about Jen’s craft. She just loves children. All the children.
And I found another video – and interview with Moms LA – and here Jen says that she doesn’t think she’s crafty, but her friends do. Because she bakes bread on the weekends. In addition to her regular weekday baking, of course.
She can’t sew! (But she can fix a button.) She knows how to use a glue gun, but it won’t be pretty. Do you believe for a second that if Jen used a glue gun it wouldn’t be pretty? It would be delightful.
Watching these videos, I wondered why the craft line wasn’t a bigger deal (many products are still available, and on sale). But then again, the line was released in June, so, even if you don’t believe the 10-month timeline Ben and Jen tried to spin when they separated (click here for a refresher), June would not have been the most harmonious time in the Affleck/Garner household. It was probably bad. Not Chrissy O bad, but they officially announced the split on June 30, so bad enough that you wouldn’t want to be too public, knowing what was to come.
Back to the videos – if you have a moment, watch them for how gloriously effortless (and I hate this word, but it applies here) Jen is. There’s no nasally condemning of string cheese. Jen’s a cheerleader, telling us that crooked hemlines are OK. One-eyed sock puppets adorable. She sells it so well – she’s not bragging, but she’s also not overly saccharine. In the video, the off-camera interviewers are ooooohing and awwwwing and at one point, someone clapped with joy. She’s got Mom Charm.
So why not more promotion, a big fall rollout for back-to-school, a holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) line? Because Ben Affleck is a fool and f-cked up Jen’s craft line. That’s the only explanation I have. Who chooses an affair with the nanny over fresh-baked bread on Sundays? A FOOL.
