While promoting We Made It, her new craft line for kids, Jennifer Garner opened up about family life with husband Ben Affleck and their three children: Violet, 9, Seraphina, 6, and Samuel, 3.

“We’re so involved,” Garner, 43, told Us of their parenting style. “I just took a year and a half off of work and I’ve been home. You treat them like real kids. They have boundaries and they have rules and they throw fits.”

In fact, the Danny Collins star recalled a recent tantrum at a local bike shop.

“Yesterday, we were at a bike store getting their bikes serviced and getting new helmets that fit and… my littlest one [Samuel] saw something he wanted. I had just said, ‘We’re not buying anything,’ and he threw a fit,” she shared. “The people at the store said to me, ‘Please let us just give this to you’ because he was so unhappy. And I said, ‘I’m sorry that he’s throwing a fit in your store and you’re so sweet to want to give this to him. And thank you for asking me first. But he’s going to have to throw a fit.’ I said no. No is no.”

She added: “I said to my girls, ‘What do I mean when I say no?’ And they were like, ‘She really means no!’ So you just have to do it. It’s not pretty. I don’t think that I’m always the best at it but I try my best to be consistent and for them to know what they can expect from me.”

Speaking of consistency, the A-list mom has a special tradition for when she goes away.

“If I leave town for work, I always leave them a note for their lunch for every day that I’m gone,” Garner said. “I was just gone last week. I’m shooting a movie in Montreal and I was gone for three days and I came home and the kids were like, ‘This week’s lunch notes were really great mom!’”

But when she’s at home, they do lots of fun family activities.

“We do a lot of crafting at our house,” she shared. “I don’t even know how it got started because if you ask me, ‘Are you crafty?’ I would say, ‘No…’ but it’s something that we just do.”

The Alias alum went on to talk about her cute kids.

“I have one kid who loves to play pretend all the time,” Garner said. “We had a cabinet that wasn’t being used, and I saw this in a magazine… [We] put pretty patterned paper in as wallpaper, and divided the rooms, and I got some dollhouse furniture. It’s her little tucked-away dollhouse. But it’s not in a dollhouse. It’s just a cabinet, and she loves it so much. Sometimes you can’t find her and she’s just hidden under this counter playing in her cabinet with all her people.”

As for her boy, it sounds like her sweet preschooler is all about the paint.

“He just loves anything with paint,” Garner dished. “Today, we made the visor. We made the chef’s hat the other day, super cute, and then my oldest is ready to do things that are a little more complicated and we have things for that age, too. So with her, I’ve had a blast making this doll hoop thing. We’ve had a lot of fun making things for dolls.”

Are the kids excited that daddy is the next Batman? “We definitely have been drinking the Batman Kool-Aid at our house,” she joked, and added, “Yeah, we have one in particular who is pretty excited.”

As for raising her kids in Tinseltown, it sounds like the hands-on mom has got her priorities straight.

“I’m so thrilled to get to raise my kids in the environment that they are in,” she shared. “I think it’s easy just to imagine that all these kids are spoiled and entitled. Part of what makes me be strong with my kids is the fact that I’m surrounded by other really firm strong moms.”

What about delegating chores for the kids? “We have family chores and personal chores,” the actress, who says she’s the “enforcer” in the house, tells PEOPLE.

That said, it’s not always easy to keep it consistent.

“But sometimes I’m more on top of it than others,” she admitted. “At the end of the school year, if they clear their plate and pick up after themselves and their rooms are clean and there aren’t wet towels on the floor, that’s good enough! Just today we were talking about good habits. You can’t do it all.”

The Dallas Buyers Club star also talked about teaming up with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores for We Made It, an exclusive line of children’s creative kits and projects, available online and in stores June 17. A portion of the proceeds will go to Save the Children.

“I told them when we first started that I wanted to find things that siblings could do together,” Garner said. “We have the sibling blanket. Each sibling decorates their own half of the blanket and then they sew it and meet in the middle. Then they can sit under it to watch TV.”

She added: “I really feel like I’m represented in this line. I’ve done every single one of these [projects]. Every meeting would be five hours because I would be like, ‘Nope, I have to open it, I have to do it!’ ”

And it sounds like the kids were on board with mom’s new project.

“The problem is more that all of them will want to do something and I have to hide until I can get [more],” she said. “Now we’ve made all kinds of stuff and it’s super fun.”

She went on to recall a fun family story, outlining the benefits of crafting with kids.

“Last summer I felt like we did so many fun things. We didn’t have any big extravagant trips, but we did a fun day here and a fun family day here and visiting Grandma and cousins,” Garner shared. “At the end of the summer I said, ‘Guys we need to remember this summer.’ So I printed out all the pictures and we just made a family summer book.”

She added: “It’s the most non-glamorous version of a scrapbook. We just cut out photos, glued them, put stickers on construction paper and put that in a plastic [page protector] and put them into a binder. But I can’t tell you how often I come out and find them looking through it. That’s why we have a vacation memory [kit].”

I really like Karlie Kloss in this blue Oscar de la Renta gown. [Moe Jackson]
Wow, Rebel Wilson was lying about a lot. [LaineyGossip]
Pamela Anderson says her sons are gentlemen. [Celebrity Baby Scoop]
DC Comics is coming after Rihanna. Huh. [Dlisted]
Blind item: a Teen Wolf cokehead? [CDAN]
David Letterman’s creepiest moments with female guests. [OMG Blog]
Lady Gaga’s wedding gown is going to be all about Taylor Kinney. [I’m Not Obsessed]
The Girl Scouts of America is such a cool, inclusive organization. [Jezebel]
John Mayer’s watch fetish is causing problems. [ICYDK]
Nebraska just abolished their death penalty. Huh. [The Frisky]
Taylor Swift is terrible at acting and stunt work. [IDLY]
All the other talk show hosts paid homage to David Letterman. [Seriously OMG WTF]

Oh hey. I haven’t posted any shots of Leonardo DiCaprio on a boat in Cannes yet. So. Here.

How many billionaires offered him the opportunity? And how do you choose which one to accept? Is it possible that he’s renting it on his own? Why spend his own money when there’s an obscenely wealthy st…      

Oh hey. I haven’t posted any shots of Leonardo DiCaprio on a boat in Cannes yet. So. Here.

How many billionaires offered him the opportunity? And how do you choose which one to accept? Is it possible that he’s renting it on his own? Why spend his own money when there’s an obscenely wealthy st…      

Here are some photos from last night’s ELLE Women in Music event in LA. Pink was the biggest name there, although I have to say… I don’t think her style was on-point. I’m all for wearing a pantsuit to major red carpets. I’m also a big fan of menswear-on-ladies and strong androgynous looks. But this is not my jam. I think it’s because I have an aversion to men and women wearing these high-neck, buttoned-up looks. I hate when Jonny Lee Miller does it on Elementary too!! Plus, this suit doesn’t fit Pink. The jacket is too baggy and the pants are a disaster.

Incidentally, Pink has been on the war path about body-shaming trolls recently. If you’re forcing me to examine her recent looks, I would say that she maybe has put on a few pounds, but it’s nothing major and it really does look like it’s just “a few pounds.” I don’t see the big deal and I don’t get why anyone is attacking her. She went off on social media last month, and then she did an interview with Entertainment Tonight last week where she spoke out about the issue again. She said in part:

“I don’t take well to bullying. I never have. I’m not a person that will be bullied. I’m not a person that will stand by and watch other people bullied. I think people have gotten it wrong. They think their opinion matters and holds weight and I don’t know where or why they’re giving themselves so much credit you know? So I thought it was important for me to remind them that I don’t care. My life is full, I like food a lot, I really like to cook, I like to live, I find joy in that and we’re doing alright in the Hart household. I am a girl, I have feelings and people think I take no sh-t and I’m tough, tougher than nails, but I’m a human being.”

[Via Health.com]

I’m glad she’s standing up for herself, but I do have to say… I was not aware that anyone was criticizing her body until she brought it up. It’s like the Streisand Effect of body-image.

More photos from the Elle event… Maria Menounos should not do cornrows, right? And I love Keke Palmer but this is not the best ensemble. And Alanis Morissette was there with her husband Mario Treadway. I’m glad that they’re still going strong.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

In the latest installment of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, Justin Bieber comes along for the ride. No, nothing will ever be better than Mimi glittering all over James’s vehicle as he plays hit after hit – HER hits, obviously – but this interview format, side by side, with music, driving around…      

In the latest installment of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, Justin Bieber comes along for the ride. No, nothing will ever be better than Mimi glittering all over James’s vehicle as he plays hit after hit – HER hits, obviously – but this interview format, side by side, with music, driving around…      

This week the internet was scandalized when an Australian tabloid ran a story asserting that Rebel Wilson has been lying about her age and background since breaking out in Bridesmaids. Wilson’s age of record was 29, and she had at various points claimed to grow up in the “ghetto” with “bogan” (wo…      

This week the internet was scandalized when an Australian tabloid ran a story asserting that Rebel Wilson has been lying about her age and background since breaking out in Bridesmaids. Wilson’s age of record was 29, and she had at various points claimed to grow up in the “ghetto” with “bogan” (wo…      

A few weeks ago, several outlets reported that Ashley Olsen was suffering from a severe, debilitating case of Lyme disease. In Touch Weekly (via Jezebel) reported how Ashley contracted the disease a few years ago from tick bites. She’s experiencing constant flare ups that are “affecting her day-to-day life,” and her condition is growing worse. Ashley was reportedly seeking alternative treatments in Europe, and it all sounded very scary. I don’t know if the story is true, but countless outlets ran with the tale, and Olsen’s camp never denied anything. A new account from Radar says Ashley’s case isn’t getting better:

Ashley Olsen‘s struggle with debilitating Lyme disease has taken a turn for the worse.

The petite 28-year-old is suffering from low energy and “she’s in a lot of pain,” an insider close to the star reveals to In Touch.

As RadarOnline.com reported, Olsen contracted the incurable disease, which is spread through ticks, several years ago.

“Her symptoms have gotten worse,” the insider notes. “She’s had to take a step back from her business. She used to be in the office all the time, but lately she’s often just not well, so she rests a lot at home. She’s really having a difficult time.”

Unfortunately, Olsen’s moods are all over the place as she battles the disease that often causes sufferers pain that feels like pins and needles or burning as well as brain fog and forgetfulness.

“She’s really struggling, and it comes out in anger — she’s at the point where she’s having a hard time dealing,” the insider says. “She just seems all-around cranky. Between her pain and her exhaustion, “she’s really having a difficult time.”

[From Radar Online]

Ugh. This source doesn’t understand what people go through when they have Lyme disease. Of course someone will be irritated and angry when they’re in constant pain, and doctors can’t do anything to help. Radar adds that Ashley is trying to manage the condition with physical therapy and exercise, but the results have been “a major disappointment.” I hope Ashley finds some relief soon. The realities of the disease can ruin lives and end careers. She’s so young (28), and a single tick can cause so much damage. Avril Lavigne recently revealed her own battle with the disease. She’s finally feeling a bit better. I hope the same happens for Ashley soon.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN