Organization & Cleaning Archives - Page 7 of 7

DIY Kitchen Chore Plate

August 29, 2014 by Danielle

Do you get more or less organized during the summer months? For me, it’s a loud echoing LESS! I have piles of papers needing filing, random craft supplies are covering my kitchen island, and our regular chores have been all-but ignored! So in the spirit of getting back on top of things, I created a new way to switch our daily meal jobs…this super-cute DIY Kitchen Chore Plate!

I figure the only way to get our household organized and clean again is to just back on the chore-wagon! We started back with our Family Chore Chart this week, so I’m already feeling a little more on the ball. As for our meals and the ~~disasters~~ messes that accompany them, this Kitchen Chore Plate has helped us keep things in order easily, even for the young kiddos!

Sorry, but I had to blot out the names on the pins for these images 😉 Another bonus for this little craft? It cost me about $2! Say what?! Yup, totally budget-friendly and takes so little time.

Supplies

Plastic plate in color of choice (look for clearance or dollar store…mine was $0.50)
Clothespins (maybe $0.25 for all)
Vinyl lettering (maybe $0.50 total)
Sharpie or good pen to write names
Ribbon and hook for hanging
Hot glue

Directions

Write the names of the family members on the clothespins. I did it on both sides, one right-side up and one upside-down. This way as it goes around the circular plate, you can flip it as needed and names will always be readable!
Attach your lettering to the plate, adding some fun chore stickers as well. I cut out my vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo, which took me a whole maybe 10 minutes to design, cut and attach. Love how easy it is!
Hot glue your ribbon onto the back of the plate, and hang. Clip on your clothespins to assign people their chore. Then just rotate easily!

See, it couldn’t be much more simple to create this Kitchen Chore Plate! We love it, and even the kids love as we rotate the pins and see what job they end up with next. If you’ve gotta clean up, may as well have fun with it, right?!

Quick and Organized Kids Art Wall

August 21, 2014 by Danielle

With 4 little kiddos, we get a LOT of cute little art projects piling up. It seems to just grow up off the counters, out of the walls, and stuffed in bedrooms. It’s everywhere! In the past, I’ve been terrible at displaying it in an organized (and even semi-attractive) manner, but no more since I did this Quick & Organized Kids Art Wall!

Yes, we’ve dealt with our dining room wall being that cluttered, random, totally-overrun mess for a year now! I know it’s been that long, since we moved in just over a year ago! Between the preschool projects and at-home art fun, my kiddos just have too many ‘masterpieces’ they want to display. With my new Organized Kid’s Art Wall, they can each pick their 3 favorites and they’re nicely up on our mini-gallery wall!

Supplies Needed

Wood board OR thick foam board (I used foam boards, since I had some on-hand)
Paint of choice
Vinyl lettering of choice
Clothespins
Nails or other way of attaching to the wall
Glue (I used hot glue)

Directions

Paint your boards the desired color.
Add your vinyl lettering. I used my trusty Silhouette Cameo and white vinyl, and even had my kids pick out their own fonts when I was designing them! I did use my kid’s actual names….but I blotted them out in these pics and put their Superhero names (code-names), since I don’t openly share their names on here.
Glue (hot glue worked great) your clothespins onto the board, then attach the boards to your ‘art gallery’.
Display their fabulous masterpieces for all to see!

We went from this disaster…..

….to this fabulous, organized and attractive Kids Art Wall!

Free Printable 2015 Planner

August 8, 2014 by Danielle

I’ve been so STOKED all week long (well, two weeks, but whatever) to finally share this huge project with you. While I love sharing quick and simple things with you all, there’s just an extra ‘awesome’ factor when I’ve worked literally days/weeks on something! This is one of those, and I’m absolutely in love with the end result! Without further ado….our Free Printable 2015 Planner!

Check out our newest planner HERE for 2016-2017, or just 2017!

I’ve had so many of you who loved my 2014 Planner, and have been asking when I would release next year’s….well, TODAY is the answer! I was hoping to have this out in July, but with vacation and everything time just ran away from me. Time’s still not on my side, but I was just too excited to not squeeze it in. I’m so dang in love with the fun colors, organized layout and fabulous cover choices….I hope you love them, too!

There’s so much fun to share with this Free Printable 2015 Planner, I’m not quite sure where to start….so how about at the beginning with our SEVEN colorful Cover Options?!

Option 1: Colorful Dots 2015

Option 2: Colorful Stripes 2014-2015

Option 3: Colorful Stripes 2015

Option 4: Dots and Stripes 2015

Option 5: Random Dots 2015

Option 6: Random Dots 2014-2015

Option 7: Top Tab 2014-2015

Aren’t they totally fun? I chose the first one for my own planner, and it’s AWESOME!!! For the inside, I wanted the monthly 2-page spread to be colorful and attractive, with boxes big enough to write all your important notes in. Don’t forget the previous and future month in the bottom right hand corner! Here’s how it looks:

Print your monthly spreads here, starting with August 2014!

August 2014: left page and right page

September 2014: left page and right page

October 2014: left page and right page

November 2014: left page and right page

December 2014: left page and right page

January 2015: left page and right page

February 2015: left page and right page

March 2015: left page and right page

April 2015: left page and right page

May 2015: left page and right page

June 2015: left page and right page

July 2015: left page and right page

August 2015: left page and right page

September 2015: left page and right page

October 2015: left page and right page

November 2015: left page and right page

December 2015: left page and right page

Now you’ve got to be able to plan out your days, right? One of my very best friends for, well, EVER (love ya Val!) suggested I break it down into Morning, Afternoon and Evening…and that’s what I did! On the left page of this 2-page spread for each week you’ve got the weekdays divided nicely with plenty of space to plan out your To-Dos. This page is the same for all weeks and months, so just print out multiples of this Weekly Tasks Page!

For the right side of each week, you’ve got the dates nicely matched for each day, then you have lines to list out your Menu, Chores and Notes for each day!

Go below to print out each week, in order, starting August 2014!

August 2014: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

September 2014: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

October 2014: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

November 2014: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

December 2014: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

January 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

February 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

March 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

April 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

May 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

June 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

July 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

August 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

September 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

October 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

November 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4

December 2015: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5

Because so many of you requested a Notes Page, I figured I better get one up quick! Plenty of lines for jotting down ideas, thoughts and other random tid-bits you may come across.

I’ve got my planner ordered and am just waiting for it to arrive, but can’t wait to share more photos when it arrives! I just couldn’t put off posting this for y’all in the meantime, so you can get your own Free Printable 2015 Planner ready! Enjoy!!!

Now Even More Free Printable Pages To Add – Here!!!

How I Organize My Blog Planning

June 5, 2014 by Danielle

Running a blog is hard. That’s just the truth of it. For those that think it’s all easy-breezy and ‘she must have so much free time’, sorry to burst your bubble! I’ve yet to meet a blogger that says it’s easy. There’s just SO MUCH to manage, and it’s super easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated. One way I keep myself sane (and loving blogging) is my wonderful blogging command center. This is How I Organize My Blog Planning!

Although I have other methods for organizing other blog-related tasks, such as my social media and sharing, this huge dry erase board is a big part of my blog planning. This board came from Hubby’s work…they were just going to throw it out, so he saved it for me. LOVE YOU, BABE! If you saw my Craft Room Reveal post, you saw how it looked BEFORE adding the trim on the edges. A bit ugly…but it worked well.

Add the painted trim, and the eye sore was now a nice, clean….emptiness begging to be filled. I decided to make it my blogging command center, and it was the PERFECT place to organize my blog planning!

First thing, I planned my layout and such on my laptop, then cut out my vinyl using my trusted Silhouette Cameo!

I wanted the months BIG…so had to print the actually grid part of the calendar (bottom right) separate from the top swirly edge (middle right). More on that in a minute….

It took awhile, but I VERY CAREFULLY got the vinyl from the sheets and placed as perfectly as possible onto my dry erase board.

Okay, so see how I just carefully placed the top swirl piece just barely overlapping the top row on the grid part? It’s pretty clean and smooth on the green calendar, but notice how it printed slightly off-sized on the top pink one? Ya….that was my bad not fixing the size first. Oops! Still not horrible, though!

Since the text for the MONTH is separate, I can keep the calendar themselves up but switch which months as I work throughout the year. I just write the actual dates in the calendar with a dry erase marker, so that’s easily changed as well!

The cute purple text tags all to the right of the calendars help me with my list-making. I have the following sections to my board:

Goals: so I can know where I want to go, and can focus on what will get me there
Tasks: basically my to-do list, whether broken down into each post’s tasks, or my entire weekly list
Supplies: as I’m working, or brainstorming, I can make my list of things I need to proceed with my task list
Ideas: This is the entire right 1/3 of this board, where I can just write ideas and brainstorm as things come to me, without losing it (hopefully)

Here’s how I use the calendar portions to organize my blog planning:

Track my recently done posts, helping me not post things too similar, too close together.
See what I have coming up, so I can prepare and plan. Since with blogs it’s wise to post holiday and seasonal themed posts awhile before the ACTUAL time, this helps me see ahead.
So I know what stage each of my upcoming posts is in, I use a different color of dry erase marker depending on what I need to do with that post. Red = haven’t started, need supplies. Yellow = post is done, but I need to take/edit photos. Green = post and photos are completely done, post is scheduled. Blue = post has gone live and I’ve checked links/etc. are working in that post.

How do YOU keep your blog planning organized?

Family Chore Chart

May 21, 2014 by Danielle

Since our kids are getting older and needing more responsibility, plus ways to earn money for their extra wants, I wanted a way to organize chores. After looking at a few different types of charts, I decided to put together this super-cute, but totally simple, Family Chore Chart!

For those that saw, I was part of the launch team for Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruz’s (Dave’s daughter) new book Smart Money, Smart Kids. It was PHENOMENAL, and has so many great tips for helping raise kids to be successful with money (and life)! If you missed my general review, check it out here. After reading it, I realized that I haven’t given my kids opportunities to learn responsibility, or any experience with money. That’s where this Family Chore Chart comes in!

Now, we do still love our Chore Rewards Treasure Chest, but the kids weren’t learning the money aspect, and it was difficult to separate the paid vs. non-paid chores. So we still use that to earn things for good behavior and ‘as a family’ type things, but for the normal chores this has now proven to work better for us!

Supplies

Large foam board (could use poster board, if you’d rather). I chose WHITE
Fun scrapbook paper for the top border and pockets
Vinyl (or markers) for the text
Scissors
Glue Dots
Popsicle Sticks
Pen/marker for sticks
Nail or something to hang board

Directions

Use the BACKSIDE of the foam board to measure everything out. This way you know how things will fit and how you like the layout. Get your measurements from this.
Gather your scrapbook paper for your pockets. NOTE: I did a different color for the pockets, so I could then color the popsicle sticks to match, according to which one they belonged to. According to your measurements, cut out your pockets. I wanted to keep the commission (paid) chores separate from the normal ‘because you’re part of this family’ chores, so I did one pocket for each. I then did a 3rd DONE pocket, so they can put their sticks in there when the chore is completed.
Gather your scrapbook paper for your pockets. NOTE: I did a different color for the pockets, so I could then color the popsicle sticks to match, according to which one they belonged to. Fold the sides of each ‘pocket’ under, add glue dots to the sides and bottom, then attach it to the FRONTSIDE of the board. Add your vinyl to each pocket (mine says ‘family’, ‘paid’ and ‘done’) or write with markers.
Take your desired scrapbook paper and cut out a top border/banner for the top of your chore chart, and attach it with glue dots. Add your Title/Main Banner (for me it was Family Chore Chart) across the top, as desired.
I just ‘scribbled’ with colored pencils under where our names would go (different color for each person/row), then applied the vinyl names over that.
Take the popsicle sticks and write a different chore on each stick. I colored the ends of the popsicle sticks to match which pocket they would go into. For example: Make Your Bed is a family chore, so I colored the end blue so the kids know it goes in the blue/family pocket.
I wanted to have extra jobs available for those times the kids want/need to earn some extra money, such as for an upcoming event that they must pay for. So along the bottom of my Family Chore Chart, I put vinyl saying ‘Work for Hire’ then just drew a cute little banner string. For the tags, I cut out a 1″x1″ square of scrapbook paper, used a ’rounded corner’ punch to make the corners nice and rounded, hole-punched each one and tied a string through. On each tag is listed an extra chore.
I used strong tape to secure some photo hangers, then from that I hung the tags.

Note: On our chore chart, I do have my children’s ACTUAL names. I added their alias superhero names using PicMonkey to these photos, then after the pictures put the vinyl with their names on there. I don’t ALWAYS call my kids by their superhero names 🙂

Craft Room Grand Reveal

April 20, 2014 by Danielle

I’m FINALLY done!!! It’s taken weeks (possibly months, depending on what you consider the ‘start’) for the remodel of my craft room, but I’m finally ready to share it with you all. I wanted it to be MY space, the one room that I could do however I wanted, escape to and just create by and for myself. Success!!! Without further ado…my Craft Room Grand Reveal!

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Fair warning: LOTS of photos ahead! But I just HAVE to show this off, since it’s taken so much time, effort and just down-right will-power to get this thing done. I wanted my craft room to be ORGANIZED, BRIGHT, and ME (although I’m technically not organized, but that’s we can pretend)!

Here’s what the room looked like before the overhaul:

Mismatched furniture that I got from yard sales
Ugly tannish/off-white paint color on the walls AND ceiling
Dry erase board sticking out like a sore thumb with no border
Boring plain windows needing some lovin’
Piles, piles and MORE piles of random crafting supplies, fabric, projects, random wood pieces and other odds and ends ALL OVER

Yup, that needed to be fixed. Like ASAP! My amazingly-wonderful-totally-awesome Hubby gave me the green light, and to work I went! To start, I had to drag EVERYTHING but some furniture out of the room, down the stairs, and pile it up in the garage. Needless to say….EXHAUSTING! Then….to painting!

For my colors, I knew I wanted something fun and BRIGHT. It’s a craft room, after all, so colorful-but-not-too-crazy. I chose white ceilings and Pebble Grey walls. I brought the ceiling line down a bit, then put a stripe of my accent color, Boysenberry Blast, between the grey and white. For my other colors, I stuck with some light pink, light blue, greens and yellows. Like I said, FUN yet BRIGHT.

I decided to just keep 3 of my random yard-sale found furniture: 2 dressers and the corner armoire thing. Since the corner one is a big part of my craft room, I painted over the black with the Boysenberry Blast. It was a bit TOO much accent, so I then made the panels white. The dressers I did the pink and blue. Add some new, matching knobs and they were set to go!

I also framed in the dry erase board so it had a nice, clean border. The green was very bright, but I ended up really liking it!

I have to give a HUGE shout-out to my dad, here. While I was working on everything, he made the long trip here to Texas from Utah to bring the remainder of our stuff we had left during the move. Along with our stuff, he brought his NAIL GUN to help me finish up some of these things…like the framing on the dry erase board. It was so quick and simple, he was such a lifesaver! THANKS DAD! It also helped a ton adding the trim to the craft table we made ourselves:

I’ll be doing a tutorial soon on how to make your own craft table, so stay tuned for that! I nabbed 2 cheap bookshelves from walmart to stick under the ends of the table, for some extra storage.

Love how organized most of my ribbon is now! I do still have a whole drawer-full (I may have slight ribbon addiction), but at least these are easily accessible!

I also got an Expedit shelf from IKEA for under my windows. Good storage shelf, seat and bench for reaching my curtains!

If you’re curious about my curtains, I did a tutorial on How to Make Curtains: Or Not! Learn how to make them the right way…and how to fix some if you happen to make a big oops like I did!

Another fun file organizer, nabbed from IKEA (ya, LOVE that store)!

The corner shelves are a fun decor aspect to the room, plus a great place to put some jars! Notice the button-filled jar? Ya, Hubby still can’t understand why I have so many….but that’s ok!

I picked up these wonderful organizing trays and peg board items from The Container Store. Handy for holding many of my frequently-used things.

For inside the big corner armoire, I decided to put all my sewing supplies in there:

LOVE how easy it is to find things, now! Including my well-organized Simplicity patterns….they’re fabulous!

Then it was just a matter of adding some pops of color and decor…one of the most fun parts of remodeling a room, if you ask me!

Since I’m attending SNAP! Conference in just a FEW DAYS (eeeeek, can’t wait!), I plan on finding a bit more decor to fill up some empty spots…like this very large wall that’s just begging for some cute stuff!

I’m just SOOOO in love with my new craft room, and have been really enjoying my time in there now that it feels so clean, organized, bright and BEAUTIFUL!

Babysitter Information Form

January 29, 2014 by Danielle

I have a confession: I’m VERY picky as to who I leave my kids with. After a babysitter stole our Ipad (passed it to her boyfriend and had it sold) before we even returned home, I’ve become really cautious. When I DO leave my kids, I make sure it’s someone I trust completely. Along with that, I want to make sure they have ALL the information they’ll need for a successful night, for them AND for the kids! This printable Babysitter Information Form is perfect, just in case there’s something you forget to mention, or they don’t remember ALL the stuff they were given right before you walk out the door.

Here’s the different parts of the form:

Home Information: your home address, phone number, etc. In case they need to give an emergency person that info, or are ordering a pizza.

Emergency Contacts: This is where we put a trusted neighbor that’s close by, and near by relatives that can be contacted just in case.

Notes & Instructions: Here we put things like allergies, if someone needs some medicine at certain times, what meals are planned, etc.

Routines: When they play, read, clean up, eat dinner, brush, bedtime, etc.

House Rules: General rules, and what form of discipline to use (we use ‘take a break’ here).

Non-Emergency Fire & Rescue: As it says, put the number for the non-emergency important rescue people. Like dispatch, etc.

What else do you think should be included?

DIY Frozen’s Olaf Toilet Paper Holder

January 20, 2014 by Danielle

Can you tell that we love Disney’s movie Frozen? Ya, borderline obsession, but still semi-healthy! Anywho, since I’m doing a TON of Frozen projects lately for Wonder Woman, I figured her bathroom needed a little Olaf in the corner. What better way than this darling (and oh-so-easy) Olaf Toilet Paper Holder?!

Supplies

Light Blue Towel (can use white, but white in a bathroom is weird to me)
Felt: Dark blue, white, brown, black and orange
3 #10 cans
Hot glue/gun
3 Black buttons

Make this using the same basic instructions that I shared when making my Santa Toilet Paper Holder, just instead cut the felt into the shapes for Olaf, and use these colors. So easy, budget-friendly and FUN!!!

Be sure to include his cute little ‘stick hair’ up on top of the lid…

…and of course his cute little stick arms and buttons!

Ya, I think he’s just TOO DANG CUTE!!!

I LOVE OLAF!!! Who’s YOUR favorite character from Disney’s FROZEN?

Printable Disney Banner / by BusyMomsHelper.com / Disney Countdown

2016 Unofficial Disneyland Activity & Autograph book by BusyMomsHelper / shared on Carrie Elle Blog

Free Printable Disneyland Height Requirements / by Busy Mom's Helper / Free Printable California Adventure Height Requirements

FREE Printable 2014 Planner

January 17, 2014 by Danielle

Okay, so I’ve been dying to share this with you, but wanted to wait until my printed and bound planner arrived. FINALLY it came!!! Seriously, LOVING IT!!! Without further ado….my Free Printable 2014 Planner!

Check out our newest planner HERE for 2016-2017, or just 2017!

Free Printable 2014 Planner / by Busy Mom's Helper #Printable #Planner #2014 #Calendar

I wanted it colorful and fun, and it definitely turned out that way!

The cover has a large spot to write your name, blog, title….whatever you want to put in there, even nothing! Same with the Back Cover

I’ve included a 2-page monthly spread for January through December 2014, that you can download and print from the following:

January Page 1 January Page 2

February Page 1 February Page 2

March Page 1 March Page 2

April Page 1 April Page 2

May Page 1 May Page 2

June Page 1 June Page 2

July Page 1 July Page 2

August Page 1 August Page 2

September Page 1 September Page 2

October Page 1 October Page 2

November Page 1 November Page 2

December Page 1 December Page 2

Since I’m always searching for a paper to jot down a quick thought or note, or just to doodle while I brainstorm, I included a Notes & Doodles Page.

I like breaking things down, so for myself I did a 2-page spread task list that listed all of my daily tasks for home and blog, then left some empty spots for customizing day by day! This one I made just for my own binder, but still feel free to download and print it, if you’d like.

Daily Tasks Page 1 Daily Tasks Page 2

Here’s what my daily spread looks like:

Since I do my family’s major grocery shopping once per week, I plan out our meals very specifically. This 2-page Menu Plan has been SO NICE to help with this! I left lines for Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner and Other (extra cooking, post recipes, drinks, etc.)

Menu Plan Page 1 Menu Plan Page 2

Although I do my major shopping once per month, I do minor (milk, bread, etc.) about weekly, plus other shopping things….so this page for a Shopping List is great!

Another budget saving thing I do is buy clearance clothes in larger sizes for my kids for a large discount, then save them to grow in to. One problem with that, is that I forget how much of what I have, and have ended up with twenty tshirts for one child before….definitely not my intention! So this fun Clothing Tracker will help me track who, what sizes, what item, etc.

And, of course, with my planner always nearby, it’s great to have a page or two of Important Contacts!

Since I’m constantly brainstorming ideas for blog posts, I inserted some pages of Blog Post Ideas into my planner.

I love having a single place I can track my monthly Blogging Stats, too!

Blog Stats Page 1 Blog Stats Page 2

Although I’m already noticing things I wish I’d done different, or a few errors here and there (missing a date or two on the monthly calendars, etc.), I’m really going to enjoy this planner this year! Just gives me more thoughts for next year’s version…..and I’ll make sure much of it is focused for all of you! 😉

Now you can grab my Free Printable 2015 Planner, with prints beginning for August 2014 for those that plan ahead!

Santa Toilet Paper Holder

December 18, 2013 by Danielle

Ya, I totally just put Santa in the corner, holding my toilet paper. Why? Well, because SOMETHING has to hold the toilet paper for those ‘oops, the roll ran out’ moments, and right now it may as well be a cute red Santa Toilet Paper Holder.

Santa Toilet Paper Holder Tutorial / Busy Mom's Helper

The best part of this craft? It’s removable! Yup – you can enjoy it for the holidays, then replace it during the rest of the year. Oh – and simple to do PLUS budget-friendly equals a winning DIY project!

Santa Toilet Paper Holder Supplies Needed

3 #10 cans, empty

1 Red Bath Towel

Black Buttons

Hot Glue

Sewing Machine (or more hot glue)

Scissors

Black fabric/felt/strap

White scrap of felt/fabric

Cotton balls or white fluff

Duct Tape

Santa Toilet Paper Holder Directions

Take the three #10 cans, remove the lid and bottom to two of them. Keep the bottom (but remove the top) on the third. Keep one of the removed lids for the top!

Using duct tape, attach them evenly together on the outside, around the seams. Make sure the can that still has it’s bottom is ON the bottom. Also duct tape along the top, to avoid any rough edges – don’t want anyone getting scratched or cut!

I put a long strip bottom-top in the inside, three spots, just to help secure it more.

Measure the towel around the cans, leaving plenty of space for attaching the two sides together. Cut.

Then sew the edges long-wise together, keeping the seam (this makes the front look like a jacket almost, with the seam being the ‘opening’ part of the jacket). You could also hot glue them together – I chose to sew.

Hem (or glue) the bottom, if you trimmed some off. Don’t want it fraying, especially if you’re going to store it for future holiday seasons, too!

I had one edge (where it was sewn length-wise) that stuck up funny….

So I used a small bit of duct tape to stick it down!

Hot glue some big black buttons along the front, next to the seem. Think of this as Santa’s jacket…the seam being the opening part, so the buttons go right along it’s edge.

Hot glue the black fabric/felt/strap (I used a strap material) around the belly of it. Then glue a buckle-shaped piece of white fabric/felt (I used felt) scrap for the belt buckle.