How to be looked upon favorably by your boss......?

I'm a foreman in a large construction company. First, I must say that I'm punctual, reliable and fairly consistent in my work, so those aren't issues. Every now and then somebody who doesn't like me has said something about me to the boss. One time is was about talking to a fellow worker for about a two minutes. One time I was kidding with a woman I work with and she took it seriously due to her mood that day(nothing innappropriate btw.) Another time I was on the phone taking an important call from my daughter's principal. These are not a big deal, and some people have these issues everyday, but I usually don't. My issue is that when someone says something to my boss, he responds angrily, without getting the full picture and it adds to his attitude toward me in the long run. Recently, I ruffled a few feathers because I ratted out four of my co-workers who were hanging out, not doing a thing when they should have been working. The reason I did that was because one of them was a person who did it to me unfairly and my boss responded to it. My boss doesn't seem like the type of person who you can talk to in any depth about these types of things, so I'm not sure how to handle it. I just know that it's bothering me and I don't want to continue being the victim of office politics. What should I do to reverse the damage done by others? I could use some good advice.