A thank-you for your church posada team: Mary and Joseph figures carried from home to home through Advent, a candle lit at each stop, as a jigsaw with your note at the end

Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any church, denomination, diocese, charity, school, retailer or community organisation.

Some churches keep an Advent tradition borrowed from Latin America and Spain called a posada. A pair of small figures of Mary and Joseph, sometimes knitted, sometimes carved or bought years ago, sets off on the first Sunday of Advent and spends each night with a different household: a family, a care home, a school, a shop, someone living alone. Each host gives them a night's shelter, perhaps lights a candle or says a short prayer, and passes them on. On Christmas Eve they arrive back at church in time for the crib. It is a gentle, simple thing, and it only works because a few people quietly organise it. This short guide is about thanking them.

Here are a few ideas, with an honest look at whether a photo puzzle is a good fit.

What the team actually does

Every church does it differently, but the job often includes:

• finding, mending or knitting the figures, and a small bag or box for them to travel in
• putting together a sign-up sheet so that every night of Advent has a host
• writing a short card that travels with the figures, explaining the tradition in plain words
• including people who might not otherwise take part, like a neighbour who lives alone or a local care home
• arranging the handover each day, often by text, and stepping in when a host falls ill
• keeping a notebook or a photo diary where each household can add a line
• making sure Mary and Joseph get back to church safely on Christmas Eve

Why it's worth saying

The posada mostly happens in people's kitchens and front rooms, out of sight of the rest of the congregation. The organisers spend much of December chasing handovers and rarely hear how much it meant to the households who took part. A short note tells them it was noticed.

When to say it

The first week of January is a good moment, once the figures are back in their box. A card, a word after a Sunday service, or a line in the parish magazine all work.

What makes a good photo

• the figures sitting on a kitchen windowsill next to a lit candle
• the little bag or box they travel in, with the card tucked inside
• the notebook open at a page of handwritten messages
• the figures on the mantelpiece of a care home lounge
• the sign-up sheet on the church noticeboard, every night filled in
• the figures back in the church crib on Christmas Eve

Photos of the figures on their own usually make a calmer picture, and they keep the households who took part private. If you want to include people, ask them first.

Choosing a piece count

Small figures against a plain wall are fairly easy to piece together, so 24 or 48 pieces suits most people. A crib scene full of detail works well at 80 or more.

Note examples

• "Thank you for sending Mary and Joseph round the parish again this year."
• "Thank you for finding a host for every single night."
• "Thank you for making sure they visited the care home."
• "Thank you for the little notebook; we loved reading everyone's lines."
• "Thank you for getting them back to the crib in time for Christmas Eve."

What it costs, plainly

The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so there's nothing to post. The person receiving it doesn't need an account or an app; they open the link and your note appears when the last piece goes in. If a card is enough, it is.

Ideas that are not a puzzle

• a handwritten card from the vicar, the wardens or the households who hosted
• a thank-you in the notices or the parish magazine
• offering to host a night, or to help with the handovers next year
• some wool or a new travel box for the figures, if theirs is looking tired
• copying the notebook messages into a small booklet for the organisers to keep
• asking what would make next year's posada easier to run

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw that you send as a link. It isn't a printed puzzle, and it isn't a public puzzle board: only the people you send it to can open it. It's one option among many, and it works best when the photo means something to the person receiving it. Please don't confuse it with puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.

If a photo puzzle feels right as well, choose the figures by a candle on a windowsill, the open notebook or the crib on Christmas Eve, pick a piece count that suits them, and write the note in your own words. You can make one here.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, religious, liturgical, safeguarding, privacy, photography permission or gift policy advice.