A thank-you for your church Twelfth Night decorations take-down team: the crib wrapped in newspaper and the lights coiled for next year, 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, diocese, parochial church council, charity or community organisation.

Everyone notices when the church is decorated for Christmas. Almost nobody notices when it is undone. Somewhere around Twelfth Night or the first Sunday of Epiphany, a handful of volunteers turn up with step ladders, bin bags and a pile of old newspaper, and by lunchtime the building is quietly back to ordinary time. The tree is out on the path, the crib figures are asleep in their box, and the lights are coiled for next December. 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 take-down team actually does

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

• unhooking baubles, stars and paper chains from the tree and the screen
• wrapping each crib figure in newspaper and labelling the box so the wise men aren't lost
• coiling the fairy lights neatly (and testing which strings have died)
• carrying the tree out without leaving a trail of needles down the aisle
• sweeping and hoovering pine needles out of the chancel and the pew ends
• taking down the greenery from the windowsills and composting the holly
• climbing to the loft or the cupboard under the tower to put it all away
• making a list of what's broken or missing so next year starts well

Why it's worth saying

Putting decorations up feels festive. Taking them down in the cold of early January, with the heating off and Christmas already a memory, does not. It's the kind of job that only gets noticed when it hasn't been done. A note that names something specific, such as finding the crib in perfect order next Advent, or the church looking calm and clean on the first Sunday of the new year, tells them it mattered.

When to say it

The same week is ideal, while everyone still remembers the bare tree on the path. A word at the door after the service is lovely; a card or message in mid-January lands just as well. Some churches thank the team again when the boxes come out next Advent, which is a nice full circle.

What makes a good photo

• the bare tree lying on the churchyard path, a few strands of tinsel still caught
• crib figures in a row on a pew, each half wrapped in newspaper
• a box labelled "CRIB - FRAGILE - THIS WAY UP" in felt pen
• coils of lights laid out on the vestry table
• the chancel swept clean, January light coming through the east window
• a step ladder against the pillar where the star used to hang

Follow your church's photo policy and keep faces out of the frame unless people have agreed. A photo of the boxes, the bare tree or the tidy church usually tells the story better than a group shot.

Choosing a piece count

A photo with plenty of texture, like newspaper and tinsel, is satisfying at 80 or 130 pieces.

Note examples

• "Thank you for wrapping the crib so carefully. The donkey survived another year."
• "The church looked so calm on the first Sunday of January. That was you."
• "Thank you for doing the job nobody wants, in the coldest week of the year."
• "Next Advent I'll think of you when the boxes come down from the loft."
• "Sorry about the needles. Thank you for the hoovering."

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 tin of biscuits and a flask of coffee for the take-down morning
• naming the team in the January newsletter or the notices
• new storage boxes, tissue paper or labels for next year
• replacing the dead strings of lights before next December
• turning up with a broom yourself next year
• asking the team what would make the job easier, and sorting it

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw you send as a link. It is not a printed puzzle and not a public puzzle board; only the people you send it to can open it. It is one option among many. It is not puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.

If you'd like to try it, choose the wrapped crib figures, the bare tree on the path or the clean chancel in January light, pick a piece count and write your note. You can make one here.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, religious, safeguarding, working at height, health and safety, photography permission or gift policy advice.